John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi guys,

I’ve acquired some Xmas money and wanted to put it towards treating my (bedroom) studio. I am recording, producing and mixing my own demos (I am primarily a songwriter). The music I make is pop rock – think Maroon 5. Most of my production and mixing is at low to moderate volumes – I sit less than a metre away from my 5” direct field speakers and rarely monitor above 80db.

The ceilings are slanted, similar to an attic, and floors are fully carpeted (over timber). Walls are plaster. I am in a 2 storey house on the top floor. I do not own the house, so major construction/physical changes such as building walls etc, is a no no.

The room itself is portioned/split into 2 areas – one area (the larger space) I am using primarily for mixing (occasionally for vocal recording) (photo 6), and the other smaller space for sleeping (photo 14)

The current ‘studio’ portion of the room (the larger space-photo 6) is 4.3m wide x 4.8m long x 2.6m high, with non-parallel/non symmetrical walls for the most part. The ‘bedroom’ portion (photo 14) is 2.4m wide x 3.3m long x 2.5m high, and is more symmetrical than the current ‘studio’ portion of the room, but is a lot smaller. Total length of the room from the rear wall (where the bed is) to the front wall (behind the vocal booth – where the vinyl covers are on the wall above the brown couch) is 8.1m. Long story short, I chose size over symmetry.

I’ve done some research regarding placing bass traps in corners, and treating early reflection points with absorption, however I am still unsure as to the best position/placement for my desk and speakers within this specific room, and how I should be treating it (aside from Corner traps and Early reflection points, which I understand).

Budget – cost IS an issue - depending on recommendations and advice - I am happy to make the panels and traps myself (if I can save some $$), or also happy to buy commercial products if it might be a better choice for this specific situation. Keeping in mind - I live in Sydney, Australia and the freight costs for even just a few Real Traps ‘Minitraps’ is ridiculously expensive.. I am happy to spend what I need to in order to fix the biggest and most important issues (corner bass traps, early reflection points etc) – think somewhere up to $2000. I COULD afford to spend $20,000 but obviously would rather not – this studio is for making my songwriting demos only. What I am looking for is bang for my buck, getting the most important things sorted out. Not absolute acoustic perfection.

CLICK HERE for a short video tour of the room

Photos with measurements:






Extra Photos:











Questions:

1) In terms of current choice of speaker placement/desk setup –I thought that the current setup in the photos of firing the speakers down the ‘bedroom section’ might have been the best option (photos 2&3) – as I get length. Any other ideas?

2) The speakers are each on a pile of books and slightly tilted upwards due to the foam iso pads (photo 13) - Would it be best to move the speakers right to the front of the desk (in front of the computer screen) to avoid any reflections off the desk?

3) You will also see a second set of reference speakers on the left side of the desk (photo 11) – should I move these somewhere else to prevent reflections? And/or remove the left side of the desk entirely? (It is detachable) (fyi please ignore the PC tower on the desk – that is only there temporarily)

4) The only recording I do is with a (single) singer - Regarding my current vocal recording setup – I get the singer facing down the length of the room (Ie facing me while I am sitting at my computer – the same way the speakers are facing, with the vocal booth behind him. Any other better ideas for this setup? (photo 6/13)

5) Assuming the best place for the speakers is where they are currently positioned - Would there be any benefit in placing a diffuser above the bed? (I.e. furthest rear point in the room – where the ‘space’ artwork is positioned in photo 14)

6) To the Australians on the forum – regarding DIY treatment - I’ve realised I can’t get Owens corning 703 or 705 here – so I found 3 other popular options. Any experience with any of these alternatives, and if it matters (in regards to this particular room)?

Acoustisorb 3

Fibretex 350

Polymax-Absorb HD 100mm

Any other hints, tips and advice are welcome,

If I have missed any details or important info, please let me know.

Thank you so much for your time, much appreciated. Aaron

Welcome to the forums!

It's a little hard to see the room layout with the different perspectives of your pictures and the furnishing in the way. If you can download Sketchup and build a model of the room with dimensions that would help immensely.

At first glance, it appears that the best location for good control room symmetry with where you currently have the bed situated.

What are your goals? You still need to use the room as a bedroom I take it? Once you find a good control room layout, you can treat the rest of the room with movable bass traps and some wall treatments depending on what it needs. I would get some speaker stands for your monitors and position them behind your desk. Get a couple sets and use your second set of speakers as an alternate monitoring solution.

PS, how do you like the Equator D5s? I have a set of the D8s in my booth at work, and love them.

Hi Justice,

Thanks for taking the time to reply

As per your advice, i've attempted to create a sketchup file - it's my first time using it - it looks disgusting, but hopefully it will be a somewhat useful reference to use with the photos.

Download Sketchup File here

Yes i think you are right about the 'bedroom' section being the most symmetrical option i've got. However the reason I chose the other space was simply because it was bigger and I had assumed that I would have less bass issues to tackle in the bigger portioned room. I guess it comes down to a choice between symmetry or size. For practicality and general spaciousness - the bigger room would be better - but if symmetry is most important then Id be happy to move the desk/speakers into the 'bedroom' section.

And to confirm - yes I still need to use the room as a bedroom. Doesn't matter where the bed goes though.

Cheers for the tip - I will get some speaker stands.. Probably a stupid question but - any difference in quality between stands? sound and acoustics wise?
As for the D5's - they are my first pair of monitors so I don't have any reference for comparison - but mixes are translating ok and haven't had any issues with them so I cant complain I was actually thinking of upgrading to the D8's, as the D5's are a little bass shy, but this could be the room possibly - who knows. I'll wait and see once the room is treated.

Thanks again for your help, I really appreciate it!

Aaron

I looked at your Sketchup file. Did you include any walls in it? It seems I may have gotten a corrupted file because I didn't see any and some of the other items were in odd locations, like floating in mid air.

But from your floor plan, I would definitely move your control room and desk into the alcove where the bed is currently. They you can treat that area and build some diffusers or bass traps as necessary. You might want to build some sort of temporary door wall/partition to put directly behind you in the big open area. Regarding the rest of the room, there's not much you can do to get any real isolation unless you are able to tear out the existing drywall and build some new walls that adhere to the double leaf method.

There are some places online where you can buy some purpose built vocal booths and just put them together like Ikea furniture. They're not perfect but probably better than not having anything. Check out VocalBooth.com Prices start at about $5,000 U.S. and I don't know what shipping to Australia would run.

But, here's another question...You say that you could afford to spend up to $20,000. If that is U.S. Dollars, you could get a decent way to building a small project studio with that. Is there any other location that you could build or convert?

Great, thank you for your advice justice, much appreciated

There is no other place i could build or change any of the construction so i''ll have to make do with what i have,

I will check out the vocal booths you mentioned,

Thanks again for your time & help,

Aaron

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