Stuart's Insanity Studio: Design phase

[xSpace]

Unless otherwise posted, treat it like a template.

[Soundman2020]

Thanks! That will save lots of time. I'm just loving this gold mine. Nuggets everywhere....

[Soundman2020]

OK, I'm finally getting the hang of SketchUp, and figuring out how to work around its idiosyncrasies.

And I'm finally ready to post my first design attempt!!! ( drum-roll, please... )

See first images below.

My first conclusion is that this is a REALLY small space to try to fit everything in! "Tiny" is not the right word. "Minuscule" seems more appropriate. "Microscopic" too. My design just does not seem to be very efficient.

I think it can be done, but probably not the way I'm trying to do it. Help! How can I lay things out better?

My second conclusion is that my design is acoustically lousy. In order to keep the 60 degree angle on the speakers, my head ends up roughly in the middle of the room. Not good. A long way off from the recommended 38% rule. Can anyone see anything I can do to improve this situation? The way I see it, in order to get me closer to 38%, I'd have to move the speakers much closer together. Is that a good idea or a bad idea? Will it affect my stereo imaging? Can I bend the 60 degree rule a bit, by a few degrees maybe, or is that a really bad idea? I figure that if I move the speakers closer together, and angle them in by another 5 degrees or so, I could get a lot closer to 38% than I am right now.

I guess my basic question is: Which is more critical? Speaker separation, 60 degree angle, or 38% listening position? Which one can I relax and which one should I concentrate on?

Next, I have no space for a console! I have been trying to keep the control room as symmetrical as possible, which is why I used sliding glass doors on both sides, but the one on the left is eating up the space where I need to put my console. I'm thinking of replacing that glass door with a normal hinged door: Would that be a good idea or a bad idea? Would it have a big effect on the acoustics of the room to have a huge glass surface on one side, and a totally different surface on the other?

Third, construction details: I used one of the designs from this forum as the basis for my layout, and I noticed that the double walls between the control room and the live room had sheetrock on BOTH sides in that plan. In other words, each of the two leaves had sheetrock on both sides, for a total of four "sides" of sheetrock. I thought that was not a good idea? I was under the impression that putting sheet rock on both sides of each of the walls creates extra "leaves" that could mess up the acoustic properties. Is that right, or did I miss something? Should I put sheetrock on both sides of the walls?

Also on construction: Since space is VERY tight here, can I use 2x3 studs, instead of 2x4? That would save me a dozen or so centimeters in all directions. It doesn't sound like much, but I would really like to save every mm that I can. Also, I recall reading here that 24" OC stud spacing is often better than 16" OC. Should I use 24" or 16" here?


Any suggestions? Comments? Remarks? Hints? Agonized screams of "What the hell was he THINKING!"?


Shoot me down! (but please do so gently....)


Stuart

[John Sayers]

Stuart - you are wasting space that can be part of the acoustic treatment, like the triangles in the rear of the control room should be used for trapping, similarly with the angled walls in the live room.

[Soundman2020]

Thanks John.

I was actually planning to use those areas for trapping, but hadn't figured out how to do it on SketchUp yet! But I'm getting there...

I did a bit more work on the design, adding rockwool into the corners, as well as labeling the slot resonators with text, as you couldn't really see too well on the images what they were.

I also moved things around a bit, trying to gain a bit of space, replacing the main sliding door with a double "airlock" style door, (since the sliding glass door was taking up too much space) nudging walls a bit, moving the speakers around to try to get the sweet spot closer to where it should be, etc.

Question: Do I need to stuff the slots and bass traps chock full of rockwool? Or should I just leave a single layer, like on your "Small Studio" design, which is what I'm basing my design on?

I've also revised my budget estimate up. Way up. I guess I thought I could do this cheaply, but the more I read through this site, the more I realize that I can do it cheap, or I can do it properly, but not both. Oh well. So be it. Take a deep breath and pray for more money.

My idea right now is to take September / October for design and preparation, then start construction in November.

Any comments on the design so far? Suggestions?

Here is the current status:

[Soundman2020]

Another couple of views:

[Soundman2020]

Well, it's taken a bit longer than I expected, but I'm getting to the stage where the design is starting to make a bit of sense. To me at least. Maybe not to the rest of you.

Here is the latest attempt. The SketchUp files are too big to upload here directly, so I put them on one of my servers, in case anyone feels like downloading them to play with. It's a slow connection to that server, so it might take a while to download.

There are two file. First, just the design itself, and second the design plus a set of drums. The only decent set of drums I found is huge! The file size increases from 4.5 MB to over 11 MB, just from adding the drums! (Don't bother downloading that one if you don't want to look at drums...)

Version with no drums

Version with drums

I tried to make the SketchUp files self-explanatory (take a look in the "layers" window to see what all the bits and pieces are, and use the animation tabs to see just some stuff, etc.), but I'm probably not using the right terminology, so please just ask!

Below are some images from that SketchUp design.

I´d LOVE some feedback from the experts! Am I on the right track?

Stuart

[padded cell]

i wish i could use sketch like that!! starting to look good

[Soundman2020]

Thanks! SkethUp takes a bit of getting used to. Powerful, but quirky.

Does anyone have any suggestions / comments on my design? Am I doing anything right at all?

[Soundman2020]

Link to another thread discussing some aspects of the design of the south wall:

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/posti ... ly&t=11233

[Soundman2020]

Question about sheetrock joints?

Which of the following two ways is the best way to join sheet rock walls in corners?


1. All layers together, as one bunch.

2. Staggered joints, layer by layer.

[Ro]

Pic 2. Don't forget to SEAL it.
Rod's book is a good resource, just as this forum.

[xSpace]

1. All layers together, as one bunch.

2. Staggered joints, layer by layer.

When you are installing sheetrock, it is layer by layer. This install method will have corners lapping on the individual layer. These joints are caulked so allowable space is part of the install. Anyway, if you do your install properly, with lapping layers you will find that option 2 will be the method employed.

[Soundman2020]

Hi xSpace. Thanks! That's what I figured. I did know that the sheetrock has to go on layer by layer (with Green Glue in between), but I just wanted to confirm that the joints should be staggered, and caulked. What kind of caulk should I use? Something that remains flexible, I imagine?

Also, should I use anything between the stud and the first layer of sheetrock? Such as Green Glue on the face of the stud, or maybe some kind of caulking? Maybe rubber sheeting, cut to the size of the stud face? Or should I just attach the sheetrock direct to the stud?

One more question: Nails or screws? I recall seeing this mentioned in a thread here somewhere, but I can't find it again, and I don't recall what the consensus was! Or maybe a combination of alternating nails and screws? (nail-screw-nail-screw-nail-screw-etc). I do recall that you are supposed to use progressively longer nails/screws on each successive layer, to ensure at least 1 inch penetration into the stud. Correct?

Sorry for all the questions, but I do want to make sure that I have a clear plan in place on my design BEFORE I start building!


You guys are great, by the way. If I hadn't found this place, I would have built a thudding, clanging disaster! With this gold mine of top quality information, I'm confident I can build a fairly decent sounding studio, despite my serious space limitations.

[xSpace]

"Which of the following two ways is the best way to join sheet rock walls in corners? "

I see places that will produce an outside corner in several areas of your framing. But I do not see any that should have sheetrock on them.


(As I understand it from looking at a sketch-up drawing, that is.)