Basement Studio Design <how original>

I've drawn this design out to scale and threw some color on it. <Mostly of embarrassment after seeing Johns> Thanks to Dave B. for helping tremendessly with the designing, I've got it pretty much where I like it <I think> and just wanted to see what everyone thoughts. I do have a slightly different ver with the monitors at 60 degrees ILO 90 like in this one, but I'll wait to hear back from the other thread about that one. If all seems well to you guys I will next focus on the wall treaments throughout, so if you see anything that I have so far that seems like may be trouble please feel free to let me know! Thanks Space ps: thanks John for the drumset pic :wink:

I just noticed that I put down Bass Trap in the Key there. I meant Bass Hanger. Sorry Space

That's looking very cool space - glad to see you are getting there :) cheers john

Looking cool Space; Hey is there some trick in smart draw for shading areas quickly with color? Space I would start re-looking at some of Johns studios under construction pics. I like the way he uses slots in conjunction with absorption. Like maybe 703 on the vocal booth wall opposite the glass, nice and deep. Maybe a slot wall on the vocal NW wall. I imagine some of the best rooms he has bulit incorporate nice deep bass trapping, with the slots helping in the mid highs, without deadening the room too much. How about some adjustable panels in the live room? Dave

dbluefield wrote:

Hey is there some trick in smart draw for shading areas quickly with color?

I just use a shape or make a freeform shape then change the fill color. Then I "Move to Back" under the arrange menu to get it behind other things like walls and such.

dbluefield wrote:

How about some adjustable panels in the live room? Dave

I'm not sure what an adjustable panel is, I'll have to read up on it. I am going to research some more as to treaments but so far I think what you've suggested sounds good. Question for you, I've read that you want pretty much no refections happening in the control room. If thats the case, then what would be the reason to use slot resonators in the front half of the room instead of just using 703 and bass traps all over the room. Thank for the info!! Ron

Hey Ron, Yeah that's how I'm coloring too. I thought there might be a paint bucket kinda trick instead of drawing freeform. No biggie.

I'm not sure what an adjustable panel is, I'll have to read up on it. I am going to research some more as to treatments but so far I think what you've suggested sounds good.

You can make panels that fold into a wall, being more reflective when closed and more absorptive when open. John's got pics somewhere. Think about your live room as a place where you might want different acoustics for different situations (classic guitar, cello, vs. rock drums, guitar amps etc. Making the acoustics shapeable gives you some more tools in recording and shaping sound.

Question for you, I've read that you want pretty much no reflections happening in the control room. If that’s the case, then what would be the reason to use slot resonators in the front half of the room instead of just using 703 and bass traps all over the room.

Well this is where the crux of the debate sits. And why different people have come up with very different solutions. In general, they seem to agree on a few things -- the short answer is that a certain amount of balanced "liveliness" or secondary reflections are a good thing, even for control rooms. A completely dead room would be anechoic, and due to psycho-acoustic reasons they are apparently very strange places to listen in, let alone mix music in. Additionally, acoustic treatments that are not balanced acroos the audible spectrum can cause lop-sided treatment resulting in a room "too boomy", say if only thin foam were used to stop high frequencies. In general it might be difficult to suck out too much bass from a room, but can be very easy to suck out too much mid/highs. This is why I think that many principles are becoming helpful, but at the end of the day each room faces its own challenges -- so no one treatment fits all. I think John's solution is based mostly in real world installation and I see this as his strength. The slats will ideally provide a little liveliness while also acting as a broad mid/high absorber. The clever part is if your going to splay the walls anyhow, why not use that extra in between wall room to stick some treatments --make slots for a lively-er front end? -- Its like they are doing triple duty, absorbing, reflecting, and providing some nice dispersion as well. I look forward to hearing the one's I build. So the point of John's approach, from what I can tell, is to create a relatively clear RFZ (Reflection Free Zone) at the mix position, but not an anechoic listening space. Soffit mounting for improved imaging detail and bass response of the speakers, then using the speaker corners as bass traps as well with rear wall/ceiling bass absorption as needed. If you have a control room large enough from the back of the mixers head to the rear wall, some diffusion (dispersion really? because in physics diffusion passes through something right?) can be appropriate, but as discussed on other threads there is a time/distance limit here for effective use of diffusers. I was almost going pseudo LEDE, but these guys opened my eyes to the difficulties of that approach in small room acoustics. Best, Dave

Have you guys got into the layers in Smartdraw?? Arrange/Layers/Define layers - also there is a button next to the cut/copy/paste icons. Select an object and then select the button and you can change other objects to match the original selected one. cheers john

Have you guys got into the layers in Smartdraw?? Arrange/Layers/Define layers -

You mean the "bring to the front" or "send to the back"? If so , then yes :lol:

also there is a button next to the cut/copy/paste icons. Select an object and then select the button and you can change other objects to match the original selected one. cheers john

cool..I bet get the full version, which one do you use?

I have been learning the layers but I didn't know about the paint format button. I just looked for it and it sure is easier. Thanks again for the help!! It was cool when I went to the smartdraw site going after the software, I saw your studio in there "Courtesy of John Sayers" Rock on! Ron

http://www.saecollege.de/reference_mate ... encies.htm Scroll to the bottom for variable absorbers... Steve

Hi. I'm Fernando. I was woundering if you know about Variable RT60 methods. If you've a little of budget, you can make good think with it. Starting from the top, maybe a few variable Air diffusors. I assume that this already exists. In one face, diffusor system (2d), in other absorver... with rotation abilities (motor). (look graphic) Also, you can make some Systems like the before mentioned (close = reflection / open = absorvent). (look graphic) I hope this helps! Fernando AWS

Steve - Thanks for the link, I'll try and construct one Hi Fernando - Great pictures, helps explain it better for someone like me!! Thanks for all the help once again fellas Ron