Making a flat sounding room!?!

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JustaBassist

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I am a newbie fo planning out acoustics and a floor plan. the rooms that I will be using for recording are in an old farm house attic, 23'x13'x3'x10 (LxWxH1xH2), at H2 is the peak which is 10 feet. That is the big room then the smaller room 10'x7'x3'x8 (LxWxH1xH2), those are all rough measurements. And I was thinking about putting the DAW on the other side of the upstairs in my room which has the 4 figure stereo system to use as more speaker references. One question, getting off topic, Would it be all right to run a 50' studio snake to the attic from my DAW? I'll have a custom made Belden studio snake done if its all right to do this.

So back the to room. How much acoustic foam should I need, I was looking at getting some of the budget quality Auralex foam. The large room sound has the reverb delay sound to it and the smaller one does not have much of that echo reverb sound to it. I used different methods to test the rooms acou. I know drums sound better in bigger rooms but I think I might have it in the smaller room. What are your thoughts on that.
 
If your looking at the auralex products, take a look at their room selection chart from their website which suggests different products and a certain percentage coverage based on the type of room that your using it for (ie. control room, live room, vocal booth, etc..)

They also have a specific room acoustic calculation where you can enter your room dimensions (length, width, height) and also some budgetary contraints and it displays 3 results, 1 for optimal (no budget contraints), 1 for the budget contraints that you entered, and 1 more for minimal coverage. This should get you started on selecting a room kit to meet your specific needs.

You could also buy their products individually if need be.
 
Visit johnlsayers.com for real advice on making a flat room. auralexx is cute I gave away a ton of it after my time on Johns forum. :)
 
Fitz, you must be bored. LOL If his thread said Flat room verses Flat Sounding Room i'd run with the joke. LOL
 
Well that site has helped a lot and now I'm just woundering about reference books on acoustics that you recommend for a beginner to get.
 
Hey Ethan, what credentials does it take to become a treatment "expert"? :)
fitZ
 
Ok first I would like to thank all the people that have replied to this thread, you "k"nowledge has helped a lot. So below this text is a PDF layout of my room that I would like to have the control set up in. Right now its my home theatre system and there will be enough room to set up my Pro Tools system behing the love seat. The room demensions are 22'x13'x8' with wooden floors and ceiling. My question is, how much 703 and 705 should I use and where would be good locations. This will be for a home theatre setup and a control room setup. There are slanted ceilings on both ends of the room i think they start at 4 feet then continue up at a 45 degree angle. So that may make things different.

About the sound of the room. Well, I put up a layer of 1/2" sheet over the old existing wall and put up some tounge and groove paneling on the ceiling which brightened the sound of the room abit. So right now theres luts of fluttering going on, some really harsh peaks through out the room. When I was doing pink noise testing on the sub, 40 hert test tone, I noticed a lot of bass amplitude and bass depression everywhere. This room needs Help!



lets see if this image will work.
 

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Oh and BTW the rear speakers are mounted from the 45 ceiling.
 
fitZ,

> what credentials does it take to become a treatment "expert"? <

A lot of experience treating a variety of rooms, an in-depth understanding of the issues and the available tools, and it really really helps to also understand electronics and music to be able to tie it all together.

Now, what can I help you with? :cool:

--Ethan
 
JB,

> layout of my room <

I'd rearrange the layout to be upside down if possible, so the listening position faces up from the bottom. That will make it symmetrical on the left and right, which you need.

> how much 703 and 705 should I use and where <

Straddle as many corners as you can using rigid fiberglass that's 3 or 4 inches thick. Then put more panels on the walls and ceiling at the first reflection points, though those can be only 2 inches thick. Then you can add more as needed.

> right now theres luts of fluttering <

You can treat opposing parallel walls using 2-inch thick rigid fiberglass applied in stripes or a checkerboard pattern to cover half of those surfaces.

--Ethan
 
Excellant, I was taking in consideration of flip-flopping the listen postion, but when I get reference monitors shouldn't they be in the back of the room behind the love seat then use my current system as another reference. Which one would be more crucial to have setup in the back, the HT system on the ProTools setup? I know the "L" is a disadvantage but right now I have a portable wall 8'x6' (lxh) with thick blankets covering it so it is dividing that little extra space from the rest, it doesn't do much, but its more as a mental feeling that it is actually doing something.

I took some measurements for the placements of the panelings and I think four panels setup in the bottom left, bottom right and top right corners so there would be two panels on each wall meeting eachother in the corner. And that center left small corner you can see on the picture would perfectly fitting one panel laying across the corner and then do the same for the top left corner by the window.

So there would be 12 panels acting as bass trapts then roughly 20 placed throughout the room. Does that sound right for that size of a room? That would cover 4 on the ceiling, 4 on the slanted ceiling and the remaining will be placed through out the room. and right now theres just one thick rug in front of the center channel speaker meeting the listening postion just to absorb so dialog when watching movies.

I have been calling to different insulation companies today, on a saturday, and no one seemed to be open so I guess I'll have to wait for monday. But what would 12 2x4 panels of 4" thick fiberglass and 20 2x4 2" panels cost me? Just rough guess for a price. I'm on a bit of a budget so...I'm hoping to spend under 200, 300 dollars to fix this room, then for the other preformance rooms I asked the rest of my band to help pay for some 703 and 705 insulation, so the preformance rooms aren't that big of a budget problem. I am a recent grad. from high school, so I'm just inching by to be able to afford ProTools and other equipment as well.
 
JB,

> when I get reference monitors shouldn't they be in the back of the room <

Here are two links you'll find useful. The first is my recent article from EQ magazine that details the construction of a surround mix room, and shows where all five speakers should go:

http://www.realtraps.com/art_studio.htm

This next one explains how to set up speakers and the listening position, and it offers additional insights not covered in the first article above:

http://www.realtraps.com/art_room-setup.htm

> So there would be 12 panels acting as bass trapts then roughly 20 placed throughout the room. Does that sound right for that size of a room? <

Yes, that's great, as long as the panels are thick enough. As for cost, expect to pay somewhere between 30 and 60 cents per square foot for 703 one inch thick. Double that for 705, and/or multiply times 2, 3, or 4 for panels 2, 3, or 4 inches thick.

--Ethan
 
Those RealTraps articles are great, I've should of found them early. Although I wont be doing any 5.1 mixes, those articles have tought me other things I have not taken to thought.
 
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