Friend's room setup

[pandamonk]

(Also posted in StudioBuild)

I'm helping a friend with some recording equipment, and now i wanna help his room acoustics.

His room setup just now is shown below

He doesn't plan/want to move his room about so I'm going to try and make the computer area better acoustically.

I plan to build a platform for his screen, and monitors, and two acoustic (not sure what to call them), to deflect the sound behind him to be absorbed by absorbant panels i will hang, and diffused(i know not much)but the cds and hifi system. The mdf deflecting panels are shown secondly, and then the layout of the recording area.

 

[Ethan Winer]

> He doesn't plan/want to move his room about so I'm going to try and make the computer area better acoustically. <

The only way he'll get decent results in there is to rotate the setup so he's facing the wall on the right side of the drawing. Not only does he then get to look out the window, that also puts the rear wall much farther back behind him.

--Ethan

 

[TragikRemix]

i would put the bed in the little space where the computer is, and move all the gear to the big part

actually, ditch the bed and let him sleep on the couch at your place..

 

[pandamonk]

> He doesn't plan/want to move his room about so I'm going to try and make the computer area better acoustically. <

The only way he'll get decent results in there is to rotate the setup so he's facing the wall on the right side of the drawing. Not only does he then get to look out the window, that also puts the rear wall much farther back behind him.

--Ethan

I do know this, and I have suggested it, but he's not hugely concerned about acoustics. He just wants to get his music recorded. But I've got him interested enough that he's willing to try this idea. Will it help at all?

 

[pandamonk]

i would put the bed in the little space where the computer is, and move all the gear to the big part

actually, ditch the bed and let him sleep on the couch at your place..

Lol, good idea about him at my place, but yeah, I haven't really drawn that to scale so I'm unsure if it will fit, and if it does it'll be really wierd and I'm not sure he'll like it. I was aiming to just keep the room setup the same, cause it's good, and trying my idea, as long as it'll work. I'm not sure I'll be able to persuade him to change his room setup to help acoustics. He's just recording himself for himself. Maybe let a few friends hear, and maybe record a demo with his acoustic(2 acoustic guitars and vox)band.

 

[Ethan Winer]

> Will it help at all? <

Not really. I just suggested he do that to waste his time and yours.

Of COURSE it will help. A LARGE amount.

Sheesh...



--Ethan

 

[pandamonk]

> Will it help at all? <

Not really. I just suggested he do that to waste his time and yours.

Of COURSE it will help. A LARGE amount.

Sheesh...



--Ethan

I know yours will help Ethan...Of course it will! But he doesn't seem keen on changing his layout. Anyway, my dad and i built the platform, and those deflective panels, and it seems to have made quite a difference. We tested it out with his crappy computer speakers, first without anything and secondly with the speakers raised to ear height on the platform, with home made iso pad thingys, and the deflective panels shown below. We can certainly hear a difference. It may not be as good as your sugestion, but with keeping the layout the same, i think it helps.

 

[pandamonk]

This is how it looks all setup.

Just gotta add absorbtion behind him

 

[c7sus]

After he starts recording and it sounds like ass he'll get interested in acoustics.

 

[pandamonk]

After he starts recording and it sounds like ass he'll get interested in acoustics.

well he's interested enough to allow me 2 do this. It does sound a lot better than it did. So yeh it'll sound like ass, but not as much as it would have.

Anyway it's just a cheap setup to get everything down/maybe make some demos. For the good stuff he'll come to me, once my studio's done.

What I've suggested is:

M-Audio AudioBuddy
Behringer U-CONTROL UCA202
T.bone SC300(Thomann own brand condenser, £20)
T.bone MB75(Thomann own brand SM57 copy, £25)
The Box NF06 A(Thomann own brand, 6.5" woofer, active monitors, £100)

 

[pandamonk]

Sorry to bring up this old thread, but there's an update to the situation. I today managed to coax him to move around his room. Is this better? He'll hopefully be getting the recording equipment in a few weeks. We're still trying to decide on what though, but there isn't a great amount left to decide on. Gonna swap the audiobuddy for a peavey 4 mic i/p desk that costs the same.

 

[TexRoadkill]

That should be better. Are you guys planning on mixing on those tiny speakers? You're probably better off using his Hi-Fi system.

 

[c7sus]

Dave doesn't listen.

He should have followed Ethans' advice.

That sloped ceiling is a major buzzkill.

 

[pandamonk]

That should be better. Are you guys planning on mixing on those tiny speakers? You're probably better off using his Hi-Fi system.

Nah, Like i said earlier, he's gonna buy some equipment soon, and that includes studio speakers with 6.5" woofers. Their quite cheap, so they wont be too flat, but they range 35Hz-20kHz, which is decent. With the room he has, the flatneess wont really make a difference, 'cause i doubt the room response is anywhere near flat.

 

[pandamonk]

Dave doesn't listen.

He should have followed Ethans' advice.

That sloped ceiling is a major buzzkill.

Hey, i believe this layout to be better due to the sloped ceiling. It removes the problematic ceiling first reflection point, by firing the sound to the back of the room, where I've installed a small amount of acoustic foam. I know it's really not enough, but it's something.

Anyway i have followed God's, I mean Ethan's, advice to make the speakers fire down the longest part of the room. Also with the slope the desk had to sit a few feet from the wall which is an acoustic bonus anyway. Anyway the 3 first reflection points are covered aiming the sound to the back wall, and this is what i aimed for. I know there's gonna be problematic frequencies in this room, especially in the bass, and I'd love to install more treatment, but it's his room and money, so I've done enough to reduce the stereo imaging problems he would have faced.