Chicago Studio 660 renovation in progress

Hello all. Locals may have seen my thread in the "Hookups" section of the Tape Op forum. We are building out a space in downtown Chicago's west loop area. I'd be happy to post pictures and updates as we progress. This space was formerly DAM Recording several years back. It was rented to various engineers and bands in the meantime. The space currently has about 1600 sq FT of floor space, 12' ceilings throughout & a full basement for storage/wire runs beneath. DAM had built a pretty well isolate, double walled Control Room and 3 Iso booths that we'll be keeping. We've already added a shower to the bathroom, & redone some of the kitchen. As I begin this thread we've started to build out the inside of the existing CR for improved acoustics: Rear Diffusers in place, deep rear wall corner traps and ceiling bolsters framed out. Finishing this CR's acoustic treatment, installing our gear and doing the trim work is our current priority. UP NEXT: -Build a 2nd small Control Room (budget sessions/preproduction) -re-enforce (isolate) live room ceiling & beams Dam had a great wide open live room space that, unfortunately it shares exposed beams with the rest of the building that seem to carry LF waves right upstairs to the other tenants (and vice versa). Since we need to be able to do sessions 24/7, we'll be treating the entire ceiling and isolating the exposed (loft style)beams & trusses. -Acoustically treat the live rooms: the 2nd CR will essentially split the existing live space into 2 seperate live rooms (17x14 drum/live room & 13x14 live room w/ baby grand) Here we go: Back wall of live room with Diffuser in place, framed corners for bass traps/end tables on couch. I wish I had a wide angle lens! It's hard to tell, but side walls & ceiling converge slightly towards the front of the room=nonparallel. This is my back wall design (done with Sketchup) & shows fabric bolsters/false ceiling to contain acoustic panels, diffusers and waveguide panels (louvers). Backwall framed and ready for acoustic treatment/electrical & lighting Adding foam, insulation, lighting... notice the adjustable louver array (open to absorb / close to diffuse) Front of the CR. We built a raised area to enclose a trough for wiring runs to our machine rack (on the other side of the glass)and as a stage for the main monitors. Original front walls (stuffed with rigid insulation) will get an oak hardwood panel face lift (slat resonator style). Questions, comments & suggestions welcome. More as things develop... We're finishing the lighting in the back & stuffing Roxul Rock Wool into our corners today! :D

The lights are in... par20 50watts are a bit much, probably gonna go with 20watt bulbs for the perimeter/mood lighting. Never mind the sound...lighting is everything!!!

Looking great! I would see about getting this thread moved to the construction forum.

8:30 Thursday morning, back for more punishment! Should finish filling up the superchunks in the corners with rock wool. Hope to get our carpenter in here to finish up some diffuser panels for the side walls (don't know if we'll need something over the mix position yet, cloud, diffuser, nothing... waiting to get the racks in place and test equipment up 1st). We also might go to The near southwest side's LZ products to scout out some fabric. For locals that haven't been there, LZ is a warehouse space that takes up damn near a whole city block and houses 3 floors of textiles...every fabric you could think of from floor to ceiling. :!: LZ Products 2121 W 21st St. Chicago, IL 60608 tel: [removed]

I expected to get a bit more done today, but I guess that's how studio construction goes when you're the only one that shows up! I hate dealing with insulation... such a mess. All of back wall is neatly stuffed now and there's burlap tacked up to hold it in place. All that's left is to pick a finish fabric and trim out all of the edges. Actually, I ran out of rock wool and one of the corner superchunks (pictured) still needs to be stuffed. Luckily I've got 2 more bags waiting to be picked up in the suburbs along with 4 cases of IB board (like OC 703) and 400' of 3/4" Neoprene rubber strips (to float the 2nd CR's walls and floor). Still feels like progress! This is a pile of insulation salvaged from another studio build that never fully came to be. The Roxul's not so bad, but that yellow stuff.... I'm crouching in what will one day be the front room/reception area. Thank god all of that itchy crap is sealed up in the framework. I've never been so happy to run a shop vac in my life! Might still make it out to the fabric place. We also have some fabric that was meant to go into another space. When the owner said that it was like a "map of the globe" I was thinking blue & green cartoon print, but it's actually really cool stuff. There's an off white fabric with subtle blue printing of old world maps and nautical charts. The other fabric is a royal blue with embroidered faded gold stars. I suppose we could roll with those and go for some type of "victory at sea" theme. I might post the fabric samples for opinions!

