Control Rooms

[Figher]

Hi all!

I'm currently working as an engineer in a small recording studio and am hoping to be able to bring some work home. I've only got one extra room to work with, and am hoping to make it acoustically workable somehow.

The layout of the room is given below. It's not ideal by any means, but all I have to work with at the moment. It will be used for mainly editing and mixing. Would really appreciate any help or suggestions! The walls are all concrete, and the floor is wood.

At the moment, I'm planning to build two deep and two high bass traps as outlined by the excellent Mr. Winer, placing all along wall A. Is that a good start? Also, any advice for the other walls and ceiling?

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

(Just to clarify, that's a built-in cabinet along wall C. There is no top to the cabinet. the previous owners just extended it all the way to the ceiling with concrete. Or at least I think it's concrete.)

[Figher]

Sorry, forgot to label the walls. The top wall is A, and going around clockwise are A, B, C(the diagonal problem wall), D and E.

[Ethan Winer]

Jeff,

> I'm planning to build two deep and two high bass traps as outlined by the excellent Mr. Winer, placing all along wall A. <

You're much better off putting four on the front wall and two more on the side walls adjacent to the front. Then later you can put even more along the other walls as needed.

--Ethan

[Figher]

Thanks for the advice, Ethan! So for the ones that have to go against the window I can use the closed-back ones that I asked you about before? Also, I'm clueless about how to go about treating that diagonal wall. Any suggestions?

Jeff.

[Ethan Winer]

Jeff,

> So for the ones that have to go against the window <

Sorry, I missed the window. No, don't cover the window.

> I'm clueless about how to go about treating that diagonal wall. <

Panel traps are fine, as is rigid fiberglass spaced away from the wall. It's your choice, depending on whether you want that wall to absorb or reflect mid and high frequencies.

--Ethan

[Figher]

Hi,

How's this? (see pic below) The cabinet is split into three sections, so maybe sealing one and insulating with hanging rockwool a la the SAE info site would help? One is all the wife will lemme take!

Also, what do you think of sealing up that spot next to the cabinet and doing the same there? And what would you recommend for the sealing? Is plywood ok? That's relatively cheap and easily obtainable for me... If it's not going to help much, I can use the space for other stuff.

There will also be a heavy wool carpet on the floor.

Thank you much!
Jeff.

[Ethan Winer]

Jeff,

> How's this? <

That looks good for the panel traps. I should have mentioned yesterday that panel traps can be mounted sideways. So maybe you could put one each horizontally above and below the window on the right wall to have more trapping in that corner. Plus that location also puts those panel traps near the wall/floor and wall/ceiling corners, which is better still.

> There will also be a heavy wool carpet on the floor. <

I think you'd be better off with a reflective floor and fully absorbent ceiling. Even a heavy carpet is absorptive only at high frequencies. If you turn the room "upside down" you can then put thick, dense rigid fiberglass on the ceiling. And that will extend the absorption to a much lower frequency.

--Ethan

[Figher]

Hi Ethan!

Thanks so much for the help! The window on my right starts from the floor, so I won't be able to do the lower bass trap there. The higher one sounds like a great idea, but that wall isn't quite 8 feet long before the diagonal part. Is making the trap a little shorter going to affect it?

I was considering putting rockwool on the ceiling, too, but was afraid of the room becoming too dead. Should that be a factor at all in my considerations given that the room is so small? I was also a little concerned about the fibres raining down on my head. So, 3 quick questions...

1. I read on your site that you recommend covering fiberglass/rockwool with burlap. For the ceiling, though, doesn't that let a lot of the loose fibers through?

2. If so, would it affect the effectiveness (and how) by covering maybe the side facing down towards me with a single layer of say, plastic wrap like the kind that my wife uses in the kitchen to prevent that?

3. Does it make any difference if the rockwool is parallel with the ceiling or slanted, and does the distance of the rockwool from the ceiling affect anything?

I've also got three other questions,

1. Would it affect the traps at all if the plywood fronts were slanted to break up the parallel walls a little?

2. I'm not sure if I've got the two sealed traps in the back done right, and and wondering if they'll help at all. I've read some of the old posts, but I'm still not sure...

3. I realize that I'm going to be sitting pretty close to the back of the room, so should I be deadening that, too?

Thanks again for the invaluable help, and sorry for the endless barrage of questions. I'm planning to start construction on it this next week.

Jeff.

[Ethan Winer]

Jeff,

Some of the questions you asked are explained in the original bass trap plans article, and most of the others in the much more detailed Acoustics FAQ article on my web site:

www.ethanwiner.com/articles.html

The Acoustics FAQ is tenth in the list.

> doesn't that let a lot of the loose fibers through? <

Not unless you bang on the ceiling with a broomstick!

> does the distance of the rockwool from the ceiling affect anything? <

This is explained in detail in my FAQ.

> Would it affect the traps at all if the plywood fronts were slanted to break up the parallel walls a little? <

That's a fine idea.

> I realize that I'm going to be sitting pretty close to the back of the room, so should I be deadening that, too? <

Better, move yourself so you're not in the rear. If you sit closer to the rear wall than, say, six to eight feet you are asking for serious trouble because you'll be plagued by huge dips at low frequencies. I think the ideal place is about a third of the way back from the front. You room is extremely small so you may not have that luxury, but being even a little forward of the center line will really help.

--Ethan

[Figher]

Ethan,

Spent a couple hours yesterday re-reading articles on your site and on the Recording.org forum as well. I can honestly say that I am now more confused and uncertain as ever about what to do with the room!

I'm now wondering if it'd be better to do the diagonal corner traps using 4 or 6-inch rockwool in front. As far as I could understand from the website, those don't need to be airtight, right? Then it would be possible for me to get all 4 corners in front as I could cover all the way from the floor to the ceiling. But would that be as effective as the panel traps? Those would help a lot with the high and mid absorption, too, right? Of course, keeping the panel traps as much as possible...

I'm also thinking of going for a soft ceiling of 4-inch rockwool interlaced with thin plywood planks. (see pics).

Is this going to be any better than the last design? I realize that there are going to be limitations in terms of the inherent room size and shape, cost, and the amount of effort and time I can give. Just trying to do the best possible...

Thanks so much.

Dazed and confused,
Jeff.

P.S. Sorry for the messy images. Didn't have much time.

[Ethan Winer]

Jeff,

> I'm now wondering if it'd be better to do the diagonal corner traps using 4 or 6-inch rockwool in front. <

Yes, I think so.

> those don't need to be airtight, right? <

Right.

> But would that be as effective as the panel traps? <

I think that would be similar, especially if you use very thick fiberglass.

> Those would help a lot with the high and mid absorption, too, right? <

Yes.

--Ethan