acoustic treatment for office desk with hutch?

[Daniel J]

Hi everyone!
I'm brand new to these forums! I've been doing hobby recording for a while and finally have a designated room for recording! Well... actually, it's my office for my home business, but it doubles as my recording room by night! Since the desk was purchased for business purposes, you'll see that there are many little openings (for speakers, monitor etc) in the hutch. I've been reading up on acoustic treatment and though I still don't fully understand, it seems that the best place to start is directly behind the speakers in the middle of the wall and on the left and right walls at ear level. My question is, considering the setup of this desk, would I put foam INSIDE the desk- behind the monitor or speakers? I'm not sure where to start! Any help is appreciated! I've attached a few photos for your reference. Thanks in advance!

 

[Ethan Winer]

it seems that the best place to start is directly behind the speakers in the middle of the wall and on the left and right walls at ear level.

The front wall behind your speakers is the last place to worry about, though the side-wall reflection points are important to treat:

Early Reflections
Front Wall Absorption

My question is, considering the setup of this desk

In all honesty, having shelves like that with cut-outs on your desk is not very good for audio. Can you remove that or replace it?

This short article explains what you should do generally:

Acoustic Basics

--Ethan

 

[Daniel J]

Thanks for the great information! I'll go through this stuff and see what I can do. I would consider getting a new desk in the future. Is there anything relatively inexpensive that would act as a good office desk AND studio desk? If not, would I simply treat both sides of the shelf cut-outs with acoustic foam? Thanks again!

 

[mjbphotos]

Take the monitors out of the desk cubbyholes, put them on stands to each side of the desk (but you're getting too near the corner on the right - try centering everything on that wall). Forget foam, build/buy some bass traps. And read everything Ethan points you to!

 

[Meatballx]

There really isn't much you can do to subvert the problems having that hutch will create. Placing your monitors inside of the shelves of your hutch is likely going to cause massively disproportionate bass response, and you'll surely hear that when you play your mixes on other systems. Mr. Winer is right on the money, though. The first thing you can do to substantially improve your sonic accuracy is to handle those early reflections.

If I were in your position here is what I would do.

1) Make sure your furniture is optimally placed in your room. Your desk should be placed in the direct center of the shortest wall in your room (unless its shaped all funny). For example, if your room is 8'x12', you would want the center of your desk placed at the 4' mark of the 8' wall. The allows the sound to travel further without reflecting from a surface and altering your perception of your mix.
2) Strategically place acoustic treatment at the points of earliest reflection in your room.
3) Remove the hutch and get/build some monitor stands and place some isolation pads under the units themselves. (Auralex MoPADs are a great start)

Btw, I am NOT an expert. If anything I said is wrong please feel free to correct me.

 

[Daniel J]

Thank you everyone for the fantastic advise! Looks like my next buy will be either speaker stands or a new desk! And then we'll be rearranging some furniture!