I have a quick question regarding control room symmetry. I'm in the very early stages of planning a garage studio (29'x29' detached, 10' ceilings). This is out in the country, with no noise concerns (inbound or outbound). I'm hoping to use one existing wall for budget and space concerns, and I'm trying to figure out which would be better.
Option 1 uses the front wall. There's a little more wasted space with this option, it loses the window, and would need more construction materials to build.
Option 2 has the advantage of being a slightly longer stretch of pre-existing wall, and the big advantage of an external window, symmetrical with the entry door.
It seems like Option 2 would be the obvious choice, but I'm worried about control room symmetry. It'd be physically shaped the same either way, but in Option 2, the right wall would be a big outside wall, and the left wall would be a thin inside wall. Would this make a significant difference in the acoustics of the room?
My brain says that most of the difference would be with the low frequencies, which are less directional, and that the high frequencies wouldn't care (preserving a good stereo image). But my gut is telling me I better see what the gurus think first. :)
(By the way, ignore the actual plans for now - it's just a mockup of a basic shape that will get tweaked later)
Control Room Symmetry: Construction Materials?
Originally posted at johnlsayers.com, topic 9610.
If symmetry is sought after then I would select "studio-straight".
Studio-straight has overall symmetry, the inner walls interact with the outer walls in a more balanced fashion.
Rather then save a few dollars on building supplies, if I were doing it, the room decoupled from the external wall is the one I would go with.
edit: while we wait for the gurus...
option 1 and 2 are both symmetrical in appearence but option 1 is likely to be more balanced acoustically because of the possible side-to-side trapping. that said, option 2 can add soffits overhead to introduce the necessary balance.