A Fool's Errand?

Hey Guys- I hope this post lives up to the rigorous standards of this great site. My limited acoustic goals for my apartment living room are to be able to mix at a moderate level without major reservations about what I'm hearing. I'm working for my own band, the material is classic rock oriented, no club music or rap that would have huge action in the low end. I know not to expect a perfect situation. Before any modification, I had speakers mounted on the walls right next to windows. I've since built speaker stands to move the monitors away from the windows, not mounted on the walls. I did notice the low end tightening up a bit. My listening orientation is basically "looking" towards the windows in the turret kind of area. Sorry I can't give a better visual on the speaker orientation, but I'm facing the middle window. My crude drawing reveals a weirdly shaped room with plenty of parallel walls. I did a basic test with my Pro Tools rig, using a synth to play tones (stepped musical notes) up the scale. I recorded the result at the listening position. It reveals large boosts in volume at frequencies that seem to correspond with the dimensions of the parallel walls. My positive outcome would include a project of making some DIY acoustic treatments and ending up with a workable situation. I want to know if that is possible. The room height is 259 cm.

it's a pretty tight space but you could start by putting up some absorbers on the parallel walls and overhead. depending on the room behind you it might be good to use some tall absorbers behind you to block off some of the room effects. you might also consider a deep absorber over the middle window in front of you.

Thanks a lot. I think I'll give it a shot-- PC

Hey Glenn- By "deep absorber", do you mean a bass trap? Thanks-

not per se, but something like a 150mm deep absorber and leave it spaced off the window by about 50mm.

Well, I've installed three absorbers above the listening area (Roxul 80 2x4 2", using Studio-drums' econo technique). Also, I put a deep absorber in front of me, on the window. Listening to familiar music, I do hear more detail, especially incidental details in the guitars, upper mids. Seems to be more clear. I have plenty of materials left, and plan to do put absorbers on parallel walls as per your advice. Should I go to town with absorbers in the front, listening area? In that area, is symmetry important? Does it matter if an absorber just lean against a wall, must it be close to the wall? Thanks a ton- Paul

symmetry is important. also, consider the overhead space to be treated with a hanging cloud.

Science! Thanks a ton, Glenn for your info and patience. My listening situation is much better. After reading around Ethan's site and other places, I caught on to what should be my first considerations. I did the cloud overhead, 4" thick about that far from the ceiling, had my buddy do the mirror along the walls trick, and have thus dampened first reflections with absorbers I made. I am listening to a Martin Denny CD, Thriller, a lot of stereo action. Sounds great, tons more detail, more of a "picture". Kind of freaky at first. Transient action is way better, more impacting, if that makes sense. I still have some serious bass booms that I haven't gotten to, maybe later, maybe I'll just deal, and hope not too many songs are in C.... Thanks again- Paul