Shiny Spicy Studio Design - New Construction Plan

xSpace wrote:

The issue is not so much is it a good idea as will it pass code in the manner that you are intending to use it. This is a question better answered by someone who is close (physically) to the project. As I understood the document it had several instances where this material could not be open or accessible to the "air" from any other area of a building, specifically the attic, if I recall.

Brien, thanks for the input. I actually did some more searching here and found a foam spray thread in which Rod himself stated he had considered using it, but it was not cost effective for his solution, and furthermore the manufacture's data on performance may not translate to real life. If I recall, the manufacturer's STC rating was already a little lower than what's been proven with Rockwool, so I think I probably answered my own question (with help from the experts here of course!). Stuart - you wrote about framing within the trusses. Not a bad idea, but I think it would drive up the labor on framing and finishing. On to Conduit! I've attached an updated pic of the control room and where I plan to run conduit which got me scratching my head on sizing. Is there a general recommendation for PVC/Conduit sizing for this application? Also, is there a generally accepted method of stopping/minimizing the sound travel through the conduit? I'll be running three types of cable to each location shown. 1. Cat-5 & Coax, 2. Audio XLR, and 3. Other (not power - possibly headphone TRS cable/spare). That small room beside the back of the CR is a machine/storage location/data trunk closet. And the two lines heading away are conduit that I want to run to my current crawl space so I can get cable/etc. from my domicile. Anything else I should be planning for regarding conduit runs? Thanks guys, Mike

Hey amigos, I've got to get more electrical layout design done for the electrician in order to work up an estimate. This got me thinking about lighting and clouds as I hope to combine the two. Great thread on Kendal's studio with his cloud construction for his control room. I used a similar design approach for my big room and worked up a design combining recessed lights and Rockwool packed clouds. I'm realizing I have no idea if this is a sound/good approach for the big room. I've attached a sketchup pic. The room is approximately 14' x 24' (around 3700ft^3). The three clouds have about 2' of clearance at their edges to the walls, and about a 1' space between them. Each Rockwool panel is approximately 6' x 3' x 4" (6 of them), with each cloud measureing 6' x 10'. My desire is to have a crisp lively room and take advantage of the 12' tall ceiling on the one side (9' on the opposite). So I don't want to over dampen the room, and I also don't want to create any weird reflections with odd spacing or not-well planned cloud design/location. I figure I'll be putting some bass traps in there along with some diffusion, but for this question, I'm focused on my ceiling treatment. I'm wondering if the open slots between/around the clouds will cause problems with phasing, flutter, or un-natural reflections (particularly with drums)? Would you guys mind taking a look at this layout and let me know if I'm off base, and let me know what type of changes, additions, or complete departures I should be making (if any) to/from this design? Thanks again for the great input, Mike

Hey all, I'm still working out a few basic electrical details and was hoping someone might be able to answer a grounding/electrical wiring design question. In his book, Rod recommends the Tripp Lite IS series isolated transformers. I originally planned to use these for power, and Stuart provided some great input on why Star Grounding was still needed. The question I have is as follows, and is made with the assumption that I'd be using several Tripp Lite IS1000 units to power my control room, and studio room audio gear: Question: If I wire each outlet in the studio such that it is directly plugged into one of the Tripp Lite IS1000 outlets, will this sufficiently address potential ground loop/hum issues? My cave-man brain has me thinking that this would be a functional equivalent of Star grounding as the Tripp Lite units will be providing a common ground point for every device plugged into my outlets. The other option this gives me is that if I need additional power in the future, I can add more power supply units without altering any wiring in my walls. Another friend has recomended a device made by Leveler - VA Sentry 2400. Link: http://www.levelerllc.com/Products.cfm?category=14&product=66 Their documentation indicates that ground loops are eliminated using this device, but I cannot tell if that is only if each device is plugged directly into the outlets on the unit, or if the unit could be used to supply multiple outlets in the studio space. I've been borrowing a unit the past couple days in my home studio and at a rehearsal studio, and it deffinitely cleans up the power nicely. Everything is noticebly quieter, and the audio signals are noticebly louder (all settings being equal). I just don't have a way right now to experiment with daisy chained outlets and this device to look for ground loop issues. Any thoughts on this unit rather than the Tripp Lite unit? Thanks guys, Rocketman

Question: If I wire each outlet in the studio such that it is directly plugged into one of the Tripp Lite IS1000 outlets, will this sufficiently address potential ground loop/hum issues?

Straight answer: Yes. No. Maybe. Not trying to be funny here (OK, well, maybe just a tad!), but it really depends a lot on the rest of your wiring, and what you plug in where. It MIGHT be just fine. It might not. Are you still going to have an independent technical ground? Will it be star-wired to the isolation transformers? In that case, it might work OK, provided that the isolation transformers do their job perfectly, and there is no leakage anywhere...

Leveler VA Sentry 2400 ... Their documentation indicates that ground loops are eliminated using this device, but I cannot tell if that is only if each device is plugged directly into the outlets on the unit,

Looks like a nice unit. But your guess is correct: it can only eliminate ground loops in equipment that is directly plugged into it. There is nothing it can do to upstream loads.

or if the unit could be used to supply multiple outlets in the studio space.

Well, it could indeed supply several outlets, provided that the total current you draw does not exceed the manufacturer's specs and the capacity of your wiring.

I just don't have a way right now to experiment with daisy chained outlets and this device to look for ground loop issues.

