Studio Layout and designing soffit mount wall

I am in the process of converting most of my basement into a production studio. The space is supposed to sound good obviously, but I also want a relaxed and creative recording environment. I'd like to keep the studio open like in my layout below if possible. At the moment I'm part way through the construction phase of the project realizing that I need to do more planning before proceeding further. I had an unfinished basement with a LOT of sound leakage to the upstairs so i began by rerouting/sealing all the ductwork. And sealing my ceiling with a layer of 2" Rockwool between the joists held up by 1/2" cleat-mounted drywall (acoustically sealed of course), and finally 4" Rockwool below that which is held flush with the bottom of my joists with picture frame wire. I chose to leave the ceiling open because i have a very low ceiling (6'3"-6'5" at the bottom of the joists). Sound leakage to the upstairs is now very minimal and the sound inside the treated area of the basement sounds good to my ears (no acoustical testing done yet however). My main questions now revolve around speaker positioning and the possibility of soffit mounting my speakers. I began by researching the forums playing with the Wall Bounce calculator and feebly trying my hand at Null calculations, but it wasn't until reading up on the complexities of LF frequencies in corners and making Super Chunk corner traps that I realized "Wait, one of the corners I'll be installing the traps in, isn't even a corner..." I was going to ask if i need to square the corner but then i came upon Soffit Mounting. I liked the idea so I checked if my speakers could do the trick. I own a pair of Tapco S8 studio monitors which perform well for the type of music I produce (hip hop, electronic, r&b, dub). I contacted the people at Tapco/Mackie and here is what they said about the S8's (note theres an interesting tidbit about soffit mounting the Mackie HR824s): Q: I am interested in flush mounting my Tapco S8s to create a better mixing environment in my studio. I have read, however, that the speakers used for flush mounting must be designed to do this (such as the Mackie HR824s). I'd like to know if it's practical or even possible to get good results flush mounting my S8s. A: Actually, that's not exactly accurate about the HR824: we NEVER recommend soffet mounting those units. This is due to the fact that the HR824 uses a passive radiator to enhance bass response. Putting that unit in the wall will reduce the amount of bass output and throw off the frequency response. Now the Tapco S-8, while designed by the same folks, uses a bit different acoustic properties. I've not heard anything from the Engineering team about not recommending soffet mounts. Since these speakers operate in a different manner than the HR824, I'm inclined to think that soffet mounting will be fine for these particular units. However, you should consider the fact that these have built-in amp sections, which means they will get hot and need to dissapate the heat coming off the amp section. So, if you can get some air circulation to the heatsinks, I think you'll be in good shape. Hope this helps. Thanks! Best regards, Mackie Tech Support Once i realized i COULD soffit mount my speakers after reading Knightfly's post about creating bezels for curved-edge speakers here, i wanted to do it. And so my Questions: 1. Please look at my layout below. I realize things aren't exactly symmetrical at the estimated listening position. There is a beam overhead as well as ductwork that will interfere with sounds at the left speaker. Is it wise to go with this setup or is it so bad that I should turn the setup 90 degrees clockwise?? If i do this, would'nt a wall on just one side affect the sound even more dramatically? 2. If i decide to soffit mount, how the heck do i consider where to build the baffles. Won't a new wall affect my null calculations? Where do i start? 3. Any other observations greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, if you'd like any additional pictures, measurements etc.. to make a better informed comment about my work, just let me know.

maybe my questions are too broad :? Hmm, how about... Q: Can someone recommend good reading materials (other than this site) to help me plan for soffit mounting my speakers?

Aloha H, Try this: SAE Website: http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html (be sure to click on the acoustics, absorbers, construction tabs at left, and tabs that appear at the top of the pages) Wall Units - http://www.johnlsayers.com/HR/index1.htm Also try a search on this site on "'soffits". Hope this helps, Aloha 8)

HBomb, Hey, you may want to post your layout over in the Design Forum for John to take a look at. He's real good at laying out studios in challenging existing spaces. It should be helpful for him if you post your current plan & a good size "blank" of existing space with all details of obstacles noted and work already done. My guess is your CR may be turned around 180 degrees, and then "tilted" a bit. The basic idea is the have the CR wider in the rear of room. You might also be able to get a window between CR and booth... that would be putting windows or doors with windows in walls built on either side of the duct (running between joists??) to the left of your booth in current layout. I'm looking forward to where you end up with layout. Marc

Heres a link to my next post. I'm not too familiar with the multi-forum etiquette yet, hope this is what you were asking me to do. thanks for the responses. Hbomb

Go read all my posts regarding my soffit mounted HR-824's Very successful, 3 years of being in a soffit. Great sound...blah blah blah.....