Temporary Mix / Master Area Acoustic Treatment Advice

Hello All, This is a first post for me. I will try and be as clear and informative as possible. Thanks, in advance for the help / advice. I own my home and it is located in Ohio. I am a recent grad from 'The Recording Workshop' in chillicothe ohio and am excited to get started on projects. I have recently waterproofed and somewhat finished (painted and some carpet) my basement. It's turned out really nice I would like to turn it into a Temporary Mixing / Mastering / Listening Room until i move the studio into a permanent building. I am in no way looking to isolate sound. My neighbors are plenty far away and i have practiced with rock bands full volume with no problems. Just looking to make the room as flat as i can for mixing temporarily. I would like to make all solutions implemented for this project to be movable to the permanent location in the future. I am looking to spend $500-$750 (even less if possible) I am looking for advice in the following areas for. 1. Monitor Placement 2. Acoustic Treatment Placement for mid / highs 3. Bass trap placement 4. Any diffusion concerns and placement ideas 5. floor treatment ideas (rugs / etc) 6. Ceiling Treatment (between joists / diffusion / etc) 7. Anything else you think might help I am looking at building my own bass traps based on some designs i've found online and maybe some auralex / no name kits for mid / high absorbing. Mainly i'm looking for placement advice and any concerns you might see with the dimensions / surfaces / etc. the Dimensions of the room are: 7' 8" High (from floor to plank floor - not joists) 11' 3" Wide 33' 6" Long Walls are Mostly Cinder block painted with waterproofer and a flat water based killz paint. There are (4) 16" X 32" glass block windows around the outer walls. They all have vents. There is about 8 ft of Drywall on the inner wall where i built a wall seperating the 2 halfs of the basement with a 36" hollow core door. The Joists are 8". My washer / dryer / freezer and utility sink are all on the other end of the room. As well as a free standing shelf for laundry stuff at the very end. The Stairs are not enclosed. Desk is 66" Long X 30" Deep X 29" High. Some of the Gear i am using: Dual Core PC Windows XP Nuendo 3 Mackie HR824 Monitors Presonus FireStudio Dual 19" Wide Screen LCDs Here are the pictures: the next image are some rough ideas i had for monitor / desk placement and some rugs on the floor: click here for a bigger version of this next pic (to draw on if you like) let me know if you need any more info from me! Thanks. -Nick

Aloha and welcome to the forum, Nick Congrats on your recent graduation. Before we go further, could you edit your profile to include your location. This will come in handy several posts down the road. Thanks! :wink: Here are a couple of links that should answer most of your question regarding placement, type and construction. While I'm not familiar with the cost and availability of materials in your area, I would hazard a guess that it'll be a bit more than you've budgeted, but still doable. http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html (Be sure to click on the "acoustics", "absorbers" and "construction tabs at the left and then those that show up on top) http://www.johnlsayers.com/HR/index1.htm Hope these help get things started, Aloha 8)

I am from North East Ohio. Canton / Akron to be exact! Thanks.

Aloha, Is it possible to adjust your control room area length a bit? In Rod Gervais’ book “Build it Like the Pros,” http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5670 he points out both L.W.Sepmeyer’s & M.M. Louden’s formulas most widely used in professional studios worldwide. He also notes that the orders listed are (top to bottom) the first to third best ratios in both cases. L.W. Sepmeyer Height Width Length 1.00 1.14 1.39 1.00 1.28 1.54 1.00 1.60 2.33 M.M. Louden Height Width Length 1.00 1.40 1.90 7’8” x 10’7” x 14’6” 1.00 1.30 1.90 1.00 1.50 2.10 If so, would something like this work for you? - concrete, hardwood or laminate flooring - cloud or absorbent ceiling treatment above mix position Hope this helps, Aloha 8)

Hi there. Thank you so much for the replies. Unfortunately, building a wall is really what i'm trying to avoid in this situation. This is only temporary, so i'd like to acoustically treat the room at it's current dimensions the best that i can. At this point i'm ordering: 6 pieces of 2x4x8 owens corning 705 for bass traps 6 pieces of 2x4x8 703 for mid / highs 6 pieces of 1x4x8 703 for more mid / highs can you help me with placement of these? i'm thinking the 705s in each corner of the room (except where freezer is... don't really know what to do there) to the ceiling and the rest in the best places possible. thanks again for your help so far.

Aloha,

Unfortunately, building a wall is really what i'm trying to avoid in this situation. This is only temporary, so i'd like to acoustically treat the room at it's current dimensions the best that i can.

Okay, cool. In taking a minimalist approach, perhaps the following: - bass traps in corners - angled (slat) absorbers on either side of mix position - absorption over mix position - absorption in area in front of you Here's a link with a few DIY Wall units and more placement ideas. http://www.johnlsayers.com/HR/index1.htm Aloha 8)