how to make my room better...

[JeroenW]

Hi,

I'm having a little homestudio in the top room of my house.
I want to use the room to make the mix and record vocals/acc.guitar.
How/where to apply acoustic treatment?
What type of do it yourself stuff can i use.

I'am a newbie. Please help.

This is a topview and a sideview of my room.

I'm using genelec 1029a

Thanks for your help!!!

[dymaxian]

Greetings and welcome!

How/where to apply acoustic treatment?

In a word, everywhere you can. John's wall panel designs (link from front page of this site) will give you a bunch of good ideas about how and where to put stuff up- it's geared toward do-it-yourself-ers, but if you're handy at carpentry you can save yourself a lot of cash and headaches.

I'm not sure if having the desk pressed against the 'right' wall there is going to have a big effect on your stereo imaging, but I can understand why you want it clear of that heater...

Easiest places to put up acoustic treatment are these... rigid insulation panels flat against the wall in every spot that reflects sound directly from your speakers to your mix position, and more rigid insulation panels straddling the corners to soak up low frequency sound. The next step up from there is John Sayer's wall panels I mentioned above. Moving up from there would mean moving walls, and probably finding a larger space to work in.

Hope this helps

Kase
www.minemusic.net

[AVare]

Shrink your graphic so that we can get a picture of the whole forrest.

[JeroenW]

Shrink your graphic so that we can get a picture of the whole forrest.

Beter like this? Sorry for the big ones......

[JeroenW]

Greetings and welcome!

Thanks! I hope to learn a lot here...

Easiest places to put up acoustic treatment are these... rigid insulation panels flat against the wall in every spot that reflects sound directly from your speakers to your mix position, and more rigid insulation panels straddling the corners to soak up low frequency sound.

So i go around with a mirror to find those places?
What type of material should i use here to aply to the walls? Traps or foam?
Are these DIY absorbers OK you think....
http://www.bobgolds.com/TrapMartin/home.htm

What should i build in the corners? Only the corners in the back near the window or all 4??

The next step up from there is John Sayer's wall panels I mentioned above.

Yes, that would be nice...but in a future building.....

Thanks a lot !!

[dymaxian]

So i go around with a mirror to find those places?

Yep. You may have to make a guess as to where on the ceiling these panels should go, but then again the ceiling works out best when it is more absorbent, and when the floor is more reflective. Many studios have hardwood floors and lots of insulation on the ceiling for this reason.

With the ceiling you have, this won't be quite so big a deal, but it'd still help out.

What type of material should i use here to aply to the walls? Traps or foam?

I'd avoid the foam. The best sound treatment you can get, dollar for dollar, is rigid fiberglass insulation. We normally refer to it as 703, because Owens-Corning uses that number to denominate their product, but many manufacturers make the stuff. That's what the guy in your link was using inside of his traps. It works just as well as foam, if not better, and is much less expensive. You'll have to look a little harder for it- insulation supply companies will carry it, but Home Depot does not.

Anyway, it usually comes in panels 2'x4', and of varying thicknesses. For the side-wall panels (where you'd use a mirror to find early reflection points) I'd use 2" panels- you can use 4" if you like, but at least 2". Wrap it with fabric, and hang it on the wall in the right spot. There's recommendations on how to go about wrapping it, and hanging it, all over the board, so I won't retype it here.

Are these DIY absorbers OK you think....
http://www.bobgolds.com/TrapMartin/home.htm

Those will work for mid- and high-freq absorbers. You'll need some low-freq stuff, too. Take a look at http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html - it's Ethan Winer's acoustics FAQ, but in there are plans for low-freq panel traps. Try to make your room absorb evenly across the entire sound spectrum.

The corners are pretty easy. Ethan talks about those in his FAQ. The simplest solution is to just wrap 2" thick rigid fiberglass panels with fabric, and strap them across the corners at 45-degree angles. The corners are where bass freqs build up the most, so this alone will do a lot for the sound of your room. Bigger, more involved corner units can be built later, or in another room.

Kase
www.minemusic.net

[JeroenW]

Kase,

Thanks for your reply...
I go for the fibreglass in wooden frames. Should i hang them with a space between wool and wall?

These are my room responces without absorbers...

[Ethan Winer]

Jeroen,

> These are my room responces without absorbers <

That's what you think!

I use ETF too, and the 1/3 octave display is woefully inadequate for assessing the true response. Much better is the Low Frequency Response graph, though that stops at 200 Hz. For the regular Log plot you show, set it to display 1/12 octave. In fact, tell it to show both 1/3 and 1/12 octave at the same time for a good lesson in how increasing resolution improves accuracy and reveals more detail.

--Ethan

[JeroenW]

Ethan,

Thanks for your advice. I will look at 1/12 .....

I want to make 2" sidebar's with fibrewool, should i hang them a few inches from the wall?
Same also for the (my) ceiling?

[Ethan Winer]

Jeroen,

> Thanks for your advice. I will look at 1/12 <

Again, even 1/12 octave is inadequate for assessing the low frequency response in a room. Use the swept sine wave signal and use the LF plot.

> I want to make 2" sidebar's with fibrewool, should i hang them a few inches from the wall? <

Yes, an air gap extends the absorption to lower frequencies.

--Ethan

[JeroenW]

Ethan,

I've red your article. http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html - Thx for this great info.

But, what sould i do with my ceilings. They are not normal, they have an /\ angle.

And the backside wall...shall i make 1 big absorber? Or a John Sayers rear wall?

How to threat the walls where my vocal mics are standing? Also 2" absorbers? And the backside ceiling?

I now a lot of questions, but i have not seen an example of a room like mine. With a ceiling like /\ this....

Thanks!!!

[Ethan Winer]

Jeroen,

> what sould i do with my ceilings. They are not normal, they have an /\ angle. <

Hang rigid fiberglass panels under the peak. You can see an example of this in the center photo, lower row, on the main page of my company's web site linked under my name below. Those photos show the panels my company sells, but the basic idea is exactly the same.

--Ethan

[JeroenW]

Ethan,

Thanks for al your knowledge and advice!

I've taken with etf my bass responce with a low range sweep.
What a difference between the mix position and a position near the rearwall! (pic1= rearwall, pic2=mixpos)
What a dips!!!
I will make some basstraps like you have showed on the video and pictures on your site http://www.realtraps.com/ to fix my room.
I liked the videos good info!

Should i also make smaller traps at the sidewalls and above the mix pos like on the video or are the 2" ones also fine for the higer frequenties?

thanks again for your help!

Jeroen

[Ethan Winer]

Jeroen,

> What a dips!!! <

No kidding. The amazing thing is all rooms are like this, yet most people have no idea their rooms are so bad. They're too busy trying to decide what overpiced mike preamp or tube compressor to buy, rather than address the horrible LF response in their control room!

> Should i also make smaller traps at the sidewalls and above the mix pos like on the video <

Yes, absorption at the first reflection points is always a good idea.

--Ethan

[chrisaiken]

"They're too busy trying to decide what overpiced mike preamp or tube compressor to buy"

I understand your point but it's hardly fair to say everyone buys over priced preamps...lol.

Cheers,
Chris