Studio for Austria

Hi! I want to build up a small recording studio to produce CDs for (local) alternative, rock, funk bands. I’ve already drawn a sketch (SketchUp-File uploaded). Some information: The longish sides are external walls, but it's not too noisy outside (there is just a small road 50 metres away). I need help concerning: How to get great acoustics (both rooms)? How to get tolerant sound isolation between recording room and control/mixing room? I’d be very glad, if you could help me and post some tips&tricks! Nice greets from Austria, Andy

is the wall between the rooms already existing? can it be modified?

Almost more than the half of the wall exists. What do you mean with modified? Thx for your post! greets, Andy

just curious as to the wall dividing the rooms - if existing, can it be modified or not?

I'm not sure what you mean with "modifie". But it's not possible to displace the wall, if that is what you mean. greets Andy

What is this building made of, the external walls and floor, what are they? Are the interior wall(s) wood or block/concrete/brick or something else. Do you have any plan to be able to see the players in the tracking room...like thru a window or is a video monitoring setup something more to your want? modify - to change the appearance of; alter Brien

All walls are build up by brick. The floors are concrete overlaied by plastic flooring. The ceiling in the tracking room is made out of wood and in the control room there is a concrete ceiling. I've planed to mount a window for intervisibility. I knew the meaning of modify. What I wanted to know was, how to modify the wall concretely. :wink: greets, Andy

if you check the site, you find a number of designs for doors and windows which will preserve whatever isolation the dividing wall has (or may even be better...) is the dividing wall sitting on the same concrete floor as the live and control rooms? i.e. is there a strong likelyhood that sound will transmit through the floor into the wall? are you considering putting framed walls within the concrete walls (room within a room)? the plastic floor - is it sitting on concrete or "floating" on a frame?

Ok, thx. I'll check the side! The floor in tracking room is going to be made new. So I think it would be possible to uncouple the tracking rooms floor from the dividing wall. But the wall is standing on the floor of the control room - hope this is no problem? I didn't think on a "room within a room"- construction, because i think it would be much more expensive and the room would also get smaller. How much would the room get smaller? How much money would I have to invest more (just roughly)? Would it be worth doing it? In the control room the plastic floor is sitting directly on the concrete floor. And in the tracking room the floor is going to be made new. I don't know exactly how this will be made (could someone pls post a link?) but I think the height of the room will be much more smaller after.

I can't post 'till friday, because I'm in Croatia. sry greets, Andy

Hi, I've been thinking about a "room within a room"- construction and I decided to make it not. So you can forget all the questions above concerning room within a room... ! But I've got a please: Could someone pls post some links about studio door desings? I've already been searching but I didn't find what I'm looking for (probably is 'cause my english) :( thx! nice greets, Andy

Hi, I've been looking at http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html ("construction" --> "Windows and Doors") and i found manuals for how to build the window and the door (between control- and tracking room)! Would this be okay? Some more questions: 1.) Is ist possible to say where the best mixing position is? So that I could stem the hole for the window on the right place? 2.) Which size would you recommend? To make a compromise between sound isolation and big view. 3.) What kind of floor would you choose? - laminated wood or plastic floor? thx, Andy

Andy25 wrote:

1.) Is ist possible to say where the best mixing position is? So that I could stem the hole for the window on the right place? 2.) Which size would you recommend? To make a compromise between sound isolation and big view. 3.) What kind of floor would you choose? - laminated wood or plastic floor?

1. about 38% of the room length from the front wall. 1a. with the speakers about 70% of the room width and an equilateral triangle formed between the speakers and listening position - with #1 in mind as well. 1b. the monitors (point between high and low frequency drivers) should be at about 42% of the height of the front wall. 1c. the triangle should be centered in an acoustically symmetric position. 2. I'd say a 1.5m to 2m wide window and about 1m high. 3. I'd clean, polish and stain the concrete floor. very durable, easy to clean, sounds good. barring that, wood finish (i'm not plastics type of guy...).

Hi, thx for the fast reply! I've drawn an sketchup file! Don't you think that the speakers are too near by the wall? I've decided to make the interior window 1,2 m (width) x 1 m (height). nice greets, Andy PS: I'm gonna post some Pictures next time!![/list]

that looks good! now you also need to consider the room treatments...

Oh really? I've heard that the speakers have to be at least 0.5 to 1 m away from the wall because of hearing the bassfrequencies louder when the speaker is too close to the wall... Do I have to "flush mount" my Speakers? What would you suggest for room treatment? greets, Andy

depends on the speakers... generally speaking you do want them at least 30cm away from the wall and ideally 1m or more, depending on the speaker... if you soffit mount them, you will get a bass boost and would want to compensate for that (baffle step compensation). but most speakers are designed to be free standing. for room treatment - i'd recommend measuring everything first, once you have it built, to determine what adjustments need to be made. that said, for planning purposes, assume you want to install broadband treatments consisting of bass traps in your corners (consider wall-ceiling and wall-floor), first reflection point absorbers, and rear wall absorbers. if you want to go further, then consider slat walls to deflect the sound and rear wall diffusers.

Do you think that there are some problems concerning rear wall absorbers because of the window behind my seating position? Which possibility do I have to measure the acoustics? Unfortunately I can't see/open your *.jpg-files. Could you pls post it again? thx, Andy

the window behind you may be a problem - reflecting right back at you - if you want to keep it i'd hang a heavy drape over it when mixing. as far as measuring: download the free Room EQ Wizard, grab your laptop, and your powered monitors (or amp too) and set up your monitors in your room on simple blocks/stands/stools/ladders/etc. if you don't already have a behringer ecm8000 omni mic, get one and a small phantom power capable preamp. put down tape on the floor for the approx positions of monitors and seating. then measure. you might find yourself moving things around as your do this - finding better locations for the monitors or seating. pretty soon you'll have a good picture of whats going on in your room and how you should lay it out and what treatments you'll need. after a couple of thousand measurements, you'll know that room really well. :shock:

Thx for the sketches! Here I've got some pictures! greets, Andy

gullfo wrote:

1. about 38% of the room length from the front wall. 1a. with the speakers about 70% of the room width and an equilateral triangle formed between the speakers and listening position - with #1 in mind as well. 1b. the monitors (point between high and low frequency drivers) should be at about 42% of the height of the front wall. 1c. the triangle should be centered in an acoustically symmetric position. 2. I'd say a 1.5m to 2m wide window and about 1m high. 3. I'd clean, polish and stain the concrete floor. very durable, easy to clean, sounds good. barring that, wood finish (i'm not plastics type of guy...).

Hi gullfo! I don't understand what you wanted to say in 1a. Could you please explain it more detailed? Somethin concerning 3.: Did you mean that the concretr floor should be "naked"? Did I understand it?! Sorry for those questions, but I'm not very good in English... :( An other question: Do you have some tips for the electrical installation? thx, Andy

check the stickies on the site for electrical guidance. here's a diagram showing approx speaker layout in a room.

for measuring: I've planed to buy a pair of "Yamaha HS 80" next year. Would it be a problem to take for measuring my hifi-speakers? thx, Andy