Matts Studio Build

Thanks xspace, sounds like a plan. Also a note to Rod, why couldn't you have put a chapter on ´choosing the right colours for your room´?? (Kidding). Great book though. It seems choosing a colour scheme causes more stress than joy, ha. And of course everyone I ask has an opinion... Matt

Just a quick question regarding cabling. I am soon to put the snake cable and instrument cable through the wall from the live into control room. Is it essential that all audio cables are housed in pvc pipe or similar? Can i get away with just using something at the bends? Cheers, Matt

Heres a couple of pics of the doors i made up. I would have liked to use a larger sheet of glass but that stuff is expensive!

Here is a couple of pics of the doors in place,

Well I had quite a constructive day yesterday, ive been focusing on getting the live room finished first then moving onto the control room. Im hoping by doing it this way it will break up the project a little and make it seem less daunting! I was able to get the walls of the live room painted and most of the floor laid. The flooring which had been sitting around since I started the project, had become somewhat bowed so I ended up using whatever I could find handy to hold it down while the glue dried. As a confession I almost electricuted myself, having the live and neutral wires pull out of a steel light fitting I was painting around (and yes it was on!) :oops: I hope that will just be one of those life lessons that I never repeat, and im sure electrical safety has been reiterated many times on this forum so my bad completely. Tomorrow I hope to get to installing the corner aborbers and ceiling panels which will then allow me to fit all the skirtings. Its finally starting to look like a studio which is really encouraging! Matt

Well progress has been kinda slow over the past couple of weeks but have almost completed the live room. Have spent a fair bit of time hanging panels, making corner traps and fitting skirtings. As I move onto the control room i have a rather pressing question regarding the layout. My initial design was to soffit mount my monitors, with the conventional (around here anyway) 6 degree angled sidewalls. My question is how important are the angled side walls? I ask because i see that space is already at a premium as well as my budget. I understand they are primarily to reflect sound away from the mix position, but could I achieve good results with just decent absorbers either side? Do the 6 deg angled walls have a major effect on modal activity at the mix position? Thanks for any help in this area, i will endevour to put some more pics up soon, Cheers Matt

Question: Are you using acoustic sealant and/or fiberglas/rockwool around your door casings? Remember that every little hole is a big leak for sound from one side to the other... just asking? Looks nice for a budget build. Curious to know how the sound isolation is from inside to outside environment.

Hi there, sorry havent been on in a while and just saw your post, yes i used a foam backer rod around the doors and sealant. The isolation to outside is not amazing, particularly in the low freq as you would expect (read drums). This however is not a major for me as im rurally based with few neighbours and little external noise. At a later point if i wanted to improve this i would consider another external layer as my ext cladding is the weak point. Cheers Matt

To update progress, I have essentially completed the live room bar a few more broadband absorbers. In the last week I've moved onto the control room, laying a grooved ply lining on the ceiling and framing up the speaker soffits. After a somewhat impatient test with speakers in place, i have found a large amount of sound leakage via ducting between the rooms despite silencer boxes. Hopefully i should be able to isolate these further before the bezel is applied. I also found that mounting the monitors off a wall shelf lead to a lot of direct transfer of sound through the wall into live room. I think i was kind of hoping this somehow magically wouldn't happen but anyway... ended up going to the effort of constructing some metal speaker stands that I think will be much better. Anyhow im starting to feel excited about progress again after completing the more tedious jobs, will post pics soon so this all makes sense, Matt

Earshot wrote:

... ended up going to the effort of constructing some metal speaker stands that I think will be much better.

Take a look at these stands; cheap; mass and effective http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10021

Thanks for that xspace, kinda wish i had seen that a few days ago, anyway, cheers

Pics as promised, showing ceiling lining, and speaker soffits... hoping to have some good building time over Christmas all going well. I have one angled side wall up (no pic yet), and the other side framed up. Its amazing how much wood a small building can consume!

Hi Matt, Great to see another Kiwi on the board. I,m down in Christchurch - you? Check out my JohnSayers inspired rooms! Any questions abouy any NZ materials let me know. http://www.peelproductions.net.nz JG

Hey John, Yea browsed through your build many times, looks good man. Im based in Hamilton, are you getting much in the way of demand? Cheers Matt

Here is a couple pics of the live room basically done, just a few more absorbers to go, making good progress on control room, hope to be painting tomorrow...

Hey Matt, Looks great - presume you are a drummer like me? Really only use my room for my own use although I do advertise and do a "bit" of outside work. Very picky who I let in the studio to be honest. Ive been out of action for a month - my desk died (akai dps24) and waiting to get it fixed. Thinking about switching to a protools rig but it would be 10-20k for what I want!! What you using. JohnG

Hi John, Just running a Ptools le system (003) at present, via an ancient Soundtracs 24ch desk. I think it works well for what I need anyway. I am a drummer, although haven't been playing that long. From my experience so far a lot of bands have kits in poor states of repair, so i figured setting up a good studio kit was the way to go, Cheers Matt

Matt, Are using a PC or Mac with your protools rig? The new Mac Pro's are nice but at $5k without a screen its over the top. Anyway, hope new year goes well. Studio looks nice. JohnG

John, Custom build PC via a friend. $1600 incl 22inch LCD (trademe). Basically just selected all the components and got a friend to put it together. Allowed me to use some quiet fans/power supply and a good heat sink, 2.2GHz, 320 + 80G hard drives, 4G RAM. Works well, Cheers Matt

Thanks Matt, Yep, PC really seems the cheaper way to go. Trouble is I know jack about computers (hardware anyway)and won't know where to start buying components. Would your friend be interested in making an Audio PC for me if I go the Protools way? or do you have a list of the parts I would need? Thanks JohnG

John, I would suggest asking someone more experienced regarding audio suited PC's. There is probably someone on this site who can give you a good list of components or check on the digidesign site for pro tools compatability. Try a google search even as i know there are companies that custom build PC's specifically for use with pro tools. I think most computer shops can assemble a PC for you if need be, Cheers Matt

Well its been good progress in the last few days thanks to some time off, have managed to get the control room painted up, most of the skirtings fitted and carpet laid. My Dad and I did a DIY carpet job with some help from google and am pretty pleased with the results. Carpet laying is however not a job i will ever apply for, my knees feel like they have been sanded with 80grit. Ive spend the last day and a half making up some John Sayers inspired speaker surrounds with some native timbers. Its really starting to feel like a studio and i can see myself hopefully operational within the next week :shock:

Well the studio is basically functional, still a few bits and pieces to go but overall its working well. Monitors sound really good, and visitors seem impressed. Im sure further acoustic treatment will help both rooms also. My 'old school' desk is looking like a good boat anchor right now as its being a real pain. Oh well, i can feel the 'analog warmth' bug moving on anyway. Here is a pic of the control room at present...

great work earshot. the surrounds look beautiful! Did you get the isolation you were hoping for? between rooms and from the out side? lil

Thanks, isolation between rooms is good, better than outside. I would have liked better isolation to outside (in live room) but my external layer just doesn't have the mass. For a $35g NZD ($18,5g USD) total (gear incl.), im pretty happy though. Ive learnt a lot, and would love to apply the knowledge should i get a chance to build another some day.