Trying to decide how to orientate console and room

[bethgladen]

Hi Everyone,
So I am building a control room in our house in Miami Fl. I am going back and fourth about the orientation of the room
My room is 22' long and 12' deep with an 8 ft ceiling. If I locate my mix position in the front of the room (North) on the 22ft wall that means i have less then 12' to the south wall from my monitors. However that wall does has three large windows which lead to the great tropical outdoors in our back yard. Also I really do not have neighbors so i am not worried about bothering them with the windows open. I am wondering, acoustically if the windows are left open (remember this is sunny Florida) will that allow larger bass waves to travel out the windows? Sort of like a natural bass trap or pass through? I will acoustically treat the entire room regardless. and I also will have to shut the windows when it is really hot outside like in the summer and the ac is on.
Or is it better for me to just design the room with my mix position facing the west wall ( 12') and have the depth of the 22ft room behind my mix position?
I would appreciate any insight and or advise.
Attached is a really rough drawing to give you an idea of where windows are located.
Also my console is 8 ft long if that helps.

Thanks
Beth

[Gregwor]

Welcome Beth!

When you post pictures, you can easily resize them in your computers picture viewing app (I use Preview on my apple computers) and choose the size. Set the largest dimension to 1200 pixels. Save that. If you need a smaller file size (to keep it under the 500kb limit of this forum), saving it as a jpeg usually lowers it to the necessary file size. I mention this because your picture is so small, I can barely make out what the labels are.

My room is 22' long and 12' deep with an 8 ft ceiling.

Not the best dimensions, but at least you have a decent sized room!

However that wall does has three large windows which lead to the great tropical outdoors in our back yard.

I'm jealous of your view and weather, yes. But you need to decide what is more important to you. A view or a great sounding mixing room?

I am wondering, acoustically if the windows are left open (remember this is sunny Florida) will that allow larger bass waves to travel out the windows? Sort of like a natural bass trap or pass through?

It would act similar to a space coupler.

and I also will have to shut the windows when it is really hot outside like in the summer and the ac is on.

You need to have consistency. Your mixing room can't change it's acoustic character otherwise you won't be able to accurately make mix decisions.

If I locate my mix position in the front of the room (North) on the 22ft wall that means i have less then 12' to the south wall from my monitors. Or is it better for me to just design the room with my mix position facing the west wall ( 12') and have the depth of the 22ft room behind my mix position?

Simple. For many reasons, you want your speakers firing down the longest length of your room. Be prepared to cover up a bunch of those windows with deep treatment though!

Also my console is 8 ft long if that helps.

What console do you have? Pictures of the space and your console would be great. What speakers are you using and are you planning on soffit mounting them? I presume you don't much care about isolation? What I mean is, it rains a lot in Florida. You are okay with rain noise and things like that getting into your room while you're mixing? Also, what about the sound of your air conditioning? Are you wanting to address any of that?

Greg

[bethgladen]

Hi Greg! ((smiles))

Thanks so very much for the reply and advice!

I tried your picture advice and lets hope that helps. Thank you!

My room is 22' long and 12' deep with an 8 ft ceiling.

Not the best dimensions, but at least you have a decent sized room!

Yes I agree I may even add a small Iso booth on the east corner.

However that wall does has three large windows which lead to the great tropical outdoors in our back yard.

I'm jealous of your view and weather, yes. But you need to decide what is more important to you. A view or a great sounding mixing room?

A Great sounding Room is the most important element to me.

If I locate my mix position in the front of the room (North) on the 22ft wall that means i have less then 12' to the south wall from my monitors. Or is it better for me to just design the room with my mix position facing the west wall ( 12') and have the depth of the 22ft room behind my mix position?

Simple. For many reasons, you want your speakers firing down the longest length of your room. Be prepared to cover up a bunch of those windows with deep treatment though!

Yes I guess I knew that I was just loving the idea of a nice wide control room. Thanks, I am going to plan out the room for mix position from the West wall.

Also my console is 8 ft long if that helps.

What console do you have? Pictures of the space and your console would be great. What speakers are you using and are you planning on soffit mounting them? I presume you don't much care about isolation? What I mean is, it rains a lot in Florida. You are okay with rain noise and things like that getting into your room while you're mixing? Also, what about the sound of your air conditioning? Are you wanting to address any of that?

Greg

I have purchased a SoundWorkshop 34 Series Console. However I am going to upgrade to either a Neve Genesys or 5088 once i get everything up and running. I will have to finance the Neve so I want to make sure I have enough $$$ for the initial build. I am contemplating soffit mounting my speakers however the small room size has me wondering if that is even a viable plan? I am looking at getting ATC, or Barefoot monitors. I like the idea of the Barefoot as they have the selection switch incase i need to hear everything all glossy. lol!
The A/C as you can see in the pics is now mounted on the West wall. I am going to route central air into the space via flexible duct. Outside noises to me are a concern, however we are deep in the country and so traffic/city noises are not a factor. We do have some roosters that can be a bit noisy, so there is that!
I included some pictures to give you a better idea of what i am starting with. So just FYI this will be the 7th Studio project I have taken on in my lifetime. Weee! Will I ever learn? All the other studio build outs have been in other peoples properties (rentals and friends homes etc) so this will be the first studio in a property that I own. Yay!

[Gregwor]

I tried your picture advice and lets hope that helps. Thank you!

Perfect!

I may even add a small Iso booth on the east corner.

The only real reason to add this is if you are tracking several musicians at once and need the isolation. A small ISO booth will never sound great, it will complicate your design and compromise the acoustics in your control room.There really is no area of your control room that can be occupied by something like an ISO booth. If it has to go anywhere, it will have to go in your live room. Speaking of which, just for fun, can you tell us about your live room and show us pictures?

I will have to finance the Neve so I want to make sure I have enough $$$ for the initial build.

Good idea. The best gear in the world will sound like crap in a crappy room! I wonder if you change your mind about a big console once you start doing acoustic measurements and see that small little mixing desks don't interfere with your acoustics so much Not to get into it, but I used to really want a large console with a bunch of outboard gear, but with the advancements of products like those from Slate, I'm over it and just want a great sounding room with as little gear in there as possible!

I am looking at getting ATC, or Barefoot monitors. I like the idea of the Barefoot as they have the selection switch incase i need to hear everything all glossy. lol!

Barefoot MM45's are really cool and easily soffit mounted!

The A/C as you can see in the pics is now mounted on the West wall. I am going to route central air into the space via flexible duct. Outside noises to me are a concern, however we are deep in the country and so traffic/city noises are not a factor. We do have some roosters that can be a bit noisy, so there is that!

So that's a through-wall unit and if you do want isolation, it will have to go. So basically, you need to decide how much isolation you want. You can easily just have the amount that you have now and then treat the room acoustically. But then it raises the question of your live room (I didn't know you had one) -- do you want isolation to prevent the rooster sounds from getting into your microphones? If so, this is where the costs and time will add up. Also, do you want to be able to accurately monitor the musician performing in your live room while you're sitting in your awesome control room? If so, this requires that timely expensive isolation. We can reasonably cheaply make your room sound good. Isolation is a different story. Your room will get smaller too! We could go the route of mediocre isolation using clips and hat channel. It's still going to get pricey just due to HVAC alone though.

So just FYI this will be the 7th Studio project I have taken on in my lifetime. Weee! Will I ever learn? All the other studio build outs have been in other peoples properties (rentals and friends homes etc) so this will be the first studio in a property that I own. Yay!

And this one will be your best yet, guaranteed!!

Greg