Personal Studio in Detached Garage

Detached garage 22'x21' Comments, suggestions, observations? Model is 12.1 MB. Sketchup model: http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=d3b0 ... 8114394287

A couple of more screenshots. This studio will be for my own personal use. I'm about finished with the shell. I'll post a bunch of pics documenting the construction in a studio construction thread, but first I thought it would be nice to have some feedback on the layout and design elements. The plan should be self-explanatory. The iso room will mostly be used for tube amps, occasionally vocals. The practice room is where I hang out, study and practice, and write. The mix room is where I cook breakfast and change the oil in my MINI. Duh. (don't mind me, I'm amusing myself in my absence) I'm not seeking absolute isolation or sonic perfection, just a comfortable, functional, and enjoyable space. My budget is limited only by the value I receive in return for the expense and since I'm rich, at least according to our current government, money is no object, right? RIIIIGHT... Anyway, I figure the cost will be just framing, insulation, drywall, paint, flooring, acoustical fabric, cables, jacks, fixtures, doors, windows, wiring, furnishings, and lots of time, understanding of course that jobs always take twice as long as expected and cost twice as much as budgeted. More as the weekend progresses...

Hi guy. When you document the construction, is that going to be as it happens or after it is completed? Models are always nice to look at, but really don't help me much as the end result is always different then the idea. Good luck and welcome to where you are, Brien

Both - I'll recap what I've already completed and follow along as I finish out the interior. I took lots of pics as I went along as well as contemplating several different designs based on functionality. I settled on a dedicated space, but I have several ideas for shared space that I think would work very well. I may even incorporate a workbench area into the storage for tinkering with amps and such.

Started laying out the actual framing plan this week. I'm still mulling over the double walls: that's quite a bit of space they take up in an already small space. They may be overkill for my intended purpose, still, I'd rather err on the side of quiet than make a nuisance of myself. I have some cool screenshots from my design file, but I need to resize them for the web before I can post them. Bear in mind I haven't shown the outer shell or exterior doors in the pic - only the interior walls. I decided to add a door between the iso and mix room. I hated to poke a hole in that wall, but I didn't like the idea of only one exit from the mix room. In the event of a fire or other emergency, I'd rather go thru a door than thru the wall. I also considered a door with a window in lieu of the mix room window, but I don't want to be walking between the desk and the window wall because the cables from the mix desk would be a trip hazard. The diamond on the floor of the mix room is a reflection-free zone (I left the guide lines in for reference). The bass traps are obvious and the flat walls are slat resonators with 2'x2' absorbers strategically placed to maintain the RFZ. In the first set of design pics, I used angled walls in an attempt to direct reflections off the side/rear walls, but I couldn't find a solution that would seem to offer any advantage acoustically, although aesthetically I find them visually interesting. I also tried convex diffusers, but judging the ray tracing I deemed they might actually contribute secondary reflections, so I nixed that idea in the mix room, but I think I'll use them in the practice room on the common wall. Also, I'll probably start with double doors between the iso/mix room, but single doors elsewhere. I can always add them later if I find them necessary. I think this layout would also lend itself to surround production also, but I'm not into that yet. Comments, observations, or suggestions are welcome.

If your baffle mounted speakers are recessed into a hard surface, does this hard surface extend unbroken to the doors of your control room and what kind of effect could you expect here?

BTW, for anyone interested, here's a dimensioned view.

I'm wondering why you have your mix position so far back in the CR. Your head is going to be almost exactly in the middle of the room...

xSpace wrote:

If your baffle mounted speakers are recessed into a hard surface, does this hard surface extend unbroken to the doors of your control room and what kind of effect could you expect here?

