New Studio Build, Hello!

[amac2673]

Built me a very HEAVY door that I hung myself...

125 lbs, 2 pieces of MDF laminated together with 2 pieces of 1/4" plywood, I used a 2x6 for the hinge side spine that I ripped a 2" wide by 3/4" deep notch out of. This way I could offset the MDF panels by 2"s and be able to screw one of the MDF panels directly into the 2x6 spine and then have the two MDF panel screwed to each other before being sandwiched by the 1/4 plywood on either side, this gives the door more stability than just having the 1/4 plywood holding everything together.

[Soundman2020]

Nice! That DOES look pretty hefty. I guess you notice the difference in isolation!


- Stuart -

[amac2673]

I tell what I really noticed was how hot those track lights were once I had the door up, needless to say I ordered LED replacements last night!

[amac2673]

Small update, got the monitors powered up yesterday gave them a listen, I am supposed to receive my SPL meter today so I will do my REW tests then but even just giving the A8X's a listen I must say they sound pretty damn amazing! I can hear so much more detail in songs that I have been listening to for years its nuts!

I can't wait to hear the room after the treatment has been done.

Oh, also I only have the inner door up in the studio but after firing up the system I cranked some tunes and you cannot hear anything on the upper two levels of my house coming from the studio! It looks like the 2am drum session dream just might be a reality!

Allen

[Soundman2020]

Yeah, those Adam's are pretty good, aren't they? I'm a fan...

And that's great news about the isolation! Your drums will probably be about 10 to 20 dB louder than your speakers, but once you get that inner door on, that will make a difference too.

Holding thumbs for 2 AM!


- Stuart -

[amac2673]

Ok, did my first REW test, will post the bad news tomorrow.

[amac2673]

Here ya go! I did the first tests left, right and both. I also did another test with just both after having stacked up two bags of Roxul SS floor to ceiling to see how it would affect the room.

Here's the mdat file link,

https://umd.box.com/s/dg7fe8ifmiyqo062hgpw

[amac2673]

Finished my back wall treatment and the room is really starting to look and sound nice, bass really tightened up!

2014-08-11 11.21.00.jpg

Definitely altered my REW readings too.

[amac2673]

Any feedback on my readings???

[amac2673]

Bump

[Soundman2020]

Could you post the actual MDAT file? It's hard to tell from just a few graphs.

- Stuart -

[amac2673]

I sure can.

https://umd.box.com/s/ewon9lz1xi1ghs8ecvwg

This has all the measurements that have been taken to date.

Beginning with.
Baseline,
Roxul in corners,
Finished Rear,
Clouds, "meaning two clouds are hung".

Thanks,
Allen

[Soundman2020]

Nice! Pretty impressive improvements at each stage!

It looks like you still need some more treatment for the mid-highs, around 4k (actually, from about 2k to 8k), but your lows and mids are coming under control nicely.

There's also an early reflection that appeared after you installed the clouds, so you might want to adjust the angle on those clouds to get rid of that.

What's next?


- Stuart -

[amac2673]

Thanks for taking a look.

Can you tell me how you determined the early reflection point after the cloud, so that I know what to look for after making some adjustments?

Also what do you suggest for the 2k-8k range? Just some more panels on the walls?

I was concerned about a dip at around 525? Does this look like a problem?

I am in the process of laminating my desk now, should have it done by the weekend, then start hooking things up!

Allen

[Soundman2020]

Well, I'm all wet then. Or in light of the unnecessary expense, I should say I took a bath on that one!

Can you send a couple of photos of that cloud, and the room in general? That would help.

The additional path length is about 44" (in other words, the reflected sound is taking a path about 44" longer than the direct sound) so one way you can do this is with the "string trick". So measure the distance from the acoustic center of your speaker right speaker (NOTE! "Acoustic center!"), to the tip of your measurement mic, add 44" to that measurement, and cut a piece of string that long (or make it a bit longer, so you have some extra to attach the string at each end). Attach one end to the acoustic center of your right speaker (masking tape works well), and attach the other end of the string to a mic stand set up exactly at the point where the tip of your measurement mic was. So there's now a "sag" in the middle of the string that is exactly 44" longer than the direct path.

Now carefully move that sagging middle part of that string around the room, to see exactly where it touches "something": It will only touch one thing in the room, since there is only one reflection there.

My bet is that it touches some point on the cloud. Mark that point, then take a photo so that I can see where the mark is. It's a fairly strong reflection, so my guess is that it is something hard, such as the wood frame of the cloud.

There's a second reflection worth looking into as well: this one only affects the right speaker, and the path is 100" longer, so repeat the same procedure with another piece of string, 100" longer than the speaker-mic distance.

Also what do you suggest for the 2k-8k range? Just some more panels on the walls?

Yes, but it needs to be heavier and thinner than what you are doing so far. I'd suggest one inch thick panels of OC-705 would be good, pressed up tight against the wall (no air gap behind). 703 is too light for such high frequencies, so it has to be 705. 1" USG Thermafiber (4pcf) would also work.

I was concerned about a dip at around 525? Does this look like a problem?

It is most likely some type of SBIR artifact, or it could be something to do with reflections off the desk or console, or something else like that. It's not modal, and is likely positional, so I'd wait a bit on that one, to figure out what it is... it might even improve from the other treatment along the way. It has always been there, and only changes slightly with the treatment you have done so far, so I don't think it is cloud-related. But you might get lucky, and find that it goes away when you reposition the clouds!


- Stuart -