John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi everyone,
I've used these forums before for handy info but this time I officially felt i needed to sign up as I am a bit unsure about which direction I should take when it comes to setting up my new studio space from scratch due to the shape and size of the rooms and the members in here seem very knowledged on the topic. so basically I have got a separate room for recording both and a control room which has a center recessed ceiling and 4 doors, 3 of which are in corners... challenges are ahead I can feel it but I am determined to achieve the best possible outcome and would really appreciate any feedback or recommendations as to what I should and should not do along the way. I have attached a floor plan of the two rooms which show the dimensions. thanks in advance!

Hi Daniel, and welcome!

It's not very clear what you want help with: Forum members generally start out by designing a rough concept of what they want to do, then present it here for comments, suggestions, criticism, etc. But all you presented is part of the building drawings, with no concept at all!

so basically I have got a separate room for recording both and a control room

Which one is which? Dimensions? Construction details of the existing structure? Isolation needs? Purpose? Budget?

and 4 doors, 3 of which are in corners...

Well, there's the first thing you'll need to fix! All of those doors will need to be moved to acoustically sensible locations. They are no use at all where they are right now.

Also, there's a mention of "carpet" in your drawings: You can take that out and throw it away, or maybe sell it. You won't be needing that. What's the floor made of? What's under that?

- Stuart -

Hi stuart,
thanks for the reply & my apologese for the lack of info so far.. the recording booth will be the smaller room on the left, while the control room will be on the right. the floor will be floorboards on top of cemented flooring. unfortunately door position changes at this stage are not really an option. I've been doing some research on bass traps and can see the current trouble there with the doors.. is there an alternative solution to moving the doors position though? the monitors that will be in use will be Adams A77Xs, front ported. the desk will be 80mm back from the wall facing the booth, there will be an angled glass window between both rooms also. At the rear (far left in drawing) I was thinking to put up a 2 meter wide acoustic wall just off in front of the glass sliding door in hope of making the rear reflections less obstructive, but is there a better suggestion? the room will be for editing & mixing mainly vocals. I do use sonarworks calibration software but my budget is around $5000 from here. hopefully I've provided a bit more info but happy to continue as required. thank you again for responding..

the floor will be floorboards on top of cemented flooring

Why floorboards? What type? Will there be any air gaps under that?

unfortunately door position changes at this stage are not really an option.

Then you have a problem . . .

I've been doing some research on bass traps and can see the current trouble there with the doors..

Yep. Exactly.

is there an alternative solution to moving the doors position though?

It's not just the bass traps at the rear of the room that you need to be worried about: it's also the location of the speakers and assocaited treatment at the front of the room...

the monitors that will be in use will be Adams A77Xs,

Nice! Good choice.

the desk will be 80mm back from the wall facing the booth

Just 8cm? Why so close? The room seems to be 311 cm long, so the mix position should be at roughly 110 cm form the front wall.... Are you planning to use a very wide desk?

there will be an angled glass window between both rooms also.

Why? It's a myth that you need to angle them for acoustic reasons. Here's why:

At the rear (far left in drawing) I was thinking to put up a 2 meter wide acoustic wall just off in front of the glass sliding door in hope of making the rear reflections less obstructive,

Low I'm confused! I thought you said the control room is on the right? So why do you need a wall on the far end of the vocal booth, to stop reflections in the control room?

Also, what do you mean by "acoustic wall"? That could mean many different things....

I do use sonarworks calibration software

That only works if the room is already correctly treated. This is something that the manufactures of "room correction" systems don't bother telling you: You can ONLY use that in a room where the acoustic treatment has been done as completely as possible, such that the room is as close as possible to being a minimum phase system, and even then it can only be used for the parts of the spectrum that exhibit flat excess phase response, and even then great care has to be taken to ensure that the corrections applied to not increase the ringing of other parts of the spectrum. It's nowhere near as easy as setting up a mic and pressing a button...

So what I'd suggest you do, is firstly to evaluate moving the doors (it's not as complicated as it sounds), then determine how much isolation you need (in decibels), and based on that you can decide what isolation system to use. After you have built that, then you need to set up the control room geometry correctly, install the normal basic acoustic treatment that any small room needs (large bass traps in as many corners as possible, plus absorption on the first reflection points, plus covering the entire rear wall with deep absorption), then do an acoustic test with the REW software package, and based on that you can determine what additional treatment is needed. Repeat that last step several times (test, treat, test, treat) until it is no longer possible to improve the room response with additional treatment, and only then think about using room correction software.

For the vocal booth, I would suggest John's "standard" formula for putting a slot wall on at least one side of the room, perhaps with some angled sections, plus additional treatment on the other walls and the ceiling, as needed.


- Stuart -

Well turns out that after a bit of hassle I've managed to make the following door sketch modifications, removing 3 doors, and placing the entry door on the opposite side of the wall (so it doesn't collide with the desk when opened). I drew the desk in, so you can see it will be about 80cm (not mm) from the left wall (meaning about 65cm from side walls). floor is still prior prestart of building stage so I can choose anything at this point, i dont want carpet as I'm aware it will absorb too much but i was thinking wood...but on that..what would you recommend? so the recording booth is on the left (sorry about that typo) is the door position in there ok? or should that also be moved from the wall? With the wall i was thinking to put up in front of the sliding door (on the RIGHT), i basically need a solution to the sound bouncing off that sliding door. what do you suggest i do there?

thanks again