The dark walls are hard walls: 2x4 with drywall. The light walls are soft walls: insulation, acoustic cloth, slats where designated. The exception is below the speakers where a bass trap is constructed using the standard detail. My intention is to keep the opposing hard walls separate from each other to prevent transfer of energy from one to the other. The speakers will be mounted in the soft wall framing, which eventually has to be attached to something solid (i.e. hard walls, floor, ceiling joists). Otherwise they maintain a minimum spacing from the hard walls. BTW, I really like the way you worded your response - with a question that requires analysis. Excellent and appreciated. I think I'll call you "Professor" from now on.(lol)

The dark walls are hard walls: 2x4 with drywall. The light walls are soft walls: insulation, acoustic cloth, slats where designated. The exception is below the speakers where a bass trap is constructed using the standard detail. My intention is to keep the opposing hard walls separate from each other to prevent transfer of energy from one to the other. The speakers will be mounted in the soft wall framing, which eventually has to be attached to something solid (i.e. hard walls, floor, ceiling joists). Otherwise they maintain a minimum spacing from the hard walls.

If I understand that correctly, your speakers are going to be mounted in a "soft" wall (it is light colored on your plan), with only insulation and cloth surrounding them? Is that correct? No hard surfaces nearby?

The exception is below the speakers where a bass trap is constructed using the standard detail.

What do you mean by "the standard detail"? I didn't know there was a standard way to build bass traps under speaker soffits. - Stuart -

Soundman2020 wrote:

I'm wondering why you have your mix position so far back in the CR.

The mix position is in front of the intersecting guidelines. I guess I should have dimensioned that also. The intersection of the spearker lines is 7'-6" from the front walls and 4'-7" from the face of the rear trap. That puts me in a chair anywhere from 6-7 feet from the window wall - roughly in the center.

Sandersd wrote:

xSpace wrote:

BTW, I really like the way you worded your response - with a question that requires analysis. Excellent and appreciated. I think I'll call you "Professor" from now on.(lol)

That comes from whenever I think I know the right answer and some one else comes along and reminds me I dunno nothin'

Soundman2020 wrote:

If I understand that correctly, your speakers are going to be mounted in a "soft" wall (it is light colored on your plan), with only insulation and cloth surrounding them? Is that correct? No hard surfaces nearby?

What do you mean by "the standard detail"? I didn't know there was a standard way to build bass traps under speaker soffits.

Stuart, I'll answer the last question first, and that should answer the first also. Anytime someone posts here asking how to build a bass trap or mount speakers in a soffit, someone pulls out the "Sayer's Special" soffit mount detail that we all know and love (from the SAE website). That's the standard detail I'm referring to. The speakers will be mounted in a box incorporated into the framing with an baffle extension surrounding the speakers. I guess, for the sake of brevity, I'm assuming a certain level of knowledge and familiarity with the concepts of design as expressed on this forum. I'll be more specific if I deviate from the typical, but I'm sure we're on the same page or at least in the same book. It's a good question though - it reminds me I need to find all my reference material on this subject, and explaining myself helps me think it through, although I'm sure you already know the answer.

That puts me in a chair anywhere from 6-7 feet from the window wall - roughly in the center.

Exactly. The center of the room is the worst possible place for your ears. It is right in the center of all the first order nulls, and all odd harmonics too. You don't want your ears positioned in nulls! Your room is non-rectangular, which makes it much harder to predict the acoustics, but the 50% spot is bad pretty much always. Theoretically, the best place for your ears is at 38% of the room depth (front to back). What ratio is your room based on? - Stuart -

Soundman2020 wrote:

That puts me in a chair anywhere from 6-7 feet from the window wall - roughly in the center.

Exactly. The center of the room is the worst possible place for your ears. It is right in the center of all the first order nulls, and all odd harmonics too. You don't want your ears positioned in nulls! Your room is non-rectangular, which makes it much harder to predict the acoustics, but the 50% spot is bad pretty much always. Theoretically, the best place for your ears is at 38% of the room depth (front to back). What ratio is your room based on? - Stuart -

Where can I find the source of your data? It's been a while since I visited this subject. I've seen the maps of nulls and room modes in rectangular shaped rooms and am aware, as you say, in the difficulty in predicting odd shaped rooms. I guess I'll dig out my books on acoustics and review. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. It's suppose to rain all weekend here so I guess I'll catch up on my reading.

