Newbie here

[Soundman2020]

My question is, does the 3+ leaf wall rule still apply if you're placing the additional leaf outside the two leaf wall?

In addition to what xSpace already correctly said about cinderblock only being one leaf, the 3 leaf rule applies no matter where you put the third leaf. Of course, putting a stud-and-sheetrock wall in front of a cinderblock wall only makes two leaves, but in a hypothetical case of a real 2-leaf wall, adding a third leaf on one side or the other, or even in the middle, still makes 3 leaves. The characteristics of the TL curve might be different, depending on where you place the third leaf and how you build it, but it will still be 3 leaves, and will still have significantly poorer performance down in the low end somewhere.

But anyway, if you have a cinderblock wall, then putting up a stud wall with sheetrock on one side will make a two leaf wall, not three leaf. And filling the cavities in the cinderblock with mortar or dry sand, for example, would help, since it would increase the mass of that wall considerably.


- Stuart -

[5forfighting]

I may try to look into that. As it is, I believe the bottom of one wall is ciderblock, and I doubt it's filled. I'm trying to locate the original plans for my house, which is proving very difficult, given it's age. If the entire thing is cinderblock, I doubt I'll go to all of the trouble of filling it, but we'll have to wait and see on that one.

I do have a question regarding the control room. Given that I won't be soffit mounting my monitors and will instead be using them as nearfields, are the room dimensions/ratios as important? I'm sure that they are and I'm probably asking a pretty stupid question, but I'm trying to find a way to maximize what little space I have.

[Soundman2020]

Given that I won't be soffit mounting my monitors and will instead be using them as nearfields, are the room dimensions/ratios as important? I'm sure that they are and I'm probably asking a pretty stupid question, but I'm trying to find a way to maximize what little space I have.

Yep! Room dimensions are important, regardless of what you do with your speakers. The modes will still be there, and will still get excited the same, no matter what. they might get excited in different ways or intensities, depending on how you place the speakers (like putting them in the corner, for example!), but the exact same modes will always be present, since they depend entirely on the dimensions of the finished inner leaf of the room.


But it ain't a silly question at all! As they say, the only stupid question is the one that you DON'T ask!


- Stuart -

[stuntbutt]

Just throwing this out there: Given the limited space in the garage and the need for isolation which eats up floor space, how about building a control room in the basement?

Also, to get any real isolation in the garage you will probably need to lose the sliding glass door, lose the attic access and create a small hallway for the door because it will need to swing towards the stairs as there will be another door on you new inner leaf that will swing in towards the garage. How about moving your attic access to inside a closet?

[stuntbutt]

Actually how about building your inner leaf shy of the attic access? You would lose 5 or 6 feet of room but it would eliminate your problem of door swing and moving the attic access.

[5forfighting]

Actually how about building your inner leaf shy of the attic access? You would lose 5 or 6 feet of room but it would eliminate your problem of door swing and moving the attic access.

That's kind of what I'm wanting to do. That's why I'm trying to figure out the minimum size that I can make my control room. Unfortunately, the attic access can't be moved. I tried, but there's just no place that it can feasibly go, because of the attic layout. However, since I won't really be working with high volumes in the control room, I'm wanting to put it at that end so that I won't have to worry as much about isolation there. But I'm wanting to keep it as small as possible so that I can maximize the floor space in the live room. I know I don't have an ideal situation but, as I said, this isn't going to be a comercial studio. I will basically just be using it for demos and reference recordings. I want it to look as professional as I can, primarily for asthetics, and I obviously want the best recording quality I can get, but I accept the fact that there will be limitations.

As far as the sliding glass door goes, the current one is in pretty rough shape and needs to be replaced. It's over-sized, so I'm going to have to have one custom made to replace it. Initially I was just going to close it in, but I'm afraid that, given the age of the house, I'll have a difficult time matching the brick. Besides, given the layout of the entry way at the opposite end of the studio, it makes loading/unloading gear waaaay easier! So I was thinking about replacing the current sliding glass door, and then building the innder leaf wall a few inches inside of that with another sliding glass door built into it.

I don't really know how any of this is going to work out. I had all of these great ideas... Then I found this site and found out how much more I have to learn! (Thanks for raining on my parade guys! )

[stuntbutt]

I would like to sound proof the room as much as humanly possible to allow playing later at night

A sliding glass door on your inner and outer leafs will be a pretty weak link. It may make any other efforts at isolation pointless.

[NativeLuv17]

I would like to sound proof the room as much as humanly possible to allow playing later at night

A sliding glass door on your inner and outer leafs will be a pretty weak link. It may make any other efforts at isolation pointless.

Don't mean to knock your input hear, but I have seen plenty studios with sliding glass doors on the inner and outer leafs. I think it could work but, it would have to depend on the size of the cavity, and how air tight the installation is, while also maintaining the same build for the door on its corresponding leaf.

[xSpace]

It's the difference between a sliding glass door, like on the patio of the average home and a sound rated or "soundproof" sliding glass door.

Two different things