Splayed Windows Orientation + Floor Material

To all, Did a search in the forum and could not find any clear answers on the topic. Most splayed windows designs are wider at the top than the bottom. So that reflections are directed to the floor. I've never seen one (in any book or online resource) which goes the other way round (wider at bottom than top). I've reached the build stage in my studio whereby its only a week away from installing the windows, and my consultant has suggested in splaying the windows so that they sit wider/further apart at the bottom than they are at the top. According to his experience, they encountered more problems with reflections bouncing downwards rather than upwards in their previous projects. The control room will have laminate flooring whilst the iso booth will be carpeted (see attachment). For the iso booth of small size, should I go with either laminate wood or carpet? The design company has built many studios around the region and has good track record. While I wouldn't want to doubt their recommendations, I would love to hear what fellow studio builders here have to say about this. Should I go with his design or stick with the more traditional orientation of splayed windows facing downwards? Thank you very much to everyone in advance.

The experts here, such as Rod, Ro, Andre, etc. recommend that you should NOT splay your windows at all, as doing so reduces isolation through the window, and all that you succeed in doing with regard to reflections, is to put them in a different place. You'll still get reflections off the glass, but they will just come from a different point on the glass. The diagrams that you sometimes see on the internet justifying angled glass treat sound as if it only ever travels in single straight lines parallel to the floor, from the sound source to the window and mic. Of course, in reality sound does not behave that way. It travels in expanding spherical wave fronts. So there will always be some part of that wave that hits the glass at an angle that bounces back into the mic, unless your room is so huge that you can have both the mic and the sound source be many, many meters away from the glass. There is also the practical issue of angled glass making your wall unrealistically thick: Basically, IIRC, you need at least 8 inches of air gap between the panes of glass at the closest point in order to keep reasonable isolation. If you angle the glass at the minimum angle necessary for keeping reflections out of microphones in a small room, while still keeping the glass at least 8 inches apart at the closest point, then it means that there is so much gap at the other end of the glass that you either have to make your wall extremely thick, or you have to build a "box" that protrudes from the wall on both sides, in which to mount your window. The ONLY reason you might want to angle your glass, is for aesthetic reasons: to reduce glare and reflection from lighting. So that you don't have reflections from the lights obscuring your view through the glass. But careful placement of fittings can help with that. But acoustically, there really are no real benefits to angling glass. If you search the forum for terms like "glass angle" then I'm sure you'll find several references to this subject. - Stuart -

I'm also wondering about the position of the door into your control room: it is in the corner of the room, right where you need to install your bass trapping! Is there any chance you can move that door to the center of the rear wall, rather than the corner, so that you can install your bass trapping where it needs to be? Next, on your sketch you do not have your speakers in the usual recommended position and layout: You have them draw at a 90 degree intersection angle, instead of the recommended 60 degrees, and the distance from mix position to speakers is much greater than the distance between the speakers. They are also show as being almost in the corners, and right up against the wall. Finally, your window seems to be exactly at first reflection points for both speakers. How are you going to deal with that? - Stuart -

mixboy2105 wrote:

The control room will have laminate flooring whilst the iso booth will be carpeted (see attachment). For the iso booth of small size, should I go with either laminate wood or carpet?

Making a wood floor would allow you to place a rug in the booth if it proved to be bright or too reflective for your taste. The best of both little worlds.

Soundman2020 wrote:

The ONLY reason you might want to angle your glass, is for aesthetic reasons: to reduce glare and reflection from lighting. So that you don't have reflections from the lights obscuring your view through the glass. But careful placement of fittings can help with that. But acoustically, there really are no real benefits to angling glass. If you search the forum for terms like "glass angle" then I'm sure you'll find several references to this subject. - Stuart -

Hi Stuart, Thanks for the insight. Did a search and got a lot of additional info from other threads. And yes, I do agree that not angling glass will give MAXIMUM isolation. I have a foot of air space in between the walls so I will discuss this with my builder, but will probably go with splayed windows. . If anyone has further advice against doing this, I'd gladly welcome the input :)

Soundman2020 wrote:

I'm also wondering about the position of the door into your control room: it is in the corner of the room, right where you need to install your bass trapping! Is there any chance you can move that door to the center of the rear wall, rather than the corner, so that you can install your bass trapping where it needs to be?

Unfortunately, the door had to go there as the adjacent room doesn't permit otherwise. Moving the door to the center would leave no space for clients to sit. Anyway, this room is going to be more of an overdubbing/writing/edit suite as I've already got another room where I mix in.

Next, on your sketch you do not have your speakers in the usual recommended position and layout: You have them draw at a 90 degree intersection angle, instead of the recommended 60 degrees, and the distance from mix position to speakers is much greater than the distance between the speakers. They are also show as being almost in the corners, and right up against the wall.

I must apologize. The sketch is extremely rough and does not accurately portray the layout of the room. Yes, I will certainly make sure the speakers will be placed at the optimum locations.

Finally, your window seems to be exactly at first reflection points for both speakers. How are you going to deal with that?

Yes, it is going to be a compromise. The room will have absorbers placed throughout , and if needed I can make some sort of removable panel to cover the window. My consultant originally drew up a plan that resembled the "Garage 1" layout from the SAE resources, but budget constraints (as always) led me to prioritize in getting a good isolated booth, and more conventional control room. Anyway, as mentioned above I already have a room which I mix in, this room is for overdubs/writing/editing etc.

xSpace wrote:

Making a wood floor would allow you to place a rug in the booth if it proved to be bright or too reflective for your taste. The best of both little worlds.

I gathered pretty much... Thanks for your replies :D

Now there are many carpets which can be cut at random size. Also laminate flooring can be cut at the random dimensions. The underlay need to be put under the flooring. You can hire some profeesional guy to do the work.

Soundman2020 wrote:

The experts here, such as Rod, Ro, Andre, etc. recommend that you should NOT splay your windows at all, as doing so reduces isolation through the window, and all that you succeed in doing with regard to reflections, is to put them in a different place. -

Stuart, I can't speak for anyone else - but i do not recommend against the splaying of glass. This is what i say in the book:

In my mind, the loss in isolation from the air spring is made up for in mass. We will always have greater mass than the wall surfaces if we do this right, so what little difference there may be we just live with. In Chapter 1, we looked at the fact that in the real world sometimes there are things that we just live with. This is one of those things. However, if you want to gain the maximum isolation benefit (at this point the walls will be the weak point and control your total isolation), then feel free to install the glass parallel. This is the sort of thing that is really a matter of personal choice, and it won’t affect the outcome to any great degree, so I won’t push you in any one direction. It’s only important to me that you understand enough about the subject to be able to make an informed decision.

Just want to clarify my position on the comment made. Rod

rod gervais wrote:

Soundman2020 wrote:

The experts here, such as Rod, Ro, Andre, etc. recommend that you should NOT splay your windows at all, as doing so reduces isolation through the window, and all that you succeed in doing with regard to reflections, is to put them in a different place. -

Stuart, I can't speak for anyone else - but i do not recommend against the splaying of glass.

While we are in the correcting half year old items, my statement is that "there is no acoustic reason to splay window panes. Not that there is no reason to." Straight or angled, Andre