You don't want to daisy-chain outlets! Not a good idea. If you need that unit to supply more items of equipment than it has outlets, you could probably use power strips on the outlet, once again PROVIDED THAT you take care not to exceed the manufacturers specs for EACH outlet. I would not like to do that personally, since it creates the possibility for someone to do something stupid, but in theory it should be OK, provided that you know what you are doing, and use good quality grounded power strips that do not include their own surge suppression. And you certainly do not want to daisy chain one power strip from another power strip. But wither way, you still need a good technical ground for your studio that is isolated from the ground for the rest of the building. - Stuart -

The sketchup pics are great, but could you make the dimension text larger? (The 700px restriction for posting pics is too small IMO. What's the point in clicking on the pic to enlarge it if it's still too small to read clearly?) Do that from window>model info>dimension, change the height, click select all dims then update all dims. Thanks.

I was wanting to know if i could get a copy of your Sketchup file. looks like a design i might follow.

Hey all, Happy belated Thanksgiving. It's good to be alive and kicking! It's been quite a while since I've been on. I've been consumed with playing out with a few groups, being a working man, and paying the bills. I did manage to get my funding for this project and have begun construction. I apologize for not getting the sketchup design out as requested, but I think the file size if really large. Also, the design layout has changed quite a bit. I've attached the final floor layout that we're building to. The section that is cut off at the right is the living suite area. You'll also notice that I have bank-friendly room titles. So here's the code: Media Room = Live Room, Game Room = Drum Room, Office = Control Room, CLO = Iso booth, and Craft Room... well that's actually a craft room for my wife who is a very accomplished potter. One significant thing to note when seeing that I eliminated the non-parallel wall layout, is that the studio ceiling goes from 9' at the front and back edges to 12' in the center such that every room has quite a bit of vertical space with a non-parallel surface. We're using scissor trusses. Standing inside the framing and looking up is a thing of beauty. Soon I'll most likely start a construction build thread on recording.org as I'm heavily using design and construction elements from Rod Gervais' book, and he's the moderator over there. I'll post a link if I get it going. Here's some teaser pics. In the pics the live room is to the far right with the living suite at the far left (may help get a sense of how the drawing translates to the pics). BTW, I have all my cabling and power conduit in the floor, so that's the boxes and conduit you see in the vapor barrier shot. The console and mixing position will be over that bundle of 2.5" conduit sticking out of the ground. The conduit runs coming up along the brick wall are for my power. The build is going very well, and after months of trying to get started, we're moving pretty quickly. Rocketman

congrats on the start of you build. Looks promising!

Always love it when the studio looks bigger than the house :shock: :lol: Congrats on the build Peace Tom

Hey all, Construction's going great. We may be done in less than a month. I thought I'd post some more recent pics in no particular order. All the double layer sheetrock with greenglue is up, but I don't have those pics on this computer yet. Roof is done, siding is done, all the double doors are in, track lighting is up, kitchen and bathroom cabinets and fixtures are going in this week. Paint is this week, and flooring next week. A couple days ago a helicoptor flew over head and we ran inside and shut the doors and it's like it completely dissapeared - almost eery the way it went silent. My kids think it's funny to get one into the vocal booth with the other just outside the door and scream as loud as they can at eachother. They just start to laugh because they don't believe that the other one is actually screaming as they just barely hear anything. I'll try to get some of the latest pictures up soon if I can get them off my other computer which bit the dust today - blue screen of death and then nothing. Hope you're new year is going well, Rocketman

Great pics Rocketman - keep them coming :)

Hey All, Ok, Our office computer bit the dust, and it took me a while to get one up and running so I could transfer some updated pics. This was a great day - we got our build certificate of completion! We'll start loading in equipment and furniture this weekend. The rooms are in desparate need of treatments and it sounds like about a 3 second reverb tail in the live room. The room ratios worked out well though, I can't find a single spot with any ugly flutter or "ping". I think we'll start with a whole lot of broad band absorbtion and go from there. Here's some drum room and control room pics, Rocketman

Here are some pics of the vocal booth and the live room. We had to put in the live room window as an egress point to meet code.... As I was taking the pics, my wife walked in and asked if I had heard the fireworks outside that a neighbor had lit off. I was pleased as can be to say I hadn't heard a thing. The kitchen and living area also have turned out great. I'll try to get some pics up of those as well. The build is fantastic, and I love the rooms. The space feels huge with the tall vaulted ceilings. All the floor penetrations for low voltage, data, and power have worked out perfect. I have been a little dissapointed in two things however. 1. It was storming - raining cats and dogs the other night, and it was too noisy to record in the space, it sounded like far away static throught the ceiling, all double layers of 5/8" Sheetrock, 2tubes of green glue per sheet, and 1ft of rockwool of it. I know why however, and that was I went for the ceiling height rather than a second false ceiling (also severe budget strain). So I got more room volume, but less sound proofing through the ceiling as the sheetrock is suspended from the same trusses that support the roofing. 2. The HVAC system is whisper quiet, but I can still slightly hear it when it comes on. I think this is fixable though with panels suspended under my vents and intakes. However, I have two zones, and when only one is on, it's a too much noise for recording. I'm meeting with the HVAC guys tomorrow to see if we can address that (it's supposed to be a variable speed fan). Can't hear anything else though, no traffic, Harleys, airplanes, etc! I can't wait to get some treatment up, equipment in, and start doing some tracking. Enjoy the pics, Rocketman

that looks awesome, any pix of in between the latest and the previous where you posted frames? we love detailed construction pix :)

I agree. "The rooms are in desparate need of treatments and it sounds like about a 3 second reverb tail in the live room. The room ratios worked out well though, I can't find a single spot with any ugly flutter or "ping"." Seems like a contradiction in terms, as these are parallel boundaries and not canted in any way, saving the ceiling? Nice contrast in colors!