Do I need treatment?

[demensia]

No psychological treatment jokes please.

My room is a little odd in dimensions... I have 2 1/2 plywood walls, 1/2 rock fireplace wall and a wall made of a few windows (with a little plywood of course). The floor is cement with a few throw rugs and the ceiling is that fiberglass tile stuff.. the shit thats itchy when it gets down your shirt.. you know.. that stuff.

theres pictures at www.demensiax.com/studio.html ... the pictures are mostly gear though, I cant get a good picture of the complete room.

This is the only room I have to work with, so it also has my bed and a couch in it, a cast iron safe and wood stove, as well as my entertainment center.

My problem is I cant hear bass at all through my monitors.. (sp-5b's are probably the problem)... Im not sure if its the monitors that suck or the room...

Im kindof babbling on, but my main question is, would auralex or some other foam be something I should look into, or is it usless to bother in a home studio?

[John Sayers]

well apart fom your ceiling everything else is totally reflective or diffusive. Auralex is OK but expensive - you need fibreglass absorption and some bass absorption - so before Ethan trys to sell you his bass traps I suggest you see what others have done at:

http://johnlsayers.com and check out Studios Under Construction. There are pics of the studios some of the guys here have built.
Also go the SAE site and read up on absorbers.

cheers
JOhn

[demensia]

what can I do for the ceiling?

I see similar type tiles in the studios of Snapper, Downside, and there was one other good shot of them on your site, but I forgot which one it is, and I dont have time to surf through them all again..

Got to go to work,

Thanks.

[MartyMcFly]

Aww Man...and I was going to tell you that you need treatment.

[Ethan Winer]

John,

> so before Ethan trys to sell you his bass traps <

Hey, I am just as happy to have someone build traps themselves! My primary goal is to spread the word about the need for real bass traps. And you're doing a great job there too!

--Ethan

[demensia]

do I need bass traps?

[John Sayers]

totally meant in jest Ethan

cheers
John

[Ethan Winer]

Dim,

> do I need bass traps? <

Probably. Almost every room in which music mixing decisions are made need bass traps and other treatment too. Here's a simple test:

Play various low-frequency sine waves through your speakers, then walk around the room listening for places where the tones get louder and softer. For example, play 60 Hz. and walk around, then play 80 Hz. and walk around, and so forth, up to maybe 200 or 250 Hz.

In most rooms, the mid-bass frequencies (80-120 Hz.) are too soft right in front of the speakers, and too loud in the rear of the room - especially in the rear corners. Likewise, most rooms have fairly severe dips at all frequencies, and where in the room the level is reduced varies with each frequency.

--Ethan

[Ethan Winer]

John,

> totally meant in jest Ethan <

Yes, I know, but I am trying to tone down the rhetoric.

Honest, my main goal is to spread the word. As more people learn about the problems in their rooms and how to solve them, fame and fortune will surely follow!

--Ethan

[demensia]

120 hz pretty much dissappears when I back up a few inches, and 250 hz sounds like its comming from behind me when I'm sitting in the mixing position... the rest of the frequencies between 80-250 sound fine from about anywhere..

[Ethan Winer]

Dim,

> 120 hz pretty much dissappears when I back up a few inches, and 250 hz sounds like its comming from behind me <

That's the proof. Yes, you need bass traps.

--Ethan