Building a studio: desk + speaker placement

[kjell159]

Hello,
I am building some kind of studio but I need some tips/help with placing my stuff.
I'm going to put a desk, a 2-person (arm?, I'm not English)chair, a small table, probably my 3 guitars and 2 basses (One is headless (Steinberger) so hanging it on the wall is no good idea I guess. ) and my 2 amps there.

The room has no windows in the walls (2 in the ceiling, not from glass, rather some kind of plastic) so that is a good thing I hope. (Glass is very reflective, right?)
It was an aviary at first (I probably wasn't even born back then.) and then it became some kind of work kennel/pavilion/summerhouse. (Again I am not English so excuse me for the probably strange terms.)
It's in our garden but now it is isolated, we put extra walls (The outside walls are concrete.), got those painted, new ceiling and 'we' put a subfloor above the original floor and then laminate on top of that. (No hardwood, too expensive I guess. )


So my primar question is where do I put my speakers/studio monitors for the best mixing/listening position?
I really want to do this thing right.

And then, where do I put the sound isolation?
I know about bass building up in corners and first reflections but some help with that aswell is still desireable.

Also, is putting my speakers on just some isolation (pads) good enough or will putting them on stands really make a difference?
I rather want to chose for some isolation pads, in my opinion speaker stands look less pretty and motivating.

Lastly, (This is a less 'studio-building' one but it is about the fact that I'm going to put them there.) is it bad for my instruments/amps/speakers to be in a colder environment?
So yes, what can I do. (I already put them in bags but that doesn't apply to my speakers/amps.)
I don't believe it will freeze there but it will go below 10°C or 50°F.

I will include (I hope) a simple plan with the dimensions of the room in 2D.
I live in Belgium (Europe) so I use the head unit for lenghts/distances (meter) but I also included my measurements in inch for all the English/American/Australian? (I don't know exactly who uses what.) people that may read this.
(Actually I'm using centimeters, not meter.)

I'm only 15 years old so don't expect to see an architect drawing.
The lowest number is inch.
The small 'stripes' that are circled are the electrical outlets and the door isn't that hard to recognise I guess.

Thanks in advance.
And a Merry Christmas + a happy/lucky/yolly/musical/fun... New Year.

 

[mjbphotos]

Can you resize your drawing so we can see it all without having to scroll around?

 

[kjell159]

Oh,
sorry.

 

[mjbphotos]

Oh, man, that is NOT a good mixing space! Every internal 90 degree corner will need bass traps (I count 6 PLUS ceiling-wall corners, of course). I guess, if you HAVE to use it, put the desk on the 755cm wall, right next to the door, and try to keep your right speaker as far away from the corner as you can.

 

[kjell159]

You mean the 353 cm wall I guess?

But there is maybe a possibility to put a sliding/folding door.
Could that make the situation better?

So I actually get '2' separate rooms.

 

[JimmyS1969]

You mean the 353 cm wall I guess?

But there is maybe a possibility to put a sliding/folding door.
Could that make the situation better?

So I actually get '2' separate rooms.

Yeah, maybe. That is a tough one all around. If it were my room, I would probably do that. You need at least symmetry at your listening position somehow. Then treat the heck out of the room. I mean massive amounts of bass traps. It gonna be a tough one dood. But you can make it work for you.

If you could move that door, or at least make the bass trap (full height) there moveable, you will be best off. You really want those corners fully trapped on each side of your desk behind your monitors, equally.

I have kind of the same issue in my studio. A door off to the right wall from my listening position in the corner. I have a 8'X2'X4" bass trap that I scoot over to get to the drum room. It sucks, but it kinda works.

 

[kjell159]

Ok.
I did some research concerning the temperature on instruments in colder environments before I made this thread but I put my guitars and basses there now and it looks to seem fine.
Especially my Steinberger doesnt get out of tune.
(You can play on a Steinberger, or at least the one that I have, XT-2DB, for a couple of weeks, maybe even months and it will stay in tune, it's awesome and also sits comfortable when standing up.
Not trying to advert my bass or something. )

I probably will go with the isolation pads from Auralex and the Alpha-DST roominator kit.
Bass traps will be pricey for me but I will do almost anything to make it sound as good as possible.,


One last question:
When I divide the room,
does that make it possible to put my desk on the 180 cm side? (for practical and aestethic reasons)

 

[mjbphotos]

Putting your desk in that 180cm nook is not going to be good - essentially both monitors will be in the corner, you will need to really bass trap the whole nook, and then you are off-center for the rest of the room behind you,
Save your money on that roominator kit, you do not need all that auralex foam. Read the posts here about making bass traps yourself, using rockwool or mineral wool panels that you can put together yourself.

 

[kjell159]

I actually still have another question, one I forgot about.

Is it true that my mixing position (or my deskchair) needs to be 38% off the 353 cm wall?
Or is just getting a little off the wall good enough?
(In other home studios -on the internet- I don't see them sitting that far off the wall.)

 

[mjbphotos]

No, it's all about the type of monitors you have, the bass trapping on the 'front' wall (the wall behind the monitors) and traps at points of first reflection on the side walls.

 

[kjell159]

Ok.
I know the 'sweet' spot is a point of the equal triangle you need to make with your speakers but how do I know how far they (the speakers) need to be of the wall? (If I know the length is 440 cm.)

 

[mjbphotos]

Read this stick thread about small room acoustics - it will answer your question.

 

[kjell159]

I already read that article but it seems I overlooked the part concerning speaker placement.
Anyway,
thanks for the help you guys.