John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi there, I'm new here! Building a barn as part of a home renovation project, and I plan to put a studio in that barn. The barn itself is 36x24ft in footprint, and there's enough height to put a lofted 2nd floor over a good portion of it. Underneath that loft will be my control room, which will have anywhere between a 9ft and 10ft ceiling height, depending on what I want to do.

I'm starting out with the famous Amroc calculator here http://amroc.andymel.eu/?l=19&w=14&h=9. ... ue&r60=0.6

I can get some decent ideas that work with the space, but all of them seem very LONG. Like, 19ft long, 14ft wide if my ceiling height is 9.5ft. Making it any shorter screws up the ratios and I'm out of the "Bolt-Area."

So here's my stupid question: For this to work, do I have to put the listening position facing the 19ft long end, or can I put them on the 14ft 'width' end? I like the idea of having an especially wide control room that will support a large format console one day, but not necessarily a really deep control room with tons of useless space behind me. Thoughts?

I'm here mostly to say, thanks for sharing that link.. I've been looking for that calculator for a couple of weeks now... I remembered it from a few years back but couldn't find it!

As for your question... it seems your saying you "want" to be facing the longer wall (19') to allow room for a larger console? Correct?

I've always placed and been told to place my mix position facing the shorter wall. I've always found having the longer space running back behind me also allows room for people doing overdubs, etc.

My last mix area was around 14 by 20 and it definitely filled up quick with a few bodies and personal gear behind me.

But take what I say with a grain of salt. There's a lot of other variable involved as well.

Thanks! You know what, you're right. Lots of other variables. I'll start a new thread about the barn project and see what everyone thinks!

Hi. Please read the forum rules for posting (click here). You seem to be missing a couple of things!

I can get some decent ideas that work with the space, but all of them seem very LONG. Like, 19ft long, 14ft wide if my ceiling height is 9.5ft. Making it any shorter screws up the ratios and I'm out of the "Bolt-Area.

Not sure sure about that! 15 x 12 x 9.5 looks pretty decent. So does 13 x 11 x 9. I wouldn't go smaller than that, though. In fact, even 15x12 is "iffy". 15'6" x 13' x 9'6" looks decent. That's the minimum size allowed in the specs for high-end control rooms.

So here's my stupid question: For this to work, do I have to put the listening position facing the 19ft long end, or can I put them on the 14ft 'width' end?

The question is not stupid at all! ""Stupid" would be NOT asking it...

The speakers should ALWAYS point down the longest axis of the room, such that you have plenty of distance between the rear wall and your head. You CAN have the room oriented the other way, but only if it is big enough to still have enough space behind your head. In other words, once you have the correct geometrical layout for your speakers and listening position, there must still be enough distance between your head and the rear wall such that the diffuse sound field that arrives after the ITDG will only get there 20ms or more after the direct sound went passed your ears, and at a level that is 20 dB down.

I like the idea of having an especially wide control room that will support a large format console one day, but not necessarily a really deep control room with tons of useless space behind me.

The space is not useless if it provides the acoustic conditions that you need in order to achieve the purpose of the room being a control room! That's sort of like saying: "I like the idea of a car that goes really long distances without need to fill up, but I don't like the idea of having all that useless fuel in the tank...." The fuel is not useless if it serves the purpose. You can't have one without the other. If you want a control room that meets the necessary specs, and gives you neutral response at the mix position, then you have to have enough space behind your head.

Besides, you will lose at least a couple of feet of that "useless" space for the rear wall acoustic treatment, and you might well want to have a couch in the back, as almost all control rooms do...

- Stuart -

Thanks so much, Stuart (I went ahead and added my location to my profile and started a new thread with much more information about the project - is there anything else I'm missing rule-wise?).

I'll move any further discussion to my other post other than to say your points make total sense and are immensely helpful.