John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

I have a choice of 1 of 3 rooms to use as a studio. I would like your help in deciding which is the best choice as a base to start with please.

Plan: I am not looking at a big time permanent build or soundproofing requirement here. Just the best room as a base choice, to then quickly tackle the acoustic treatment phase. Preferably be using mainly 2.2m high floor standing Panels to keep it modular for when I eventually move studio and not destroy the structure with huge amounts of repatching/sanding/painting from all the drilling etc. but will see how far I can get away with that idea! I know I could DIY it cheaper (again) but with the time requirement to do it, this time I may go the pre-built treatments with a max £10,000 (preferably less).

Usage: Mixing in Dolby Atmos (music - not theatrical - not looking for certification) within the year, as well as current standard Stereo Mixing/Mastering, plus occasional Voicover/Vocal recordings (not a priority though as movable panels/gobos will create mini booths when needed).

Loudness: 83dB SPL C weighted slow response to mix/master at. The occasional vocal overdubs doesn’t add enough of a problem to class as separate level requirement in my opinion - especially with the previously proposed panel/gobos (boothe) usage.

Location: UK based (in profile but being restated here incase).


Green Upstairs Normal room:
Structure - Half brick, insulation and cement blocks plasterboard paint finish. Half wooden studded walls (insulted), plasterboard paint finish. Wooden floor boards (not insulated), underlay and carpet finish. Height 2.3m. 4.5m longest length, 3.8m shortest length. Width 2.5m widest, 1.9m small cut out bit at the back. Summary - a rectangular-ish normal room with a raging teenage neighbour, ha.
Pro’s:

• Pretty much rectangular so maybe easier to manage acoustically
  Decent width and length

Con’s:

• Teenager as audible neighbour
  Carpeted floor
  Creaky floorboards under carpet
  Weight of lots of heavy gear, eventually including 12 speakers plus stands upstairs

Blue Upstairs Tall room:
Structure - Bricks, insulation and cement blocks with plasterboard paint finish. Wooden floor boards (insulated), 2 layers of different underlays, finished with thick laminate. Vaulted ceiling - 4.2m highest, 2.3m lowest. Length 5.6m. Width 2.2m. Summary - a slim rectangular room with interesting 'wow factor' ceiling heights and a lovely skylight.
Pro’s:

• Ceiling height
  Lots of natural light
  Naturally warm
  Rectangular walls shape may be easier to manage acoustics
  Long room
  Laminate floor

Con’s:

• Ceiling height and angles may make acoustics strange (very live sounding room flutter echo)
  Width (slim)
  Spotlights likely in way of best cloud positioning
  Rain noise on skylight is loud
  Sunshine very harsh to monitors and gear (sunburnt plants)
  With all gear on and acoustic treatments it could get very warm
  Weight of lots of heavy gear, eventually including 12 speakers plus stands upstairs
  Both doors open into this room making treatment there difficult/impossible
  If need to cover skylight with something then what’s the point of having a skylight?
  If skylight covered then may need noisy metal ladder (left in room) to access window treatment/blinds/curtain

Red Downstairs Wide room:
Structure - Brick walls, insulation and cement blocks. Thin foam roll underlay, finished with thick laminate. Height 2.3m. 5.6m length. Width widest 3.8m, shortest width 2.6m with a non parallel wall. Summary - an odd shaped cold/dark room that has some good width space.
Pro’s:

• Ground floor so weight of lots of heavy gear, eventually including 12 speakers plus stands, is a non issue
  Width best of all at widest back section
  Dark and coldest room so with gear and treatment up it won’t end up roasting hot
  Laminate floor

Con’s:

• The room is also the walkway for the rest of downstairs (kitchen etc.) so walkway needs to remain clear
  Fireplace and mantle piece (reflections)
  Non symmetrical shaped room (good if live room but for mixing/mastering perhaps less so)

I've attached photos of the bare rooms (without acoustic treatments in) to make your choice easier.

So given these choices which room would you choose to make into a mix/master room and why?

i think green upstairs normal. it's wider than #2 which will be important for the symmetry with the surround speakers. for noise - just install a heavy (5/8" laminated glass) interior "storm window" (maybe frame in some potions of the window opening to keep glass cost down and leave space for front treatments) which should reduce and/or eliminate the outside noise assuming that's the main noise ingress route. perhaps laydown some 20mm plywood over the existing floor to strengthen. maybe blow in some insulation into the floor, walls, and ceiling.

gullfo wrote:i think green upstairs normal. it's wider than #2 which will be important for the symmetry with the surround speakers. for noise - just install a heavy (5/8" laminated glass) interior "storm window" (maybe frame in some potions of the window opening to keep glass cost down and leave space for front treatments) which should reduce and/or eliminate the outside noise assuming that's the main noise ingress route. perhaps laydown some 20mm plywood over the existing floor to strengthen. maybe blow in some insulation into the floor, walls, and ceiling.

Thanks Gullfo for the reply! If width is important for the surround speakers, wouldn't #3 (red downstairs wide room - which is the widest of all the rooms) actually be best in that case then?

#3 would be terrible only because it's central to your house activities, spousal approval factor (SAF), and this getting the symmetry and acoustics in that space will be a challenge, people moving around will be a distraction etc. however, you could use #3 later as additional tracking space. so maybe dropping a conduit in to allow snakes etc to pass down, plus some network wires for the cameras and TV (your "window" into the live room) and fold back monitors (if not feed through headphones) could be an option for the occasional tracking session... same for room #2 which may also provide this auxiliary function.

gullfo wrote:#3 would be terrible only because it's central to your house activities, spousal approval factor (SAF), and this getting the symmetry and acoustics in that space will be a challenge, people moving around will be a distraction etc. however, you could use #3 later as additional tracking space. so maybe dropping a conduit in to allow snakes etc to pass down, plus some network wires for the cameras and TV (your "window" into the live room) and fold back monitors (if not feed through headphones) could be an option for the occasional tracking session... same for room #2 which may also provide this auxiliary function.

Cheers. Ah yes SAF is a real thing!
If it were stereo only work (no surround width to have had to consider) would the tall room #2 have been too hard to treat in your opinion - perhaps due to the 3 differing angles of the ceiling?

i think the tall room is too narrow to consider when you have another option. if it was your only choice, then i would pick that just because of room volume