Summary:
Hi all, have been lurking and reading everything I could here for a bit, finally getting to measure my modest room. It's above the garage, and I do tracking and mixing in it as a hobby (not professional). I'm down for applying some traps but not for building additional walls etc. I will probably be leaving this house in a couple of years so just looking to add some traps to get as good as a response as I can given my environment/situation.
Measuring Process:
Used REW and calibrated soundcard, and spl meter. Using the Radioshack 33-2055 facing forward in listening position. Took several samples.
Room Details:
The room is above garage (bonus room). Carpeted. The door in the pictures leads to the stair case that does a 90 turn after three steps. The full-size "storage" has a door in it that leads to some attic space. The room is oriented at the front of the house, nearest the road.
As mentioned, I use this for tracking drums so if there was something I could do to help isolation that is not too permanent, would be interested in hearing them. I was thinking of just building an isolation box around the window since I figure most of the HF escape that. I doubt I will be able to do anything about the kick or LF without adding additional walls. I won't be recording late at night anyhow.
I also have a futon that is against the wall with the window. If I angle this in the corner opposite the drums, I assume that will cause some asymmetric issues as well?
Plan
Looking at the frequency response, I see I have a peak at ~ 150Hz and a dip at just ~ 300hz. Seems suspicious they are doubled (or multiples). At 300 they are getting canceled an at 150 they are getting amplified... I know that should make sense somehow... Regardless, I assume the answer is trapping...
Back Wall: Was going to put 2 bass trap panels on the back wall. I have drums in the corner so not sure how I can bass trap that? I can bass trap the opposite corner of the drums, but then it would be asymmetrical which wouldn't help.
Front Wall: I can bass trap the corner next to the full size closet, but I can't on the other side on the front wall (next to the small closet) which would make it asymmetrical.. Not much I can do on the front wall except put some bass traps above the doors, would that help?
Sides/Ceiling: Also, figure I would treat the first reflection points on the ceilings and side walls per Ethans suggestions. What traps are recommended for the ceiling and side walls?
Budget
US $500-700
I am capable and prefer to build my own bass traps for customization flexibility.
Other Suggestions?
Looking at the freq response, do you see any other problems? I only went to 5k (displaying ~ 1k) because I've read the RS SPL meter doesn't do well over those ranges...
Thanks
Thanks to everyone for this great resource. I will keep reading along trying to learn as much as I can from everyone. Any help is greatly appreciated!
- Mike
Room Response - my plan to fix - feedback appreciated.
Originally posted at johnlsayers.com, topic 11923.
Hey Mike, and welcome!
Regarding the room response, I'm guessing that the roll-off below 100 Hz is due to your speakers, rather than due to the room. Does that make sense? What is the published response of the speakers that you have?
Right. There isn't really much you can do in that area, unless you build a second leaf. A plug in the window might help, but it might not. It all depends on where your weakest link is right now. It might be the ceiling, wall, or the floor. Or it might be the window. Hard to guess...I use this for tracking drums so if there was something I could do to help isolation that is not too permanent, would be interested in hearing them.
Probably, but that might be a good thing, or it might be a bad thing, depending on what you are doing. It would be bad if it created non-symmetry while you are trying to mix, but it could be good while you are tracking. Once again, hard to say, but worth a try for tracking!If I angle this in the corner opposite the drums, I assume that will cause some asymmetric issues as well?
Room modes are strange beasts! Those dips and peaks might or might not be related. For your dimensions, you do indeed have a lot of stuff going on around 160 Hz (mostly tangential and oblique). You have 14 room modes between 150 Hz and 170 Hz. And at 161.4 hz you do have the second harmonic axial mode that matches your room height. So your mic position might well have been close to a node (peak) for 161 Hz, and also close to the corresponding anti-node (dip) for 322 hz. Having said that, it may not even be relevant at all! What you are seeing might well be just an issue with the position of the speakers, the relationship of the speakers to the mic, the response of the mic itself, or some such.Seems suspicious they are doubled (or multiples). At 300 they are getting canceled an at 150 they are getting amplified... I know that should make sense somehow...
Ahhh! :) Carpet. Muddy floor and bright ceiling? Do you have any actual treatment in there right now, or is it just carpet floor, and bare drywall for the walls / ceiling?The room is above garage (bonus room). Carpeted.
It wouldn't do too much harm either! Any bass trapping would be preferable to none at all, as far as I'm concerned, even if it does make the back of your room non-symmetrical. But I think a better idea would be to move your drums to the middle of that wall, and put large superchunk traps in both rear corners, as well as the wall-ceiling corners on that rear wall. One question: Did you have your drums in the room when you did that response measurement? Could it be that some of the stuff you see on that curve is sympathetic resonance of your drum kit? Personally, I would not like to try doing a critical mix while sharing the same acoustic space with a set of carefully tuned and highly resonant things that are specifically designed to make a noise... That just cannot be good for clarity, imaging, EQ, spread... Maybe it's just me, since I do see a lot of rooms that have things like acoustic guitars hanging on the walls, and drums in the back: I guess some people can handle it, but I doubt that my mixing skills are anywhere near good enough to be able to deal with those things zinging and humming along with the tune I'm trying to mix....Back Wall: Was going to put 2 bass trap panels on the back wall. I have drums in the corner so not sure how I can bass trap that? I can bass trap the opposite corner of the drums, but then it would be asymmetrical which wouldn't help.
Bass traps! "Real" ones!! :) Seriously, you seem to have a lot of wall-ceiling corners where you could so a fair job of bass trapping. All corners are valid candidates, even if they are not 90° corners, as in your case. An obtuse angle won't give the same boost as a right angle, the way I see it, but it will still be worthwhile. And it seems like you do need bass trapping. If that were my room, I think I'd start by throwing some huge superchunks in both rear corners, and something for the side wall / ceiling corners, and something for first reflection points, then get the drums out and measure again, pout them back in and measure one more time. Compare measurements. - Stuart -Sides/Ceiling: Also, figure I would treat the first reflection points on the ceilings and side walls per Ethans suggestions. What traps are recommended for the ceiling and side walls?