Help with improving existing build

[Elamberth]

Thank you for all your help!!


Erik

[Elamberth]

I'm currently building the cloud, and saving for the other treatments from GIK. Should get them in the next month or so, and I'll report back with REW analysis.

In the meantime, I have 2 questions:

1. My "live" area is an untreated area 12 feet x 17 feet x 8 feet tall. Where 1 wall should be, its open to the rest of the basement that is almost 1,000 sq feet total and shared with the family. There is carpet, drywall, and a drop ceiling. In the middle of the 12 foot x 17 foot area is a pool table. To the right is a larger area also about 12 x 17 that is open then connects to the rest of the basement via an opening about 15 feet wide. Not quite an ideal tracking area! So far, it's very quiet (25 dB if I turn off the house HVAC) and I have not heard odd anomalies in vocals recorded in that area. What, if anything, should I be thinking about for that area?

2. As I think down the road and in the future, I may want to build out a studio with no shared areas. I am intrigued by the Wes Lachot designed studio that is on the Real Traps website - a 15' x 21' shared CR/Live room area. I was considering adding an area on the CR end, resulting in an 8' tall, 7 x 10 iso booth and an approx 7 x 4 machine room (or whatever room is leftover). I would be basically adding 7 x 15 feet on the end, with 10' being the iso booth. The dimensions for the iso booth I drew from Sound Temple studios, also designed by Wes Lachot. When I put these dimensions into the Bob Gold calculator, they look quite good, and the main studio has plans for all sound treatment.

As an alternative, what if one did 2 rooms that are same size, along the ratios of 1:1.5:1.6? That would yield 2 rooms, each 8' tall and 12' wide, and 12.96' long. Putting those numbers into Bob Gold's formula yield what seem to me to be ridiculously good numbers, but there are 2 smaller areas, not a larger area for tracking. Both options would use approx the same space.

Which one of these scenarios would be better? I suspect you'll tell me the larger area with the smaller iso booth because the larger area will be better for tracking and the "problems" in the CR can be overcome.

Thanks!

[Soundman2020]

I guess the basic questions here are: What type of instruments do you want to record in your live room? And: How much isolation do you need between that room and the rest of the house?

25 dB with the HVAC off is not very quiet: You should measure your NR rating in the normal operating state, which means with the HVAC on. If the HVAC system is making so much noise that you cannot record with it on, then you already answered one of your implied questions: you need enough isolation to silence the HVAC, at the very least.

Regarding the "split or not to split", with small rooms like that I would probably not split it, or at best just put a small iso booth in one corner, keeping the main LR as big as possible. You don't need to worry too much about ratios for live rooms: they are supposed to have "character" and a specific sound that you and your clients find appealing, so ratios aren't nearly as important here as they are for a control room.

- Stuart -

[Elamberth]

Thanks, Stuart!

I think I made an error in reporting the noise. It was A-weighted, so I prob should say 25 dBA.(?)
With the HVAC on, it's 37dBA, definitely too loud to rcord. Maybe I'm wrong, but the 25 dBA seems pretty quiet. What should I be shooting for?

Thanks for the insight on the room sizes. I suspected that would be the answer. That's a ways off though!

Erik

[Soundman2020]

With the HVAC on, it's 37dBA, definitely too loud to rcord. Maybe I'm wrong, but the 25 dBA seems pretty quiet. What should I be shooting for?

There are two different but closely related systems for figuring that out, depending on whether you live in the USA or the rest of the world ...

One is the NR ("Noise Rating") curves, the other is the NC ("Noise Criteria") curves. NC is for the USA. Here's a link that gives you an idea of how these curves work, so you can figure out what you should be aiming for:

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/nc-no ... d_725.html



- Stuart -

[Elamberth]

Thank you!

-Erik

[Elamberth]

Hi!

It's been a while, but these things are always a work in progress!

Thanks you for your help!

I added a ceiling cloud (2'x4') of 2" OC. It is not big, but definitely improves definition!

I also added 2 Monster traps with scatter plates from GIK. Very helpful folks there, thanks!

Thoughts?

Thank you!

[Elamberth]

Bump

[Soundman2020]

You seem to be having trouble with your REW data again, Erik. That doesn't look like good data at all, for that size room. I'm also wondering why the sweep only runs from 25 Hz to 10 kHz? You should set the sweep for the entire audible spectrum plus a bit on each end. I usually run 15 Hz to 22 kHz.

So I'd suggest checking your connections and calibration, and testing again. You should also do three tests: one with just the left speaker, one with just the right speaker, and one with both. And post the actual MDAT file! It's impossible to say what the room is actually doing, from just those two graphs.

- Stuart -