New Home Studio Planning Stage

Hello all, First, thank you for the forum. I am going down the rule sheet as I write my post as to give you the best information I can. I've been reading the forums for a long time and as I get closer to planning my home studio, I'm realizing I don't know as much as I need to, to get the best results, and I do not want to waste my budget. My goal is to use this existing space as a modest home recording studio. I am currently in the planning phase. The rooms are finished, standard basement (bi level) family room/bedroom space. Stick built walls, fiberglass insulation, drywall. There are 4 windows in the "live room" and one window in the "control room". Carpet throughout. The "control room" also has a closet. I would like to record singer songwriters, occasional drums and use the studio for my own writing the majority of the time. Strictly private for my friends and I. The house is rural, no neighbors and volume is no concern. I guess my question is, is this space worth the time and investment? My budget is $10k. I am very familiar with room treatment materials and concepts, I will understand anything you may mention. Same goes for building materials. What I am unsure about are how the room dimensions, modes, and rations will impact what I treat the room with. How they will impact where I setup a mix position etc. What is the best use of this space? I want to build it correctly, so I get the best possible results. I've attached a drawing of the rooms with dimensions. Thank you in advance for your time, I truly appreciate any response. Very excited to hear how others would use the space. And I apologize if I broke any of the posting rules. Going back to reading the other great posts now. Thanks!

I guess my question is, is this space worth the time and investment? My budget is $10k.

Sure the 10x17 foot room could be a pretty nice control room. You can use the following for some treatment ideas. http://www.gikacoustics.com/acoustic-advice/ The other room is smaller but not reason that could not be used to record in.

Hi there "chadrobb4", and Welcome! :)

I guess my question is, is this space worth the time and investment?

It looks like a very usable space to me. There are some potential issues with the control room: that closet, for example, is a big problem, since there is no way to orient the room well to avoid that. If you orient the room towards the top of the page, then that closet ends up causing asymmetrical response on your right side. If you turn the room to the left, then that closet is behind you where it could be used as a bass trap, but then the room is to short and too wide. I agree with Glenn: I was also thinking that it might be an idea to switch the rooms around, and use the bigger room for the control room... there are no symmetry issues, and it can be set up quite nicely. In general it is better to have the bigger room as the live room, but here I think I'd make an exception, and use it for the control room.

What I am unsure about are how the room dimensions, modes, and rations will impact what I treat the room with.

Are you planning to leave the room just like they are, or are you planning to isolate them as well? You didn't mention isolation, so I guess you don't need any? To understand the impact of dimensions and modal response, plug in your room dimensions here, and then look at the results carefully: http://www.bobgolds.com/Mode/RoomModes.htm

... will impact what I treat the room with. ... How they will impact where I setup a mix position etc.

The room ratio does not change the room layout or position and type of the basic treatment, although it could change the position of additional treatment. Control room layout is pretty much the same for all rectangular rooms: the mix positions should be at about 38% of the room length (that's where your head should be), the speakers should be set up at about 28% of the room width, angled inwards about 30°, and with the acoustic axis 1.2m above the floor (47-1/4"), adjusted so that the acoustic axes intersect about a foot behind your head. They should be soffit-mounted, ideally, or if not, then placed on massively heavy stands behind the desk. Basic treatment is: large superchunk bass traps in both rear corners, deep absorption on the rest of the rear wall, and absorption on the first reflection points. Absorption on most of the ceiling, and perhaps "checkerboarded" on the walls, as needed to get enough in the room to control the decay time correctly. That's the basic concept.