New studio design... in dubio

Hi All, Like many of you, I am going to start building my own little studio in my garden shed. As a long-time lurker I have gained a tremendous amount of information already from this fantastic forum. So, for starters some background info. As already said I plan to build my studio in a small building in my backyard. Actually, the building is being built as we speak, well almost (depending on the weather)... I live in a fairly quite suburbian area, close to Leuven in Belgium. This means that I really need all the acoustical isolation I can get. But I think I have covered that fairly good already. BTW, I should maybe also mention that I am an electro-acoustician during the day, so I have quite some background already... As I am a keyboard player and mixing engineer by night and in the weekends, I intend to use the studio mainly for mixing, rehearsing and teaching (in that order). However, I also wanted a small recording booth to do overdubs and also to let my kids practice their instruments. Now, based on all the knowledge I gained here and elsewhere, I was going for a design as shown in the first picture (studio_straight.jpg). Reasons for this design where: - a rectangular room with good room ratios (based on a calculation spreadsheet I cannot recall the name of), built from drywall walls (metalstuds with two layers of 12mm drywall (Gyproc)). This would give me the isolation I want. - Inside the control room I would build the acoustical treatment aiming for as much symmetry as possible. Since this would be a separate construction, I can use it for lots of absorption, and add some diffusion where and when necessary... - no baffled speakers, since at the time I didn't want to constrain my design to one certain type of monitors. Placing them freestanding in the room would give me more freedom. However, this leads to quite some 'lost' space. I know that it is used for good acoutic treatment, but still... Since my room is already so small I wanted to find a design that gave me a good room within the boundaries of the building, while still providing me a all the space I can get. That's how yesterday I came up with this alternative design I wanted to discuss with you guys (see studio_angled.jpg). While I certainely can see that the symmetry (outside the 'acoustical' walls) is far from ideal, I think I have some advantages I cannot simply forget. - all speakers are now baffled - the listener-speaker distance is larger (1.6m vs 1.4m) - the booth is considerably bigger, as is the control room itself - and not unimportantly, I now have the opportunity of adding a window for some daylight, opposite to the window between control room and recording booth. This even improves the acoustical symmetry, when looking inside the 'acoustical' boundaries only... I hope this all makes a bit sense... Anyway, the thing I feel most uncertain about is the loss of symmetry in the control room outside the acoustical treatment. Since the build of the shed starts very soon (next Monday, if it stops freezing (currently it is -10degC)), I would like to know your ideas ASAP to know whether I should/can add the extra window in the control room or not. Other things like building dimensions and position of the door cannot be changed anymore, but the window might still be possible... So please help me out on this one... I really am in doubt what way to proceed. Many, many thanks in advance... Kind regards, Bert NOTE: I know the drawing of the new design is far from complete, but I think already sufficient to give some idea of what I'm talking about. Thanks for your patience...

Bert - there is a third option. http://www.grammy.com/Recording_Academy ... Engineers/ These guys had a conference on the layout of 5:1 and decided that the rear speakers should be further behind you so instead of being @ 110 degrees they should be @ 135 degrees. This configuration is narrower than the 110 so you can have your left right speakers wider. This studio has a 135 degree rear speaker system http://www.johnlsayers.com/Pages/Oasis.htm cheers john

Hi John, thank you for the info. Very interesting indeed. Actually, in my new design my surrounds were at 120deg, so already somewhere in between... I will definitely see what it brings to put them at 135deg. I was just still wondering what you think about the symmetry-issue in my new design? Or is there no issue? Many thanks. Regards, Bert

I like to see what you come up with applying the tighter 5:1. don't forget you'll spend most of your listening experience in stereo.

Hi John, So, I tried to make a new design according to what you suggested and this is what I could come up with (see pictures). While I like the room sizes I can now get, plus having the other advantages already mentioned, there is one thing bothering me a bit. The fact that you HAVE to pass through the booth to get to the control room seems to be a hassle from time to time. Or do you guys with experience have another opinion about this? I would love to hear how this is perceived in practice... Otherwise there's still the issue of the 'asymmetric' room, though it is already a lot less than in the previous attempt. So, should I still be bothered about this? Or will it be OK when filled with rockwool for absorption? Many thanks in advance. Kind regards, Bert

The fact that you HAVE to pass through the booth to get to the control room seems to be a hassle from time to time.

Yes - that is a definite problem I'd avoid. maybe something like this? cheers john

Hi John, Good idea about the door! Not too easy to get the plan right, though. but I think I got it more or less right and realistic (considering beam-sizes and door and such...). Would this be a good plan to you? Many thanks for your advice!! Regards, Bert

yup - that's about it :)

Hi John, Great!!! So many thanks for your assistance. I am really looking forward to sit and work in this space :) I'll maybe put up a build-diary. Looks like fun! Greetz, Bert

well - you did have an aussie as your avatar :D