What sweetbeats has been up to anyway...

[j.harv]

Sweetbeats...Im liking the way that music room of yours is coming together.
You just totally inspired me to get off my ass and start making space in the basement of the house Im renting.It was pretty cluttered and I have my drums down there,so I thought its about time to take the 388 off the kitchen table and set up my little analog studio down there.I have always had concerns about taking the 388 downstairs because it feels a little damp.But lately,everytime I have been going down there recently,it doesn't seem so bad.I will get a dehumidifier very soon though.Now I have 2 "studios" at my place.One on the main floor for my Korg digital and where I keep my collection of guitars.Its kind of a small room,just enough to sit in and track guitars,vocals etc...This is why Im happy about making space in the basement.Now I can go down there and track everything.I can even hold a jam session too.
Can't wait to see your set up once finished.

Here are some pics

 

[WhinyLittleRunt]

Very inspiring thread, Cory I wish I knew about the Quietrock when I built my home studio at my parents' house in late 2003... I opted for sound-deadening vinyl that we put up over the studs and then drilled the sheetrock right over that. It didn't do anything to soundproof the room, and it cost a lot... Kind of a gigantic bummer.

Keep the thread alive

 

[sweetbeats]

j.harv, I love the room...that looks awesome. Total moody vibe in there with that kit and the 388. Do get a dehumidifier. We have one that we got abut 10 years ago and it has come in handy many times. It has a humidistat on it so you can set the moisture level and it runs automatically.

'Runt, et al, I'll let you all know how the QuietRock works out. Bummer on your experience with the vinyl. Maybe look into that Green Glue that Steve
M linked above?

 

[sweetbeats]

Well I've been a little more of a lurker lately but I'm keeping busy...

Got one of my CRL SEP400A multiband dynamics units recapped and modded to compare with a stock version when the studio gets setup.

Been busy on the Ampex MM-1000 on multiple points.

Finally put together some dedicated mic preamp kits I got from Uneeda Audio for my Radio Shack PZM mics...The kits (which include the PCB's and the parts to stuff in 'em with the version I purchased...I furnished all the connectors, wiring and the project boxes) were $40 each IIRC...another $20 per kit for the rest of the stuff I suppose...so about $60 for each mic (I have two). The kits turn the RS PZM's into a P48 powered balanced unit from the stock 9V powered unbalanced unit...and the preamp is...*much* nicer. Haven't used these yet but I'm excited. I've gotten a lot of mileage out of my RS PZM's over the years...they are great for mic'ing rooms...sound natural...no fuss. But according to Uneeda Audio these kits unleash the potential of these humble mics in terms of decreased self noise, increased response and dynamic range as well as the convenience of a phantom-powered balanced connection...the stock 1/4" TS connectors get lopped off for mini XLR from the mic to the preamp and then standard XLR from the preamp out. Anyway, just one more ste toward getting several years of projects conquered. The kits came from Uneeda Audio very complete, and all the components were very nice quality including the PCB itself. Nicely done. And the instructions were outstanding as well as the after-sale support. Thumbs up.

Finally, in spite of recouperating from back surgery we've been making headway on continued work on our home remodel. A friend and I got the new master suite trimmed out (base, window and door) and later this week I'll start on the hard surface flooring. Master suite is just about for carpet to be installed and when they come to do that we'll have them reuse an old section of carpet from another place in the house for the studio. Base trim will need to be installed in the studio before that time as well as the doors so we've got some things to keep us moving.

 

[SteveM]

Cory, I was just looking at those kits the other day. You had to buy the case separately? How are the PZM's sounding?

 

[stevieb]

...amazing what you can find on your kids' cameras...

Just wait 'till they are teenagers...

 

[Blue Jinn]

Hey,

Good to hear from you, I ran across that kit just yesterday trawling the web for microphone modding info.

As for damp basements, I finally got around to putting some masonry sealing cement stuff on one of my basement walls and painted teh other. It is still a basement, but the feeling of damp and dank is sure diminished by the sealing. (Except during heavy rains when the damn place leaks.) Another patch going on the wall this weekend....

BTW, it *is* amazing how kids can take such fantastic pictures...

 

[sweetbeats]

Cory, I was just looking at those kits the other day. You had to buy the case separately? How are the PZM's sounding?

Yeah, case and jacks and all that separately...blank case so you have to drill for the jacks and mounting screws and all that.

Dunno how they sound yet. Might have a chance to try later this week.

 

[zorf]

Hey Sweets,
Take it easy there.
You just had back surgery, dude.
Not to be a nag....
Maybe just supervise and get a friend or pay someone to do the work?

 

[sweetbeats]

Oh I drilled the cases and all that before surgery...soldered the PCB's too...I just did the wiring and assembled everything while recovering which can be done laying down.

 

[zorf]

Ok,
Just pace yourself, and take frequent breaks and stretch and
Stuff like that.
Excited to hear about your project nearing completion.

 

[sweetbeats]

Ok,
Just pace yourself, and take frequent breaks and stretch and
Stuff like that.
Excited to hear about your project nearing completion.

You bet!

Thanks for the concern!

