Building mix room in a bedroom

The past few years I've been mixing in a room that I designed and built with the help from a few people on this fantastic forum! But soon I'm moving to a new place... One of the bedrooms there will be the mix studio/home office. I rather not build angled walls and ceilings etc into the room, instead I prefer to use panels that I can hang from the walls and ceiling. They're easy to build and when I move to a new house I can use the panels there too. I mix in the box, so there's no big console. Just an iMac, a Digi002r and two Dynaudio BM6a's. The room is in an old house in The Netherlands, built somewhere between 1920 - 1940's. All walls of the room are built with some sort of hollow bricks and have plaster on them. The room is at the top level of the house. The house has a flat roof, with no or little isolation between the ceiling and the roof. So I guess a lot of low frequency waves go straight through it and never come back. The room has a wooden floor. I have made some plans in Sketchup you can see below. I have some questions: 1. Am I on the right track with these plans? 2. What DIY bass traps do you recommend me? 3. Any other tips? :yahoo:

1. Am I on the right track with these plans?

Not really. Your speakers should fire down the long axis of the room, not across the short axis, so rotate your design 90 degrees. Also, your mix position should be roughly 38% of the distance from the front wall to the rear wall, but your current design shows that your head would be almost up against the rear wall! :shock: Bad idea. Major bass issues if you do that. Once again, rotating your layout 90 degrees would fix that.

2. What DIY bass traps do you recommend me?

Superchunks are quick and easy to build, and very effective. Hangers are another good possibility (John loves them!).

3. Any other tips?

You seem to have a poly-cylindrical diffuser on the back wall. Your room isn't big enough for diffusers to work well, so I'd replace that with absorption. - Stuart -

Stuart, Thanks for your input. I changed the design. My ears should be in the right place now. I raised the speaker so the tweeters are at ear height. The speakers are about 50 cm (about 19 inch) from the back wall. I'm using Isover Sonepanel (4cm thick) for the absorption panels On the left side of the room we'll probably put a bookshelves. On the right side either a 1 person bed or convertible couch/bed (for a guest) or more bookshelves. I'm sure I could get better results with corner traps built into the corners etc but I much prefer to use panels. It's about esthetics and the ability to move the panels easily to another room or house (there's a chance that will happen within a year or so). This isn't a pro studio, remember, I'm a hobbiest. Still, I'd like to have the best results possible :). Am I a bit more on track now?

Pasz wrote:

This isn't a pro studio, remember, I'm a hobbiest. Still, I'd like to have the best results possible.

That is exactly what Stuart and other people here want to you get. The best possible. The changes Stuart is making will make your studio much better and minimal cost. Andre

@Andre, that's great! I just wanted to point out that we can't go "all the way" in this room but I probably made that very clear at the start of the thread. I'm sorry I tend to repeat my self often :).

That looks a bit better. But you also need absorption on your front wall, behind the speakers, and you really do need some kind of bass trapping in at least a few corners. It's a very small room. Superchunks can be as simple as a few bales of mineral wool or figer-glass insulation stacked in the corners, and hidden behind a frame covered with cloth. Not too expensive, very easy to do, and very easy to move if you have to go elsewhere. - Stuart -

I can put absorbers behind the right speaker but not the left one, because there's a window behind it which I rather not obstruct. But is a bass trap needed there? Aren't the low freqs flying out the window (heh heh) anyways? When I'm mixing I could just close the curtains so mid/high freqs are absorbed, right? On the other hand, I could make a big absorber that I put in front of the window when I'm mixing. Can I just add corner traps to the corners, and by that I mean triangle shaped bass traps in the top corners, or will that not be effective? It's going to be hard to install corner traps that go from floor to ceiling because of the window at the front of the room, and the door in the back of the room.

I can put absorbers behind the right speaker but not the left one, because there's a window behind it which I rather not obstruct. But is a bass trap needed there?

No, but it IS a first reflection point, and therefore does need treating, unfortunately. If not, you will get reflections and comb filtering from behind the speaker coming back at your head...

When I'm mixing I could just close the curtains so mid/high freqs are absorbed, right?

Well, if your curtains are made of fabric that is about 10 cm, then that would work! :) Otherwise, you need absorption there. Curtains won't do much.

On the other hand, I could make a big absorber that I put in front of the window when I'm mixing.

That sounds like the right idea!

Can I just add corner traps to the corners, and by that I mean triangle shaped bass traps in the top corners, or will that not be effective?

It will help, but that is a small room: it needs LOTS of bass trapping. As much as you can get. Don't forget that there are actually twelve corners in a room... Most people think there are only four... :) Try to bass-trap as many corners as you can.

It's going to be hard to install corner traps that go from floor to ceiling because of the window at the front of the room, and the door in the back of the room.

For the door, you could make a "bass trap on wheels" that you roll into place once the door is closed, and roll out the way when you need to leave the room... - Stuart -

I had a very busy week so I couldn't get back to this thread earlier, sorry! Stuart, thank you for the great input. I've added a few pictures with of a new design based on your input. The yellow boxes are broad band absorbers. I'm using Isover Sonepanel for this design: http://www.basstraps.net/DIY-BASS-TRAPS-MADE-EASY.pdf The green things are very simple corner bass traps, like these: http://www.bobgolds.com/TrapHarder/Corn ... re0010.jpg But with cloth in the front of course. They are very small corner traps, the sides are 13cm. Will that be effective? So I thought I hang two absorber panels on the wall behind the speakers and make a special broadband absorber I can put into the window. Not sure how to temporarily secure it yet but I'll sort that out. The back wall remains unchanged. I left the broadband absorber hanging from the ceiling out of the pictures so you can see the solution for the window. How does this look?