Aloha, Looking very good there, sir! More pics, please. :D Aloha 8)

Stay tuned... wood paneling for the front walls being cut & installed today. This should mark the last day of wood cutting (& sawdust) in the CR. That means we can bring all the gear & monitors back to begin listening & tuning early this week. :D

Here's a pic of the fabric that we've already got. I believe the lighter one is called "chart house"... Any opinion on these? We're still going out on Monday to look for different fabric... this might go into the "B" room. hmmmm. "the charthouse" motif. any opinions, matey? meanwhile, in the kitchen under a tarp and several blankets... our dynamics rack with a sad, gaping hole where the Cranesong STC-8H will eventually go. Build it faster! I'm going nuts with my new pair of Chandler Germanium Comps just stitting there, unused! But seriously, any opinions on the fabric?

Aloha,

any opinions on the fabric?

The "Chart House" has a neat look to it, but I'm kinda partial to the "blue with stars" myself. They go well with your comps. :wink:

I'm going nuts with my new pair of Chandler Germanium Comps just sitting there, unused!

You can send them over to me! :D Just wondering...have your tried/heard the Chandler Germanium Mic Pres? Aloha 8)

audionaut - I've moved this thread to construction forum where it is more appropriate. Nice work. cheers john

Thanks for the move, John. More pics today... assuming that the carpenters showed up yesterday (Sunday).

kendale wrote:

Just wondering...have your tried/heard the Chandler Germanium Mic Pres?

I haven't used the Germanium Pres. From what I have read, they have their own distinct sound that either works for you or doesn't, depending no the application. Again, that's only what I have READ. The mic pres we opted for (Focusrite ISA, Aurora Audio, Amek, Daking) are generally of the Rupert Neve designed or inspired type, most with filtering & EQ options...I didn't want to paint myself into any corners with any overly distinctive sounding preamps, I want flexibility. I went with the Germ comps as they offer are 6 different modes (or tones) and the "mix" knob (wet/dry) allows me to blend as much or little of that germanium/zener/silicon tone into my signal as desired. That's just me though, I like my pres clean. If I need more character or "vintage" tone, I'll select a different mic or patch an EQ & Comp into the chain. Between the Germanium Comps compliment the ultra-clean Cranesong STC-8H I'm hoping that all of my bases are covered. I still want an opto compressor to round things out...

audionaut wrote:

meanwhile, in the kitchen under a tarp and several blankets... our dynamics rack with a sad, gaping hole where the Cranesong STC-8H will eventually go.

----sidestep alert! You are gonna love the STC-8H. It is a superlative unit!

from someone who actually makes maps for a living, i like the maps! kevin

Fabric update: We found a new fabric for the main CR! Since the walls in control room A had been repainted a cool gray recently and the front wall fabric is already black, we were inclined to keep with this theme. The in-house label's colors are also gray/black/ white, so the owner wanted to stick to those colors if possible. I was worried that we would end up with a very stark and dismal looking place (anyone remember Chicago Trax's hallways after it's grey/silver facelift?), but the new fabric for the CR should fix all of that. LZ products was overwhelming as usual and we didn't spot the right fabric until we had already given up and were on our way out the door. What we found was black & white, but the fabric has a slight silky sheen to it and an ornate brocade cross patten woven into it. The ladies at LZ Products asked us what we were doing with all of that fabric, then inquired if it was a gospel record label. Personally, the cross pattern didn't strike me as overly religious looking, but more decorative and Gothic (think Ozzie's house). I also think that there's enough wood in the studio to offset the black/white contrast and make it work. I'll post a pic when the rest of the fabric gets here (We are waiting on a special order of the white fabric) It was just about the most expensive pattern they had there as well, but the only one that the owner and I immediately agreed on. Looks like the "Charthouse" theme will be used in the second control room. Still need colors to dress up the live rooms.

