Basement Studio - Ceiling Height & Control Room Dimensions

First of all, nice to be back in your community. I've spent the morning catching up on all the Studio construction threads and I must say I'm very jealous :D Since I last came here I've developed my ideas further and now am planning a smaller basement studio. The only issue is the ceiling height. It looks as if it's going to be 6' 6" or 7' at a push. Right now I'm looking at ratios to use for the control room. From using RealTraps' modecalc and reading around on the forums I've seen that 1 : 1.50 : 2.10 is a decent ratio to use. This would give the room dimensions of (L)13.65' (W)9.75' (H)6.5'. Does anyone have any advice on whether or not these are good measurments for a small hobby studio? (I will also have 1 or 2 isolation booths for vocals and drums) Regards, Joe.

I should add, this is being build from the ground up, or the ground down, if you will. For finacial reasons the smaller the basement the better but since doing a couple of sketches in Sketch Up I'm starting to think the space will be too cramped. Does anyone have any experience in a studio with similar dimensions? Regards, Joe.

Joe - download sketchup and try and give us something to work with - an indication of the space you have available etc.

John Sayers wrote:

Joe - download sketchup and try and give us something to work with - an indication of the space you have available etc.

John, the maximum space available would be roughly (L)28' (W)14' and a height of around 6' 6". The dimensions shown in this file are as shown. Regards, Joe.

Hello everyone, I've had another go on Sketchup, this time I've tried to fit in an isolation booth. It seems like quite a squeeze though. Do you think this space will be workable? There's also a lot of wasted space behind the control room. Could this be put to better use? Regards, Joe.

Joe - you really only have a space for a one room studio - a drum kit requires at a minimum an 8' x 8' space. I'd make it one room.

John Sayers wrote:

Joe - you really only have a space for a one room studio - a drum kit requires at a minimum an 8' x 8' space. I'd make it one room.

Thanks for the feedback John. As previously stated I could expand back as far as 28-30'. For cost effectiveness the smaller the space the better. I'd very much like one isolation booth for vocals. What would you say are the minimum dimensions required for this? Thanks again, Joe.

joe - check this thread - it's a small vox booth design. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14147

Thanks for the design. I just put it into my plan. How would the acoustics be affected if I lowered the height of the booth to around 6' 6"? Regards, Joe.

that would be OK joe.

Okay, so here is a very crude drawing of how the studio will be laid out. I'm going to fish around the forum, read a bit more of my book and try and draw a more detailed sketch soon. If all goes to plan work will commence in the next few weeks. Regards, Joe.

Using John's vocal both design and an SAE plan (see below) I've come up with another 2D rough design. Right now I'm trying to fit what I need into the smallest possible space that will still be effective. Any comments, good or bad would be much appreciated. Regards, Joe.

After doing some reading and toying with new designs the questions has dawned on me, Do I need to soffit mount my monitors? My studio will be mainly used for my own projects ranging from acoustic to alternative to electronic. Will the benefits gained be worth the extra money and such? Thanks, Joe.