the Stiz build diary - FINISHED!

just a quick update. . . this studio is amazing!!!! i wish i put more effort into HVAC cuz it gets freakin HOT in there, but otherwise it rocks. check it out. www.theStiz.com hosted with my MobileMe account for now, but it works.

Hey Dynamike: I've been remodeling my control room and I plan on using your sawtooth slat resonator design. If I may ask, what are the dimensions of the MDF boxes you made for the resonators? Mine are 8' tall, 4' across, 8" deep on the fat end and 3" deep on the skinny end. Any idea how I would go about calculating the depth? Here's a link to my thread: http://www.gearslutz.com/board/photo-diaries-recording-studio-construction-projects/327145-15k-studio-makeover-hawaii.html

Hey DrBob! Sorry, i didn't realize you posted, i must have turned of email notifications. Anyway, my resonators are both smaller and bigger than yours. the ones by the mixing side are around 6' wide, they go from 3" or 4" to about 12". The ones on the tracking side are 2 smaller ones. I think 3' or 4' wide each, and go from 2" to about 8". I was just trying to get the biggest difference in depth i could without sacrificing space in the 'already feeling' small room. You can calculate depths by using the slot resonator calculator or whatever its called. it's posted all over here. somewhere in my thread, in the stickies, etc. Just plug in all your dimensions and make sure the results give you the frequencies or the frequency ranges you're looking to eat up. Good luck with your build, its lookin good so far

Hi Dynamike - just going though your photo log..what is the purpose of the extra drywall strips at the bottom of your walls as it IMG_1219.JPG ? Thanks, Shaun

Shaun, That was a very annoying situation for me. The previous homeowners had a hair salon in that room, so there was a old, now disconnected water pipe running through the wall all the way at the bottom. It was buried in there, and the sheetrock/studs were locking it in. The baseboard was the only thing covering it from the opposite side wall. It would have been too hard to remove it all, so i decided to extend the rock with strips at the bottom to keep my double layers of 5/8" consistent with the rest of the wall. If it sounds annoying, it was. . .you had to see it before to really grasp what i was dealing with.

Just an update. The new http://www.thestiz.com is now up and running. You can hear some music i've done. Lot's of hip hop. Some other stuff as well. You can also get my solo album at http://www.jivetheuniversal.com I am constantly getting new clients based on the first impression of the pictures of my place. I am forever indebted to all of the great info and encouragement of the community here @ John Sayers forum. Thanks again everyone!

Well done Mike - it looks great :)

Amen to that Dude - Looks fab! Terrific job!:P Regards, Lou. 8)

Pretty!!! :) Good work man. Good to see another person proving what I have been saying since I built my 1st room in 2003. Mackies sound AWESOME in soffits!!!! Just adjust those settings properly. Checked my old messages. LOL. You asked me about soffting Mackies back in 2006. WOW. Glad to see the finished product. I know you are in heaven. I practically lived in my room for 4 years. Now I get to build a bigger room in a deeper space. I am amped to hear the space with a pair of 3 way-10" "midfields" mounted in the soffits. And a Mackie Surround Sound rig.

It took you a year to tell us your done? :mrgreen: looks really awesome dyna!

Seeing how Mackie is on record instructing people NOT to soffit mount their HR824s, I would be curious to know how you have accounted for this. That passive radiator needs to vent.

LowdBrent. Have you looked at Johns Soffit Design? If you will notice... you have a hole in the bottom of the speaker box and the top of the speaker box. for air movement. THERE IS YOUR VENT. I have been fielding questions concerning this for 6 years. It doesn't change. THEY WORK. If you DON'T put in those vent holes you get 2 problems. Heat buildup, and no way for the PR to move air. (Venting is an incorrect term) I have been building speakers for over 27 years. (Since I was 12) The theory hasn't changed. The soffit, over-simplistically speaking, just becomes a BIGGER speaker cabinet. Also, the acoustic space setting will allow you to adjust for the increase in bass output when soffiting the cabinets. Tuning the port (manually) is the same as flipping that AR switch. This same theory can be used with a bass reflex cabinet as well. With minor adjustments, they will soffit mount just fine.

