Best placement for mixing desk in small room?

[ericthayne]

Hi all,

This is the space that I'm using for a mixing room. The room is almost square (I know, not ideal, but it's what I have). I'm trying to figure out where would be the best place to put the mixing desk. Given the positions of the door, window, and raised ceiling (where the lights are), what do you think would be best? I'm trying to make it as easy as possible to treat first reflections and create symmetry.

PS, worth noting that the window on the left covers about 2/3 of that wall.

Thanks,
Eric

 

[GIK Acoustics]

I would set up so that the window is in front of you. You should be able to treat the sidewall reflections no problem from there, some bass might escape through the window to give you a bit less resonance, and keeps the asymmetric portion of the ceiling and wall behind you.

 

[ericthayne]

I would set up so that the window is in front of you. You should be able to treat the sidewall reflections no problem from there, some bass might escape through the window to give you a bit less resonance, and keeps the asymmetric portion of the ceiling and wall behind you.

Thanks for the reply! If I set up in front of the window AND keep the desk centered, then the desk overlaps the end of the window by about a foot on the left side. Because the window isn't centered on the wall. Thus leaving my left monitor right in front of the wall and my right monitor in front of the window.

Is that okay? Or should I move the desk to the right a little bit and sacrifice symmetry?

Here's another photo so you know what I mean.

 

[jhbrandt]

Listen to it.. how does that sound?
You'll need trapping on the wall behind you, left and right, and on the ceiling. But listen to it as it is and then make a decision. You can also use a free program called Room EQ Wizard to test.

Cheers,
John

 

[Ethan Winer]

I'm trying to figure out where would be the best place to put the mixing desk.

I'll be glad to give you my opinion, but it would help a lot to see a floor plan! With only the photos you posted, it's impossible to say for sure where is best.

--Ethan

 

[ericthayne]

I'll be glad to give you my opinion, but it would help a lot to see a floor plan! With only the photos you posted, it's impossible to say for sure where is best.

--Ethan

Thanks Ethan! Here's a drawing of the room.

The dimensions are 10'8"x9'11". On the other side of the east wall is a neighboring office. I want to keep the sound as isolated as much as possible from them, but not totally critical as the walls are pretty well soundproofed already. I'd also like to have a corner of this room treated for recording so that I can do personal projects when I don't have someone to help me in the tracking room.

I have bass traps to cover all four corners and enough foam to treat first reflections on the side walls, ceiling, and behind me.

What do you think?

 

[Ethan Winer]

I'd probably face the wall on the left, though it's not clear if there's a window into the tracking room. If so, face the wall on the top.

Don't forget that rectangle rooms have 12 corners, not just four. In your case there are even more, though the best corners for bass traps are "major" corners, not those that form at small junctures.

--Ethan

 

[ericthayne]

Great, thanks for all the advice everyone. Ethan, I've read a bunch of your stuff on acoustic treatment. This has all been very enlightening for me. We'll see how this goes!

 

[GIK Acoustics]

Ah, I wasn't aware the window ended there (thought that it went the whole distance of the wall. In that case I would face the wall on the west side of the drawing you provided. This will still keep the asymmetric corner behind you and help keep some bass symmetry up front. Also lets you treat the front corners and first reflection points with no problems, but you'll still need to treat some other areas in the room as well - behind you, on the ceiling, and other corners to start.

 

[jhbrandt]

I'd probably face the wall on the left, though it's not clear if there's a window into the tracking room. If so, face the wall on the top.

Don't forget that rectangle rooms have 12 corners, not just four. In your case there are even more, though the best corners for bass traps are "major" corners, not those that form at small junctures.

--Ethan

+1

- John