If I were going to build a stand alone Studio/Mancave advice

[JFoshee]

Thanks. I have a set of KRK 5" that I used earlier when I had my other room set up. I will still have my desk set up in one end with the Scarlett 8i6 to play with. Your right I have not even popped a line or bought lumber yet, but I have made up my mind its going to happen. It will be a long road. I hope to get the slab poured and closed in over the winter and spring if time and money allow. I am interested in speakers and speaker placement however. I have a pa system. Nothing quality at all. 8 channel Peavy monitor and some Kustom 15" speakers and two peavy 12" monitors. I would like for the music to sound as good as I can afford. What is that budget? Well I'm not sure. I don't have unlimited funds to throw at it, but in the same respect I only want to do this once. I may have to do it a little at a time but I don't think $4000-7000 would be out of the ballpark. Obviously, (it would seam) I would need a PA to play instruments and vocals through when getting together with friends. But would this also make a quality listening experience for socializing? Especially those in the other end of the room playing pool or lounging. I know I want good bass in the room. Not overwhelming boom bass just quality low end mostly for country, or the like, music. It's never to soon to plan I guess. Thanks for all the replies. I am taking notes.

[ecc83]

I am a bit confused. Do you want TWO sound systems? One being a PA rig to use when playing with the band and a second, higher quality "hi fi but loud" system for relaxed listening? If you actually want one system to do both jobs the choice is between quality monitors (+sub) that can go loud or PA speakers (+sub) that are of better than average sound quality. Neither system will be cheap but, since producing recordings is not in the frame, I think the latter course is likley to be cheaper.

I have read a few reviews in Sound on Sound recently of high quality PAs and will get back with some names. Fohnn is one that comes to mind.

Dave.

[jimmys69]

Research and then do some more research.

One guy who won't bullshit you is John Brandt. He also links to others that give great technical insight as well. Take a day or two to educate yourself, even if it makes your brain hurt. It did mine for a while...

Here is a link to his free resources and website:

Resources - John H. Brandt Acoustic Designs


Then from there you can design and build your own acoustic treatments or isolation walls. Just make sure you don't spend money in the wrong place if it not needed.

One thing John said to me in a Skype conversation (which he so graciously did without charging me) was, you are already good at mixing. If it works for you, then it is good.

This was after his giving free advice as to how to treat my control room and guitar isolation room with surprisingly low cost materials. The drum room wasn't so cheap but that is another story...

[ecc83]

I agree Jims that OP should spend money wisely. For instance he has said noise egress is not a problem and so neither is ingress either (not recording much at all) so "a room in a room" build is not needed, not the budget for it anyway.
I would suggest as solid a construction as possible, good heavy doors with good seals (windows?) Get the dimensions right for best spread of standing waves then see how it sounds.

Re speakers. There is now a good crop of line source PA gear coming in (nothing new under the sun!) and these tend to have much better midrange qualities than the usual "disco" 15" boxes with a horn tweeter. Line source speakers also give a fantastically good stereo image.

Dave.

[partonkevin]

I can't recommend specifics, but I can tell you about my room. It's 24'x35' with 9' sidewalls that vault to maybe 12-14'. I was on a tight budget. My walls are covered in 7/16" OSB and my ceiling is covered in fiberglass batt insulation with a white vinyl covering. My floor is concrete with a few area rugs. I use my room as you describe. It's great! I love it. I have NO sound treatment yet, but it still sounds great for jamming and for recording.

I have my amps lined up against one long wall facing the center. The drums are relatively center and face the amps. I have floor wedges in front of the drums facing back toward the amps. I get fairly good separation with no gobos. As far as sound, my only complaints are that I can't easily achieve a dead room sound or a small room sound. Although. I could solve this with some gobos. But I've had no complaints, so... Also, I would prefer a more dead area for mixing. But again, gobos would solve this.

If I were to build again, I would change a few things. I would add some open loft storage. I would have a bathroom in the building. I would build a 4x8' or so room to store guitars and double as a guitar cab iso booth. I would also give a little more thought to my HVAC. Luckily, these are things that I could mostly remedy without too much difficulty.

The ABSOLUTE best things about the large room is that we can all sit around and see and hear, I can track a complete live band, and the drums sound great with very little work.

[JFoshee]

Sorry I haven't replied in a while but I've been reading up and "snapping chalk lines". I have the footings dug and have started on forming for concrete but lots of rain here on weekends and dark when I get home. Building will be 22x30 outside dimensions. With 14' sidewalls this puts it well inside the "room mode calculator" I was looking at. It was said earlier that a vaulted ceiling was not best but what how about a 10' or 12" sidewall then vault up to the ceiling with a flat ceiling about a 6" flat area at 14'? I still plan to treat the flat side walls with acoustic treatment and bass traps in the corners.
Also, on sound. Probably a PA setup in one end for "picking and grinning" I will have my KRK 5's for mixing (such that it will be) and likely a HI FI in the other end around a TV and quality sound system. I'm going to try and post some pics so every one knows my goal and progress on the build. Again, thanks for all the input.

[JFoshee]

[JFoshee]

Sorry about the pics. I'll try to do better next time. The top left is my plan. Again sorry it's not in a digital format but i need something i can measure and touch. My dimensions are 1"=12". On the bar end I want a TV behind the bar with a descent system for listening pleasure. I want to add at this point that I appreciate everyone's input for all that has been added so far and I am trying to research as best I can before i post. I would also l would like to add that I do not not mean any disrespect to anyone on this forum, but I am not building a recording studio. I realize that most who probably post and visit here are recording enthusiast. I think that is great. I enjoy dabbling with it myself, but will likely never devote the time to be great at it. I am asking for assistance in getting the best sound quality in a multi purpose room. I realize this is somewhat like a "Spork" (a fork and spoon in one), usually not worth a damn for a fork or a spoon. However, I'm going to try. The room will mostly be used for lounging but occasionally will have some friends over to play a while. With all of that said, what about the ceiling? vault into a 6' flat in the top or just go straight 14'side walls?

[JFoshee]

Update: Concrete poured and side walls up. Final dimensions are 22'x40' with an 8'x20' storage shed on the side (per advice from partonkevin). Local music store recommends Peavey SSE 26 in the ceiling for a monitor like in a church. I plan to use my Pvi 8500 to power any monitors or mains. Only 400 watts but not a large room and not planning on big crowds. One day would like a really high end Hi Fi to top it off, but need to get a roof on first.
Sorry. Pics wont upload tonight. I'll try again later.

[rob aylestone]

The speaker wouldn't remotely be on my list of loudspeakers. Do you have to use small speakers for your fairly large space?