Help me set up my studio acoustically!

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Lunchbox2212

Lunchbox2212

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Ok, Im just getting in to a new room.The only prob is, the new room is almost a square!!!
I know...It sucks....But its my only option! The dimensions are 9ft 11in x 9ft 6in,with a 8ft ceiling and the room has a window and a closet. The floor is just concrete, but Im going to cover most of it with rugs. I ordered 8in Foam bass traps for the wall that my desk will be on. I have just enough to put the bass traps from floor to ceiling in each corner on that wall, but I'm not sure if thats what I will do. I am going to order 6 Roxul Acoustical Fire Batts, Mineral Wool, 2-inch, and I might go ahead and get 12 of them because I know I will need them at some point. I will be putting them in frames and covering them with fabric! I am ordering them from atsacoustics.com, they have great prices on DIY stuff!

Anyways I was wondering if anyone knew of anything else that I could do to make the room sound good. I will be recording all instruments and mixing in the room. Where do you thing the best place for the bass traps would be. I was also wondering about the placement of my Roxul Mineral Wool panels and if you guys think that 6 will be enough or if I really need 12.

Has anyone used the Roxul Mineral Wool panels or Roxul Rockboard 60 panels?

I have posted a pic of the room.

Thanks guys!
 

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Why would you want to cover a concrete floor with carpets????

And....yes, remove anything having to do with "foam" from your plans.
 
Lunchbox2212 said:
Well, thats a start I guess!
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:D, good you got over your first major hurdle- the desire to use foam. lol.
You want bass trapping and broad band absorption. Best place to start is 2ft.x4ft. rigid fiberglass panels spanning the corners of your room where possible. Then figure out where you want your desk, then treat the first reflection point- this ought to help http://www.realtraps.com/art_room-setup.htm. There's nothing wrong with a hard floor. A rockwool cloud over the mix position can be a good addition too.
 
Sweet, all good tips guys. I guess I thought that the concrete in a small room would give the room a little to much echo.

Any more tips or suggestions?

Thanks
 
I would also love to know what is wrong with carpeting a concrete floor. I am currently building a studio in my garage and I have a problem with the floor being so cold and uncormfortable on the feet. Is there any major disadvantage I should be concerned about with carpeting?
 
chava said:
I would also love to know what is wrong with carpeting a concrete floor. I am currently building a studio in my garage and I have a problem with the floor being so cold and uncormfortable on the feet. Is there any major disadvantage I should be concerned about with carpeting?
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I wouldn't call it a major disadvantage, and it might actually be preferable to throw a few rugs in spots. But, in general, you want a reflective surface for a floor, and non-reflective surface as a ceiling.
 
sorry OP, i need to borrow your thread for a moment.

people say reflective surfaces are bad, people say use acoustic treatment on the left side, right side, and above your head to prevent early reflections. you put bass traps in corners to prevent reflections(i think) so why in the world would you want a reflective floor when you have spent the time and money to make everything else non-reflective?

im a noob idiot so help me out here. that just doesnt make sense to me :confused::confused:
 
You dont want or need everything to be non-reflective. Your objective is a balanced room with no high peaks or nulls in any particular frequency- most problematic in a "small" room being the bass frequencies. You want traps in the corners because (for whatever scientific reason) that is the most efficient place to tame bass. You also dont want an excessive amount of reverberation or echo, as that colors the sound of the instruments you might be micing and it also affects how you'll mix in the space.

I think you can have a room thats too dead. You can certainly have a room that's too live. Balance is good.
 
Kingofpain678 said:
sorry OP, i need to borrow your thread for a moment.

people say reflective surfaces are bad, people say use acoustic treatment on the left side, right side, and above your head to prevent early reflections. you put bass traps in corners to prevent reflections(i think) so why in the world would you want a reflective floor when you have spent the time and money to make everything else non-reflective?

im a noob idiot so help me out here. that just doesnt make sense to me :confused::confused:
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Hey dude :D

It's not so much of making the room "non-reflective", it's more about controlling the reflections.
You're not lookin for a "dead" room, just one that's controlled. "Tuned"...so to speak.
Like the reason bass traps go in corners is because that's where bass build up happens the worst. Creates havoc when you're tryin to get an accurate audio picture.

Or I could be full of shit. :cool:
:p
 
So a rug under my drums and my desk will be fine? That would be easy for me to do anyways!
 
Typically, yes...that would be fine. The thing is, with a hard floor you can always add rugs. With a carpeted floor there's really not much you can do other than put plywood on top of it.

A few more tips:

• Make sure you setup so that you’re firing down the longest dimension of the room.
• Your head should be placed 38% of the way into the room, centered between the left and right walls
• Your head should also be located at the tip of an equilateral triangle with your speakers. Start at a 5’ width and go from there.
• Use at least 4” bass trapping in all the corners, floor to ceiling if possible.
• Use 4” or 6” bass traps on the back wall; the thicker the better basically.
• Use 4” panels behind the speakers on the front wall
• The reflection points to the right, left and above your head can be treated with either 2” or 4” panels. I prefer 4” panels personally; you can never really overdo bass trapping.
• In the case of larger rooms (like yours) you can use diffusion on the right and left walls

Go HEAVY on the broad band and bass trapping. You'll be nearly tripling every mode so you'll need all of it you can possibly get. No 2" panels in this room...all superchunck, 4" or 6".

Frank
 
Dogbreath said:
Hey dude :D

It's not so much of making the room "non-reflective", it's more about controlling the reflections.
You're not lookin for a "dead" room, just one that's controlled. "Tuned"...so to speak.
Like the reason bass traps go in corners is because that's where bass build up happens the worst. Creates havoc when you're tryin to get an accurate audio picture.

Or I could be full of shit. :cool:
:p
Click to expand...

ooohhh. alright. i really need to spend more time in the studio building section. im a complete idiot with acoustics :(

oh and its good to see you again dog :D
 
• Your head should be placed 38% of the way into the room,
Click to expand...
Phillip would be proud of you. Unfortunately, there are other pro's who completely disregard that theory ...in ANY room.
 
Thanks Weasel, very good advice!

Anyone know what will be the best place for amps to be in the room, Im thinking about just throwing them in the closet, But the closet has no door so I guess I will save a few panels to cover the amps with.
 
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