Strange acoustic issues in my studio

http://kylegeiger.com/ftp/cubera/KG_StudioLayout.jpg So after a 3 year period of doing music professionally in a very make-shift amateur setup...I decided to take time away from production to actually research and set up my studio correctly in tandem with acoustic treatment, etc. While the overall sound of the room might have become better with some efforts made towards room symmetry and monitor placement, I have encountered a new and very serious issue with the low end that seemed to be a non issue when I didn't put any thought into my previous speaker placement. Here is what I'm encountering: When I take a very familiar 909 or 808 kick drum sound....while fully panning to the left, I get a full, chunky sound out of the left side on my Mackie 824's. Panned to the right, it sounds like an 80 hz high pass filter has been placed on it. While I'm becoming more convinced that it's due to sound leaking out of the room, I thought I would ask people who actually know what they're talking about (I've always seen myself as an amateur in this dept....I should have sat closer to the front in my boring high school physics class.). Let me first clarify a few things to avoid maybe obvious questions: -I have measured out the speaker placement and symmetry down to the inch on both sides...both speakers are equidistant from the rear wall and their respective side walls. -I have switched monitors, so I know it's not the speaker itself. -I have switched outputs, so I know it's not the audio interface. After installing an oak door to block the air from flowing up the stairwell, I was disappointed to see that that only marginally improved the low end issues. (Please note that my studio desk is no longer outside the room...disregard that ;). ) Due to the door placement in the room, I decided to have my speakers fire longways from the stairwell side of the room. Keep in mind that there is now a solid core door at the base of those stairs now. Visually, the room is completely sealed off....however, a big issue that i suspect to be in place is that this room is in a basement, where the wall opposite of stairs in the photo as well as the wall that runs parallel to the stairwell on the stair side of the room are solid concrete (these serve as the neighboring walls for the speaker that I feel is providing a more accurate response on the low end). on the long wall that runs on the same side as the stairwell, with all the doors, is basically a hollow frame, simply covered by a 1/4" wood panelling (which serves as a neighboring wall to the speaker that is lacking a great amount of low end.) 3 of the four doors in the room are also hollowcore. So we're looking at a scenario where both the walls with doors in them, also happen to be hollow. Conveniently, these hollow doors also prohibit me from being able to put in a proper bass trap in those corners as well. I am also working with a dropped ceiling that is 85 inches off the floor...as well as a airduct covered with wood panelling that runs right through the middle of the room between the two long walls that is covered with wood panelling...it extends roughly 6 inches lower than the drop ceiling and is roughly 36 inches wide. I am willing to do almost whatever it takes to get this room sounding right...but I feel like before I throw anymore money at treatment, drywall, auralex mineral fiber to fill the walls, etc etc etc...I want to know what the real problem is. Guesswork in the realm of acoustic treatment, I'm learning, is quite costly. In short, I am really interested in getting best balance between an even and accurate response between the two speakers. I know drywall is great for isolation, but several have told me putting drywall in would only make my bass issues worse...is this the case? Any help on this topic would be greatly, greatly appreciated. Thanks! Kyle Geiger

Hi Kyle, and welcome! It's really hard to say what the problem is, based on so little information, but I doubt that it is due to "sound leaking out of the room". You'd need to have a rather large hole in your wall for that to be the case! I'm assuming that you have your desk located at the opposite end of the room from the wall marked "8 ft" (towards the top of the diagram), with the speakers on either side of it, so that would make the left wall solid concrete, and the right wall "hollow frame, simply covered by a 1/4" wood panelling" (left and right from your point of view, seated at the mix position. So my guess would be that the right wall is acting as some kind of tuned panel trap, and is absorbing some of the low end. But that's just a very rough guess. There are a bunch of other possibilities too. Please post some photos of your room, so we can get a better idea of how it is laid out, and also of the treatment that you have in that room. An accurate diagram of the room done in SketchUp would also be very useful, as would some real measurements of the room response at the mix position, for each speaker individually and also for both at once.

3 of the four doors in the room are also hollowcore.

Ouch! Not good.

as well as a airduct covered with wood panelling that runs right through the middle of the room

More ouch!

Guesswork in the realm of acoustic treatment, I'm learning, is quite costly.

Don't worry: Even without guesswork, it is still costly.... :) the only difference is that the money is wasted with the guesswork approach, while it brings benefits with a scientific approach. But the amount of money is "costly" either way :)

I know drywall is great for isolation, but several have told me putting drywall in would only make my bass issues worse...is this the case?

No, it is definitely NOT the case! Your wall just needs to be designed properly, and drywall most likely will be a large part of that "properly", while thin paneling on studs over a hollow space most certainly is NOT part of that "properly"! Questions: Can you knock stuff down, move it, rebuild it, etc.? For example, if necessary, could you take down that thin paneling wall with its frame, and put up a new frame wit drywall n a slightly different location? Can you move doors around / eliminate doors / replace them with solid doors? Can you tear down the paneling around the HVAC duct? etc. I'm not saying that you WILL have to do all those things, just asking if you CAN do them, if it turns out to be necessary. You didn't say anything about the floor: what is it made of? What is underneath it? I'd suggest you start by doing the accurate SketchUp diagram, taking the response measurements, and posting some photos. With that, we can get a better idea of what might be causing your problems, and how to fix it. - Stuart -

It may not be the room response as much as it might well be the sample you have is mono. Take your left/right channel cables that feed the monitors and reverse them ( the left channel out feeds the right monitor, the right channel out feeds the left monitor) and see if you still have the same response, but coming out of opposite sides.