Where can I find the source of your data? It's been a while since I visited this subject

The "search" button on this forum works pretty well, and will probably turn up more info than you every would have expected on things like "room ratio" and "standing waves". There is a graphic somewhere her that shows it clearly. - Stuart -

I'm going out on a limb here, but it doesn't seem to hold water that the 38% position Wes Lachot worked with has anything to do with rooms that are not rectangular, like the one in question. After some discussion, Re: The 38% Rule from Wes Lachot, even then it is recognized as merely a place to sit your chair, not a point in space/time to nail the thing down to.

Soundman2020 wrote:

The center of the room is the worst possible place for your ears. It is right in the center of all the first order nulls, and all odd harmonics too. You don't want your ears positioned in nulls! Your room is non-rectangular, which makes it much harder to predict the acoustics, but the 50% spot is bad pretty much always. Theoretically, the best place for your ears is at 38% of the room depth (front to back). What ratio is your room based on? - Stuart -

Regarding the 38%: in a room this size 12% (difference between 38% and 50%) is approx 1'-10", or in practical terms, the difference between leaning over the desk and leaning back in the chair. Regardless, as the attached sketch shows measured from the hard walls, the 38% point is in the center of the RFZ. Given the configuration of the room, the application of room ratios are academic. I've tried to address the essential design elements of speaker placement, bass trapping and absorption, and adequate isolation. Some issues simply cannot be addressed until the room is completed and tested. Certainly I want to avoid major design flaws, but I think this layout works given the space I have to work with and the solutions I have provided regarding specular reflections and bass/nodes.

A couple of more screenshots of the practice area. Should be self-explanatory.

Still refining the wall treatment to eliminate secondary reflections:Depending on how I splay the side walls, the placement of absorbent will be a little different. Shown are two senarios. The yellow represents the speaker coverage 25 degrees each side of centerline. The red represents the zone where reflections off the side walls would violate the RFZ. (I didn't show both zones for the lower wall). One doesn't seem either offers an advantage over the other, just different. There is more depth to one but of course it uses more floor area.

Haven't decided if I want to angle the speakers down at the desk slightly or not. The center of the cone is at 3'-10" which seems a bit high. I need to research it a bit more, refresh my memory.I'd like to at least clear the desk with the 25 degree cone. BTW the desk is a Sterling Modular Plan D.

Last post for the weekend: framing for the walls. Not quite finished yet.

After living with the initial design for a while, and further research, I've decided to completely change the entire arrangement to basically a one room open plan with a very small vocal booth and amp iso room. Why split up the area into two smaller rooms when I can have one larger room.

I ran the dims through Uncle Bob's Mode Calculator and here are the results:I also have this chart that I'm not sure how to read. The explanation provided is less than thorough, shall we say. A legend is provided, although I'm not sure if "negative" means negative in a nominal sense or negative in a "very bad" sense. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.

Here are the latest sketches, if anyone's interested. I aced the iso room and incorporated it into the vocal room - it needed the space. I added diffusers to the rear wall. Added a mechanical room for AHU, also shown is the temporary room AC so I can bring the storage area online while I complete construction. The between-wall space to the right of desk will be used as a chase for the ductwork; I added a soffit for the supply air, RA will be thru the ceiling and back to the mech room. Moved the speakers to a flush mount. Design ideas: http://www.richardcleaver.com/?cat=15 , http://www.wsdg.com/portfolio.asp?category=av Design of small rooms: Controlling Low Frequencies in Small Spaces, http://www.wsdg.com/dynamic.asp?id=reso ... sentations I noticed Stork designs about half of his control rooms similar to my original design, i.e. in a corner, so I guess it's a valid arrangement. Apparently the latest thinking (in small rooms) is a wide, shallow room. Look thru his designs and you'll see what I mean. Lots of beautiful spaces...