My 5.1 Combined Studio / Control Room, Lake Tahoe, USA

Hi, Colm. The side walls are covered in 8" of Roxul RHT 40. The ceiling cloud varies from 4" to 12". [See attached drawing.] To be clear, these decisions were made somewhat arbitrarily - as much by aesthetics as by acoustics (I'm embarrassed to say) and by examining the designs of many, many other studios. To clarify, the non-environment strategy calls for wideband absorber arrays on those surfaces as well, but these became logistically impossible. So, these design choices were a result of available space, the door and window, and the existing construction of my inner shell. By going as thick as possible with the insulation (floor registers were already installed at 10" from the inner shell, so any thicker wasn't possible), I was trying to stay as true to the non-environment strategy as possible with lots of absorption. And by extending the ceiling cloud across the entire ceiling, rather than focusing on spectral reflection points, it not only facilitated my lighting design but offered more low-frequency absorption in the corners. After much consternation, I finally plowed forward with the confidence that I had a safety net - if the result is disproportionately absorptive on the high end, I can insert reflective slats of appropriate widths behind the fabric and seal 'er back up. Again, this departs from the non-environment strategy, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Wallmate is TEDIOUS to install!!! And expensive. But I'm very happy with the results. [And, for the record, it's not so tedious that I didn't choose, after the fact, to do the ceiling cloud with it too.] And I like that it's somewhat serviceable, so if I spill something or put a guitar through 'er, it won't be a major construction project to pop the tracks and replace the fabric. I spoke with my electrician about dimmers, colored lighting and automation, and he recommended traditional incandescent fixtures as the safest way to avoid introducing any unwanted EMI/RFI. I liked that it was the easiest and least expensive to install too, and it strikes me as the most future-proof. Consequently, the Philips Hue LED bulbs were ideal because they work with regular sockets, run cool, can be dimmed without requiring a dimmer switch (EMI/RFI noise generator?), and offer all the automation features. And, at the end of the day, if they didn't work, I could always revert to traditional incandescent bulbs. By comparison, Lutron, etc., are a commitment that aren't easily swapped out. I have twelve Hue bulbs and three Hue light strips installed in the studio and haven't detected an ounce of noise. When I'm back online, I can maybe do some concerted tests and share the results - see if I can't generate some detectable hum through the tie lines, for example. I hope this is helpful!