Umm, ok... the carpenter could only come out on Sunday, but I had a previous engagement... I thought we were both clear on what the procedure would be with regard to slat resonators... I just let him in to work alone at 6AM... Funny how differently the same concepts can be interpreted. :oops: One step forward, two steps back. We'll be doing this part over before I post any pics. Good thing we bought twice as much oak as we needed. Hope there's some potential clients/engineers following along that will appreciate this place when we get it done! We're doing are best not to compromise. On the up side, Santa came early and brought me a: Cranesong STC8H compressor limiter, Daking Mic pre/EQ & Aurora Audio GTQ mkIII More news as it happens!

No more wood cutting and dust in the CR! Our oak slats (being redone for the front/side walls) and trim are being stained & finished as I type this message. Yesterday we got to move the desk, racks and gear into the CR. Plugged in the Germ comps and STC8-h for the first time and they light up beautifully... hoe to hear them soon. I'll be wiring all day. Hopefully we'll get to post some pictures of the gear in place this afternoon! Progress! :D

Wood panels in CR almost done. Still need to finish up some wiring & tune the room before adding final fabric and trim. Here's a pic of our new preamps in a low slant rolling rack (the photo angle's weird). AMEK purepath: 2ch mic pre/DI/compressor Aurora Audio GTQ3 mkII: 2ch 1073 style pre/DI/EQ Focusrite ISA 428 (2): 8 channels of ISA pres w/ Filters, DI & VU Daking 52270B (2): preamp/EQ Intersound IVP: DI/EQ The "console" desk (EQ's, Compressors & Summing) is almost completely wired too. More pics tomorrow. :D

Almost ready to start tuning the room. There's room for extra diffusion or absorption behind most of the framing, so that stays open until we're happy with the sound. I'm going to tack up fabric wherever the walls and insulation are already finished though. Here's a pic of our back wall next to the diffuser. There will be finished oak trim throughout to cover the staples. Below is a detail of the black "Brocade Cross" pattern. All overhead and ceiling framework will get the same pattern in white. Here's a detail:

The Mains are in the control room and we're just about tuned up!!! I'm a little bit surprised at the clarity and relatively flat response (+/- 3db 32hz-12K @ 88db) we got right off the bat. The other thing I'm very pleased with at present is the HUGE sweet spot we're getting. There really isn't a bad seat in the house. MAINS: Tannoy FSM Dual concentric with Bryston 14B SST. We're using a DBX 2231 EQ/limiter to tweak a couple of freq's to taste and the limiter is set to kick in about a click or two from full blast on the Dangerous monitor (depending on program material). Purists be reassured, I'm measuring 113-115db with no audible distortion or limiting. Beyond that, I've been able to peak around 117db, with the amp's green LED's flickering red and you can hear the Tannoys begin to beg for mercy. I think that should be plenty loud for most. I'm going to order the -25db filters for my custom plugs, cuz -15 isn't going to cut it anymore on a HipHop all nighter. :D

Here's a quick pic of the work in progress. Please pardon our dust, stray wires & lack of trim. Doesn't really do the place justice, I need a wider angle lens (and a steadier hand). You can see the spl meter on a tripod and he laptop's got an excel file I made to log SPLs by frequency and calculate the deviation from my reference spl.

MAINS: Tannoy FSM Dual concentric with Bryston 14B SST.

that explains the nice sweetspot, dual concentrics. ;) Bryston is also very nice as is the room. ;) cheers john

Here's the little Excel file I use to log my frequency response. It's not much, but it helps.

Please forgive the slack in this blog: All is well. I'll get back to the studio in a few days to finish up the trim in the main CR and post progress on the rest of the facility. :D

congrats!