Trying to improve my "control room"

This room ( 10 x 12 x 8 ) was formerly the family/room den. It is a typical "sunken" design from the 50's with a slab floor which has been tiled. All walls have been stuffed with insulation and re-sheet-rocked in recent years. The wall between the "control room" and "studio" (aka former garage" is 2 x 8 insulated with R-31 and soundboard. All other walls are typical 2 x 4 construction. Ceiling is sheetrock with ~ 12" of insulation on half and minimal insulation on the half above the half adjacent to the studio (room above) The window looking into the studio is a dual pane with laminated acrylic set at a slant. All wiring from the studio (XLR and headphone) are junction below the window and then patched to patchbays which are easier to get to. The door into the studio is a solid core door, exterior door is insulated steel (w/ window), exterior window is dual pane. other 2 doors are hollow core. The current set-up is everything along the wall so I'm looking directly into the studio thru the window. I am struggling to get even rough mixes that resemble what I'm "hearing" in the room when I take the mix elsewhere... Volume is typically ~ 75 db ...I do not have issues with my neighbors 8) Below is depicted a "new proposed layout" for my equipment. My thoughts behind this is it now becomes longer rather than wider and there are more ares behind (and in front) that I can add traps. The one main issue is that I'm operation in 'half the room" and I don't know if there's really that much to be gained... Any input/suggestions (even if it's "you're screwed no matter what..." ) would at least save me from making a futile effort Thanks Stainless Sacramento

Aloha and welcome to the forum, stainless :D Here's a few of things to consider: - Left/right room symmetry (at least within a foot or two of ear height) is important for good stereo imaging, - peaks/nulls - it looks like you may be sitting in a null (see attached) - acoustic treatment - Setting up your mix position - bits of information I've collected from this site Setting up the Mix Position Soffits angled 30 deg. in from a flat wall result in speaker baffles being perpendicular to the two legs of equilateral triangle comprised of two speaker centers and a point about 10" behind your head The baffle extension (the face of the soffit) should be as large as you can make it, up to about 45" in each direction from the woofer in a system with a LF cutoff of around 45 hZ - There's a formula based on LF cutoff that ensures full 2 pi response for the woofer if the baffle is at least the size obtained in the formula's solution. Monitors should NOT sit on the console but behind, placed on heavy decoupled stands - console placement causes early reflection problems in most cases, unless the console is slanted down in front a LOT. Distance to wall behind speakers will change response drastically - there is a wall bounce calculator on the Acoustics forum that's fun to play with (needs Excel) Moving either speakers or your head by as little as an inch or two can sometimes make drastic changes in response, due to modal peaks and dips. - Left/right room symmetry (at least within a foot or two of ear height) is important for good stereo imaging. - Roughly 38% of total room length from the front wall - Equilateral triangle formed by left, right mix position - Monitor angles 60 degrees (30 degrees each) - Monitor height – woofer at ear level (avoid mid point of floor to ceiling measurement – either sit higher or lower if necessary) - Angled side absorption panels – left/right of mix position - Side walls 6-12 degrees - Ceiling 12 degree slope Here's a couple of good places to start for ideas: 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 Recording Studio Design Forum Reference Area: http://johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2125 More Useful Links: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1168 If you care to check out a couple of recent threads using these absorbers, try here: http://johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic ... ght=#15598 and here: http://johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4091 Hope this helps, Aloha 8)

Kendale, Thanks for the detailed response- I have visited several of the links you gave. First I must decide what I can and cannot do as far as placement (based on the room) before I confront absobers. Please bear with me on this as I want to make sure I'm interpreting your comments correctly

- Left/right room symmetry (at least within a foot or two of ear height) is important for good stereo imaging,

If by this you mean something looking like what is depicted in 'John's room treatment 1" I'm already pretty much dead in the water. My control room physical layout is pretty much what it is. I cannot block any of the doorways, nor could I close off the opening into the living room. In order to have any solid wall in front of me I have to rotate 90° (as shown in my room layout), however, the solid wall in front of me is only 68" wide. I might be able to infringe sllightly into the opening and I can place a corner trap to my left and a triangle baffle/trp on the right corner of the wall (but not in a physical corner), but to my right the opening remains. (There's no realistic option for closing this off.) and I can form the equalateral triangle, however as far as left/right room symetry, I'd be on one side... If I remain set up (as in the picture... with some mods) I can maintain left/right symetry, but I can only treat one corner (right) and then there's the 2 x 4 slanted window in front of me

- peaks/nulls - it looks like you may be sitting in a null (see attached)

I've looked at the graphs, but I'm not sure how to interpret the "nulls". Unless it is to mean that I do not want my ears in the exact midpoint of the room? also - soffits- to me a soffit is something up in the corner of a wall and ceiling... in which case I would interpret this as traps? Sorry if I seem really dense (no pun intended) about this... Stainless :?

mate - what do you expect from a room with 4 doorways, two windows parallel to each other and an open double door area. :shock: If it were mine I'd forgo the window to the outside. I'd leave the gear setup as is and line the ceiling with insulation at 7" height.(i.e. build new 3" x 2" rafters with insul between then cloth lined.) I'd line the window wall , including the outside door with insulation. I'd setup the speakers on either side of the window to the studio to form that triangle Ken kindly posted for you . :wink: cheers john

John- Thanks for the reply. I can give that a try! This is one of those situations where "it is what it is..." (whether I like it or not) Stainless

Aloha Stainless,

Thanks for the detailed response

No worries! :wink:

If by this you mean something looking like what is depicted in 'John's room treatment 1" I'm already pretty much dead in the water. My control room physical layout is pretty much what it is. I cannot block any of the doorways, nor could I close off the opening into the living room.

Since isolation is not an issue for you, there's the possibility that some of the absorber units could be made (somewhat) portable - at least movable for those openings. You could even use them as gobos in the studio. Aloha 8)