Again, Mackie confirms that this will not be ideal. That vent in the soffit is not allowing the Mackies to do what they are designed to do. I will bet you money that there is now distortion and a loss of low end. The bass coming from that vent would be out of phase. BTW, I like your Signature Bryan.

Mackie and all manufactures say a lot of things. If you know Theory, you know what will be ideal. My assumption would be that most people do not have the inclination nor education to build a soffit correctly. For the purpose of LEGAL protection from lawsuits, of course they will say it isn't ideal. If they said it was great and the failure rate of their product increased... well now wouldn't that just be peachy. LOL. No out of phase bottom end for me. No discernible distortion increase for me. Of course I mix at 85dBA so.... If anything, prior to me setting the switches correctly there was increased low end. I have toned/ sinewaved and pink noised that room and the bottom was tight as a new born babe. No drop off till about 30-35Hz if I recall. It was relatively FLAT.

lowdbrent wrote:

That vent in the soffit is not allowing the Mackies to do what they are designed to do.

And what are they designed to do??? Move air! That vent does just that. It allows air to MOVE. The 12" gap at the bottom and the top allow that air to be displaced. It's all about AIR movement. You hear the movement of air. Your perception is how that air is moved. My experience tells me your comments don't hold water. Opinions don't matter when the facts prove otherwise. Science means nothing when put into practice the science is proven wrong. Then you have new science. LOL. Keep on hypothesizing, I'll keep on PROVING. LOL. Thanks for the love on the sig... YHWH is My EL and his wisdom and knowledge is why my Soffits work. LOL. Oh, and BIG shout out to John, of course.

Hey all. Just wanted to show everyone a video - This is the single off my solo album, the song was recorded/mixed/mastered in the Stiz - as well as the video is a bunch of different shots of the studio. All done by yours truly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snz5tuHhaqI Let me know what you think!

Great Stiz - nice work all round. :)

It's been a while since i've been over these parts! I'm still loving my studio here in NJ. I'm working on a new website now. . . as it turns out I've been doing 90% Hip-Hop & Rap stuff, which is great with me, so i'm gearing the new site towards that market. Thanks for lookin ;)

Sounds like my old studio. I built for vocals and live instruments and 90% of my work was rappers. LOL...

Hahaha. . . i got a deep love for it. . and it's what i do best, so i figured i'll make a push for it. . . i'm sick of my day job anyway, let's make some music ;)

Mike, DUDE!!! I know this thread is an old one but I just needed to say that from all the threads that I have seen on this Forum, yours is by far the best. The pictures are awesome and your enthusiam was great! You answered all of the questions without sending us "newbies" back to searching this HUGE Forum. Your soffits description needed no words, they were self explanatory, Awesome! The entire project from beginning to end was very helpful and educational! I will be "stealing" a few of your ideas, please don't get upset. Overall, AWESOME JOB!

Mike great build.A quick question. How much sound does the door on your vox booth keep out?I'm not sure if I phrased that correctly.Thinking about using a similar door for mine. Shane

shanesix wrote:

Mike great build.A quick question. How much sound does the door on your vox booth keep out?I'm not sure if I phrased that correctly.Thinking about using a similar door for mine. Shane

Hey Shane, Well, the technical answer is "Not very much." The practical answer is "Enough." It keeps out enough sound that we can listen in the control room without any bleed into the booth. However, when no music is playing I can speak loudly (aka yell) and they can hear me in the booth. Note: While tracking I rarely have the monitors blasting in the CR. Just an average listening volume so everyone in the CR can hear what's going on. The door works fine, though I wish I had a more solid piece of glass up top. The wood sometimes is annoying and in the way, and is a BIG pain for photographers. . . which is more of a deal than expected. I get lots of clients that bring in photographers during sessions to get some "live in the studio" type shots. My setup definitely does not cater to that situation. . . thought it obviously wasn't intended to be.

can you take the wood grille off? most times they are removable...

gullfo wrote:

can you take the wood grille off? most times they are removable...

Mine is such a flimsy version that it's made up of individual little panes. I guess this could be a plus if I ever get a crack, but not great for this application.