Grain silo listening room/home studio

[bgrothoff]

Hey All!

I’m finishing out the first floor of a 21’ diameter silo for a listening room/home studio. I haven’t been able to find much on the web regarding acoustics for a round room, so I’m struggling with the design. The walls are insulated, 2 x 6 x 8’ tall, and the floor is concrete, with an inside diameter of 19’ 8”. Exterior walls are 12 gauge steel. I’m trying to figure out what would be the best choices for the walls, ceiling and floors. I’ve got access to very cheap custom acoustic fabric wall panels, so I was thinking of covering the walls and ceilings with 1” or 2” thick acoustic panels covered in either fabric or vinyl. I was also thinking of a wood floor so the room is not quite so dead. I haven’t done anything yet so the room is a blank canvas!

The room will have an acoustic drum set, electric guitar and a set of Zaph SR-71’s for listening. There will probably be a couch in the room and a desk as well. There is one small window, and a 4' x 6'8" door that could be covered with fabric as well.

I’m kind of a noob when it comes to acoustics, so any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Brett

 

[mjbphotos]

My experience with round rooms is they are vastly echo-y. I would think the walls need to be treated near 100% with broadband absorbers (bass traps - not foam). The concrete floor is highly reflective, no need to put wood on it. You may need some throw rugs to tame those reflections. Ceiling cloud absorbers, too.

 

[ausrock]

I would be building an inner wall..........a solid timber frame, plasterboard and maybe MDF lined (the density will help with sound isolation. Don't attempt to follow the outer wall, create angles, etc., maybe by making built in storage spaces in the wall. Carefully placed absorption panels could give you a reasonable room.

Do a search for John Sayer's Studio Design Forums, use the search function and do some reading there........ then ask for advice...........like a number of other genuinely knowledgeable people, John left the studio design forum here years ago.