Cement floor vs Carpet vs Plywood?

[devilsgirth]

Hey guys, I just finished building a room in my basement and I want to use it as a control room and a recording room. It has a cement floor but I recently covered that up with free carpet that I got from a friend, although now I am reading that a reflective floor is better for recording because you get more natural ambience? I always thought, though, that acoustic ambience in recording studios only works well if you have a rather big room - my room is only just over 1300 ft cubed (17.2 feet long, 11 feet wide, and 7 feet tall). I'm wondering how beneficial a reflective floor would be for me with a absorbing ceiling. Is it not worth it? Or if it is then would there be much difference between me taking the carpet out and having the cement floor or just throwing down sheets of plywood when I record? Instruments that I will be recording are acoustic guitar, electric guitar (miced amp), and vocals. No drums or piano. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[witzendoz]

Personally I like reflective floors with the absorbing ceiling.

If the carpets already down I would use some plywood over the top. You may not need to cover the while floor you could try covering areas under instruments that you are recording or mixing. The carpet also adds to the isolation through the floor a little. The trick is to take out some of the deadness of the room that carpet and absorbing ceiling would have created so that the room sounds natural without having troublesome reflections. Also if you are using ply over the carpet, it does not have to be very thick.

Concrete is OK with a couple of rugs that you can move around, but concrete is cold to stand on and has a more ping reflection than wood.

I have had carpet concrete and wood in various studios I have built over the years and wood wins for me.

Alan.

 

[devilsgirth]

Personally I like reflective floors with the absorbing ceiling.

If the carpets already down I would use some plywood over the top. You may not need to cover the while floor you could try covering areas under instruments that you are recording or mixing. The carpet also adds to the isolation through the floor a little. The trick is to take out some of the deadness of the room that carpet and absorbing ceiling would have created so that the room sounds natural without having troublesome reflections. Also if you are using ply over the carpet, it does not have to be very thick.

Concrete is OK with a couple of rugs that you can move around, but concrete is cold to stand on and has a more ping reflection than wood.

I have had carpet concrete and wood in various studios I have built over the years and wood wins for me.

Alan.

Awesome, thank you sir. I think I definitely will go with the plywood for recording.