Okay...the carpet goes in Thursday...we are using a piece of berber type carpet that is currently in the old part of the family room and dining area...its in good shape, will continue to wear well, isn't plush (all the better on which to roll big tape machines), and the color scheme will look nice in there. Plus, we already own the carpet. The price is right.

I've got the second door ordered for the double-door entry...should be here and installed in a week or so along with the first one.

Then the base, door and window trim can go up which I've learned how to do and there's not a terribly large amount to do. Once the trim is finished up the room will be...done. Down the road I'll run snake cable through the chases and wire up some wall jack panels but that can come later.

 

[sweetbeats]

Carpet is in...doors are in...trim is up. Trim still needs a first sanding, second coat of filler, final sanding spot priming and finish coat but...its almost done. Can't find my SPL meter. I want to put up some data on the sound attenuation. Its pretty cool. You can wail on the drums and right outside the room hold a conversation at a normal level no problem. Thre are some spots in the house where there is a LF resonance from the kick drum but there are focused areas. Overall I'd say its a success. Once the trim is all done I can officially start moving in and setting stuff up.

 

[SteveM]

Nice!

 

[cjacek]

Ooo, lovely! Can't believe it's the same space!! Nice, warm and friendly..

 

[GCalo]

--- You can wail on the drums and right outside the room hold a conversation at a normal level no problem. ---

Boy that's hard to beat!!!

Sounds like you might need an experienced audio guy there!!!!

 

[sweetbeats]

The room is officially finished!

And I'm movin' in!!!

Got some work finished on the Ampex MM-1000 so I could tuck it up against the wall without feeling like I was just going to have to pull it out again.

Here is a shot looking in through the doorway. Doesn't look much different than previous pictures but the trim is all finished.

Then stepping in and turning left you see this...the mixer will go along the wall to the left and there is blocking in the walls to mount the monitor platforms as well as to wall-mount a flat panel computer monitor...the three-gang wall plate on the left is a low-voltage chase access that goes to the opposite wall and then also to the exterior of the room (which is an entryway utility "mud room" off the garage...will work for a separate tracking space if needed), and the three-gang plate to the right is the dedicated power circuit (i.e. that outlet box is the only thing on the breaker) and there are actually TWO 12/2 romex wires going from the panel to that outlet box so that I can hook up an isolation transformer in the future if I want to/need to go that route:

Now turning to the right you can see the shelf units mounted to the wall (and I'm going to mount two more on top) and the space to the left that will be for my drums and my 5 year old son's drums:

And I placed the interior entry door so that the shelf units fit behind at when it is open...no wasted space:

And here is that spot with the drums setup...ROCK!

And now for some semi-quantitative figures on the effectiveness on the room with regard to sound isolation.

I used my Radio Shack Digital Sound Level Meter to take measurements. I placed the meter 3m away from my drumkit inside the sound room and set it to measure the average and peak sound pressure level over a 60 second period. Measurements were C-weighted ("flat 32~10,000kHz").

The results of riff were an average of 113dB's and a peak of 120dB's.

I then went and did the same thing at two different locations in the house about 4m from the kit (in other words, just on the other side of the room wall in two places, one in our bedroom and the other in the aforementioned utility room) and in both cases the average SPL was 74dB's and the peak was 80dB's.

Now, taking into account that the second set of measurments were taken at about 1m greater distance that would account for maybe 2~3dB's difference (though it is impossible for me to apply any SPL distance/damping formulas here because clearly this is not an anechoic space), that is STILL about a 36dB drop, which is pretty good huh? For there being only one layer of sheetrock on each side...I think that the Quietrock is indeed doing something.

 

[SteveM]

Looks real nice Cory.

Do you play the drums kitty cornered like that? Just wondering how it works out.

 

[briank]

Looking GREAT Cory, very nice! I'm envious of the attenuation you're getting from the walls too, what a nice perk that would be! Curious how much is leaking outside the house? (I'm assuming not too bad at all!)

 

[sweetbeats]

Looks real nice Cory.

Do you play the drums kitty cornered like that? Just wondering how it works out.

Are you talking about the two drumsets being angled next to each other in the corner or are you talking about having my drums face into the corner?

If it is the former it works fine for my son and I...little Quicktime video segment of us playing...the camera mic can't handle the sound pressure level so its distorted. Need to figure out how to integrate wav audio into video files.

If it is the latter, my preference would be to have them face out into the room but space is at a premium, and having the kick drum at least angled with respect to the wall its facing is better than dead-on into the wall. There's still PLENTY of boom. Recording the drums will be another story in terms of mid and high frequency distortions from the wall proximity but that would be an issue no matter which way the drums were facing and frankly I think the way they are sitting will make it easier to manage in terms of mineral fiber panel placement.

In spite of the distorted audio in the video linked above the drums really sound great in the room. Those drums have done really well in pretty much any setting I've had them in.

Here is another relatively short clip with just me so you can hear the kit, and the first half of the clip is the flavor I was playing when doing the SPL attenuation tests. The camera mic is getting slammed of course since the camera is in the corner opposite the kit, but it gives you some idea...