Acoustically treating a room

[AddisonXI]

Does room treatment depend any on monitor placement? Such as bass traps the same height as the monitors? I've been reading a few different sites on treating a room and they all recommend bass traps in all four corners of the room. So I've gathered that..which will cost. Is it more of a guestimation of placing foam in different places finding the best suitable location for them?(depending on the room itself?)

Just trying to figure in the expenses of room treatment with the rest of the stuff.(since I'm learning it's pretty important ^_^)

I assume it's different for every room with exception of staples of bass traps.

The room I'll be treating was apart of one big room turned into two bedrooms and one living area.

Well, that's all for now. Gonna browse the forums now for how to make home made bass traps and etc.

It's a pleasure as always guys.

 

[Capriccio]

Does room treatment depend any on monitor placement?

If you start with your monitors (the tweeters) at ear height, and at two points of an equilateral triangle, your head being at the third point. Sit so that you are 38% of the length of the room from the front wall. This is a starting position. The sweet spot will be near there. You will find it by listening and acoustically measuring your room.

Such as bass traps the same height as the monitors?

Bass traps will go all the way from floor to ceiling:

Is it more of a guestimation of placing foam in different places finding the best suitable location for them?

Foam is best placed outdoors with your garbage. Mineral wool or Rockwool is the material for traps, the ordinary fluffy stuff is fine for the corner traps. Denser batts are better for the broadband traps that you will place on walls and hang from the ceiling. Owens Corning 705, Roxul Safe 'n' Sound or similar.

Placement will be at the first reflection points. If you sit at your mixing and listening position, with the monitors in their place, have someone hold a mirror up, flat againt the walls. Wherever the mirror is when you can see either monitor in it, that is a first reflection point and is where to place a trap - on all 4 walls and the ceiling.

Just trying to figure in the expenses of room treatment with the rest of the stuff.

Prices vary by country and I am not in the US. As a rough guide, expect DIY traps to cost between a third and half the price of ready made traps (eg. from GIK or Real Traps) to make.

I assume it's different for every room with exception of staples of bass traps.

There is usually something less than textbook about our rooms. It might be the less than helpful placement of a door or window. Just do the best with what you have.

Most of the textbook stuff is to do with control rooms. If you also intend to use your room for tracking then you may want to use portable traps so that you can adjust for a livelier sound or to trap unwanted reflections from positions other than where you sit to mix and listen to your monitors.

... how to make home made bass traps and etc.

There are examples over at Gearslutz and YouTude videos - search for making bass traps.

 

[cobaltaudio]

That's a pretty extensive answer you've got from Capriccio. In short, there are a large number of variables that define how best to acoustically treat a room, which is why studio designers pay good money for somebody who really knows their stuff and doesn't have to "guesstimate".

Having said that, you can make a decent attempt at it yourself, but it won't be cheap and it's not easy to get right through trial and error.

Let us know how you get on with it though!

 

[Massive Master]

Just side-noting (as Capriccio pretty much covered it):

You're treating a room -- You're positioning your speakers in that room.

Speaker positioning is certainly important - But room treatment is going to be "semi-universal" in most rooms. Sound funnels into corners, you want as much trapped as possible from bouncing out, you broadband trap the corners. You simply can't go wrong with corner and high-side broadband trapping. Speaker placement itself has that "semi-universal" starting point also (.38 the length of the long wall from the short wall).

But no doubt -- I've rarely ever been in a properly treated space that needed more than a sheet or two of foam (and usually none).

 

[RAMI]

Foam is best placed outdoors with your garbage..

So glad you said that.

 

[moresound]

HERE

 

[AddisonXI]

Investing in a studio means REALLY investing and not just throwing the cheapest things you can find together. ^_^ Thank you for the detailed answers. You guys should pick your best subjects on recording at home and just become an accredited entity.

 

[arcadeko]

Investing in a studio means REALLY investing and not just throwing the cheapest things you can find together. ^_^ Thank you for the detailed answers. You guys should pick your best subjects on recording at home and just become an accredited entity.

I am in the process of treating my studio. Check-out the studio building forum.

 

[Rigel]

I wonder whether standard room furnitures like armchairs, curtains, rugs and etc are enough to fight against reflections and reverberations...

 

[JimmyS1969]

To a small degree, yes. Testing is the best way to see what it is you need to do.

 

[RAMI]

I wonder whether standard room furnitures like armchairs, curtains, rugs and etc are enough to fight against reflections and reverberations...

A little bit. But you'll need to treat your room for low-end. You don't even need to measure anything. You'll need proper bass traps in as many corners as you can them in for starters. After that, take care of your first reflection points. No "measurements" are needed to determine that you WILL need treatment in those areas of the room.

 

[JimmyS1969]

A little bit. But you'll need to treat your room for low-end. You don't even need to measure anything. You'll need proper bass traps in as many corners as you can them in for starters. After that, take care of your first reflection points. No "measurements" are needed to determine that you WILL need treatment in those areas of the room.

Absof***enlutely! There is no doubt that room corners and first reflection points should be included with every monitor purchase. Seriously, there is no getting around how important this is. No one has ever said, 'Man I wasted a small amount of cash on making some room treatment and it was a waste of time'. Ever! We see everyday on this forum how people want to select the perfect monitor in their budget. The point of getting good monitors is pretty much ridiculous without treating the room at the same time.

Rigel asked if room furnishings and such were enough to 'fight' against reflections and flutter echo. I should have made clear that the only real way to 'determine' just how much they help is to test the room. At minimal, the 4 vertical corner treatment should be considered a redundant necessity in any control room environment period.