Suggestion for better Acoustics

I have just completed the Acoustic treatment to my studio. The room size is 16' 6" Length 11' 5" Wide and 7' 8" high I have surrounded the room with 2'x4' x 4" CO 703 panels covered with fabric and with a full Plywood backing (2'x4' plywood - it was faster than making frames, since i don't have a proper saw etc..). I have installed 15 panels total (not including 2- 2'x2'x12" thick traps in the corners or my Auralex Ceiling treatment) Nonetheless, I have not done a whole lot of mixing in the new studio as I just finished it yesterday, but what I did notice is that at the Mix position, I can adjust my monitors to a comfortable volume and then adjust my Sony MDR headphones to a similar level and if I switch between wearing the headphones and listening from the Mackie Monitors, I notice very little if any difference in the sound quality. I "think" that is a good thing. The stereo separation seems to be a little better from the speakers, but again, the difference is minimal. Prior top the treatment, let's just say the room was much less conducive to optimal mixing/listening. I have also done some testing with sine waves etc. and overall things are fairly even at most frequencies throughout the room, but seem to be even better at the mix position. I am interested in comments or insight on my comments.. Thank you in advance. This is a great forum and everyone is very generous with their time and knowledge.

Seems you did everything by the book. Sure would have been nice to see it being built.

Thanks for the reply. It was a lot of work, but I am happy with the way it turned out so far acoustically and aesthetically. Robert

You might want to actual test the response of the room, just to make sure there are no issues that still need treating. There are several ways of doing that, but an easy method is the one that Ethan Winer outlines on his web site (realtraps.com). Another thing I'd be looking for is a clean and tight "phantom center" from your speakers. If everything is working well together, then sitting at the sweet spot with your eyes closed, you should have the sensation that the the speakers are not actually there any more, and there is just a whole "stage" of sound around the front of your head. Mono sounds and center-panned sounds (eg. vocals, kick drum, etc.) should seem to be coming directly out of a non-existent "phantom" speaker right in front of you, rather than from both speakers at once, and stereo sounds should fill out the arc between the speakers and even beyond. If you are getting that, and Ethan's test gives you good results, then I'd say that all is well! ( But if you actually ask Ethan what he thinks, I'll bet that he says "You need more bass trapping" anyway... :) ) There should be a difference between listening on the MDRs and listening to the speakers: When listening on the MDRs it should sound like mono/centered sounds are in the middle of your head, but while listening to the speakers it should sound like they are in front of you, coming from that "phantom" speaker. MDRs also tend to emphasize bass a bit too much, so there should be a slight difference there too. If the room sounds more bassy than the MDRs, then there is a problem! If the room sounds LESS bass heavy than the MDRs, then that's probably correct. Unless you also have a subwoofer in there? You could also try some "translation" tests: Mix something in the room, burn it to a CD, then go play it back on your home stereo, in your car, at your friends place, on your MP3 player, on a boom box, in another studio, and everywhere else you can think of. It should sound good everywhere (within the limitations of the playback system, of course!). So if it sounded great in the room but it seems to be too bassy and muddy in other places, or too tinny, or just too "different", then you might need to check why that is. But if it sounds goo everywhere, then your is probably fine. That's my US$ 0.02. The room looks neat, by the way! - Stuart -

" The stereo separation seems to be a little better from the speakers, " I don't think you can get better stereo imagining than a pair of head phones! Your head becomes the ifinate baffle when wearing head phone. I wonder if what your hearing in the speakers is a phasing problem?? Is there a problem? I'm not sure what your asking? lil

No, there is not a problem, my question really was: Is it a good thing to have little difference in the sound from your speakers to the Headphones. I would assume that it is in the respect that headphones are, for all intents and purposes an "isolated" listening environment. So if my speakers exhibit similar characteristics, I assume that is a good thing? If so, then I am looking forward to tracking and mixing in my new setup. I can't believe what a difference it has made in the overall sound in the room. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Regards, Robert

I wonder if what your hearing in the speakers is a phasing problem??

That's what I would suspect. I can't see how speakers would give you better separation than headphones unless there is a phase problem. I have a coupe of sets of MDR headphones, so I know exactly how they sound. They are pretty good, even though a little bass heavy, and the tend to slightly under-emphasize vocals for some reason, but I can't see how speakers would give better stereo separation. Did you check the phasing (polarity) on your speakers? Do you have a graphic equalizer in the signal chain to the speakers? - Stuart -

I will check the phase. Thank you In regards to the other reply, when the speakers are in mono, the sound is right in front of you which is how it should be. In regards to my "slightly better" stereo separation when listening from my speakers, I think the issue is the soundstage appears to be broader. That may be more accurate than "better separation. I will do some additional testing.. Robert