New House / New Studio - Need Help :)

[Schulti]

Hello everyone

Thanks for having this great community and forum with such helpful people. I read many posts and used the search function but did not find an answer to my specific question. So i thought i will combine my question with an overall feedback threat on my studio plans.

About me:
I am a tv production music composer and we will move to a new house soon where i am able to build a studio in the basement.

What are the goals that my new build should archive:
1. Having a perfect (as good as i gets) sweet spot (i do recording, mixing & mastering)
2. Keeping the room as open as it can be (no room-in-room possible bc of bugdet), keep "enough" window for daylight.
3. Keep the studio seperated from the walkway between the main entrance and door in the south to garage
4. Keep storage space in the upper era of the room (building has no cellar, so thats that )
5. Budget is max 5000€ (that includes everything construction-wise and acoustic treatment)

Please have a look at the meassured empty room:

Plan room_c.png

Description: The room is in the basement. Door in the south is to the garage, large window to the right (heaters underneath), door top right is to the main entrance/stairwell, small room on the top is a prebuild stonewall storage room.
Materials: Top-, left-, right and lower-walls are all thick stone walls- these are the buildings outside walls. the walls around the storage room are stonewalls to, but not as thick (about 15 or 20cm). The floor is covered with tiles and the ceiling is plaster. Ceiling hight is 2,45m.

My plan currently looks like this:

Plan latest_c.png

- I want to close off the upper section with a wall, so i can put my workplace here and keep the window (on the right) mostly
- I will move the door of the storage room to the right, so its out of the way.
- I want to add a new wall as a seperator from the walkway from lower door (garage) to upper right door, but not the entire way, so i can have some daylight from the window. This additional wall will act as the symetric right wall of my mixing position.

I think i can solve all requirements with this planning: Having the storage space (that is extented as well), seperate the studio from the walkway, dont block off the window entirely.

For acoustic treatment:
I have talked to a local acoustition (HOFA Studios) already and they told me that my plan looks good and gave me an estimate on what acoustic treatment will be neccessary (that includes basstraps, reflectionpoint absorber and a ceiling panel on the front wall (upper side to storage space), as well as diffusors at the backwall (to garage) - that will be costs at around 3000€. I am thinking of bulding the basstraps by my own to save around 500€.

Here are my questions and i hope you can help me with these:
1. What material (or building method) should i use for the new walls (storage room extension & right side wall in the middle of the room for the mixing position?
I am unsure about the difference of the reflections. Because on the left side there is the massive building wall. So is there any problem with building the new right and storage extention wall out of wood for example? I do not have any concerns about sound proofing of the new walls, so sound can pass through no problem. I am only concerned about what the refection of the new walls will do to my mixing position in comparision to the thick stone walls of the building. Of course this is a budget question too. Doing a "simple" wood wall is way chaeper and can be done be myselfe than, lets say, putting a stone wall in for example.

2. Is the new wall right to the mix position to long? Can it be shorter? The shorter it can be, the more light the window can pass to the room, but it has to be long enough to hold absorbers for the first reflection points. But does the wall have to be longer than the position of the absorber of the first reflection point of the opposite (left) speaker at all?

3. As for building the basstrap diy: Do you recommend that i´ll build full spectrum absorbers in both edges left and right in front of the Desk? I would do them 50cm deep so they can absorb pretty low - They guys from hofa recommended me three basstraps of their own in each corner (https://hofa-akustik.de/akustikmodule/basstraps/).

4. Of course i am interessted in your general feedack. Since we will move in July there is plenty of time to replan if you have any other/better suggestions.


Thank you for taking the time to read all of this and thanks in advance for all answers!

Best
Christoph

[DanDan]

Welcome Christoph. Let's start simple. Do you actually need these new walls?

[Schulti]

Welcome Christoph. Let's start simple. Do you actually need these new walls?

Hey DanDan, thanks for your answer. Well i think the answer to your question is: No, i do not need the walls. But i dont have any idea how to meet the requirements without them. I would be happy to hear your suggestions!

Some thoughts to other configurations that i dismissed:

When placing the desk in front of the window, the space behind the desk is more limited and no symmetry is given. And everyone (my daughter, wife and me) that is going in and out the garage is walking directly through the studio everytime (nogo!).

When sitting in front of garage wall. Same thing with the separation and symetry is not given bc window on one side.

Sitting on the left house wall would make the top next to the storage a bad side and has to be walled off which would be the same question i am asking above. And letting the speakers fire lenghtwuse through the room is not possible too.

Please let me know of any alternatives. I am not an expert here, just using my self tought knowledge. Off course not building any new walls would be great bc cheaper and faster!

Best
Christoph

[gullfo]

i would complete the side wall all the way to the back and add a panel-glass door so you get the benefits of the window but without the distraction of noise from the comings and goings into the other rooms. leave enough space in the back corner by the new door to put in your bass trapping. the new room symmetry should work out nicely.

[Schulti]

i would complete the side wall all the way to the back and add a panel-glass door so you get the benefits of the window but without the distraction of noise from the comings and goings into the other rooms. leave enough space in the back corner by the new door to put in your bass trapping. the new room symmetry should work out nicely.

Thanks Glenn. Much apprechiated!

Would you give me a direction on my first question regarding the two new walls?

[gullfo]

i'm in agreement on adding the walls. if there will be noise which interferes with your work, then you'll want to increase the isolation by doubling up (a pair of 2x4 walls) or isolation clips+hat channel on the interior (less desirable but much more effective than RC-2). use 1/2" ply with 2x 5/8" drywall on the frame or hat channel.

[Schulti]

i'm in agreement on adding the walls. if there will be noise which interferes with your work, then you'll want to increase the isolation by doubling up (a pair of 2x4 walls) or isolation clips+hat channel on the interior (less desirable but much more effective than RC-2). use 1/2" ply with 2x 5/8" drywall on the frame or hat channel.

Thanks Glenn. I´m affraid I did not phrase my question very well in my first post. Let´s do it again:

First i am not concerned at all about noise from outside the studio. That is not a problem. My question is about the reflections of my speakers from the new wall (right to the sweet spot) in comparison to the buildings thick stone wall (left to the seewt spot). I wonder if it is a problem that the stone wall will reflect sound differently than the new wall - and in conjuction with this concern i wonder if i should build the new wall out of a certain material (stone too?) or is it just not a thing at all, if the new wall is in example a plywood wall? Of course this a money question. I would build the cheapest wall, if it doesn´t matter regarding the sound on the sweet spot.

Of course I will be putting absorbers for the first refelction points on both side walls, as described above.

Best
Christoph

[DanDan]

There are many useful Rules of Thumb. You will never satisfy all of them. Symmetry is fairly easy to do at HF, and it doesn't really exist at LF. So let's take that out of the decision process and see what happens.
That looks like a big space. You will be listening in the near field. So I would advise identify your options ergonomically, pragmatically, and aesthetically..... Windows to outside are nice.
How about placing your speakers at the West Wall. Or the South?