Home Studio Acoustic Treatment Advice

[albiedamned]

I'm ready to make an investment into acoustic treatment for my home studio. My budget is about $1000. I record and mix in this room, but I don't think it's realistic to aim to improve the room for both purposes. So my goal is to make the room as good for mixing as possible by deadening it. I'll have to get my reverb/room ambience via effects. I don't record drums, just vocals and guitars (acoustic and amp'd), so I think this is ok.

 

I attached pictures of my room below. They're composites which I just pasted together using MS Paint, so sorry for the crappy quality. The front/rear walls are about 13.5' long, and the side walls are about 12'. The ceiling is the standard 8' high. I have issues in both rear corners - one has a door which leaves no room for a corner mounted bass trap, and the other has a window which does leave a few inches but not enough to mount a corner trap symmetrically.

 

I've been researching the different options for a while and I'm leaning towards GIK Acoustics. Ethan, if you read this, I like what I've read about your products but it's too expensive for me. I don't like Auralex at all - the look, the price, and the fact that you have to permanently glue it to the walls. I also looked into PrimAcoustic, but I like what I've read about GIK's products better.

 

My plan is to get 2 Monster Bass Traps (2' x 4' x 6" thick) to mount in the 2 front corners about halfway up the wall. I'll also get 4 of the 244 Bass Traps (2' x 4' x 4" thick). 2 will go on the front wall, mounted vertically, roughly behind each speaker, and the other 2 will go on the rear wall more or less mirroring the placement on the front wall. And finally I'll get 3 of the 242 Acoustic Panels (2' x 4' x 2" thick). One will go on the right wall above the guitars, one will go on the left wall between the windows, and one will go on the ceiling above the seating position.

 

How does this plan sound? I'm not sure what to do about the rear corners so any advice there would be appreciated. Any and all feedback is welcome. Acoustic treatment is a new field for me, so I want as much advice as possible before I commit. Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long-winded post.

 

Front Wall:

 

Right Wall:

 

Left Wall:

 

Rear Wall:

[Ethan Winer]

My budget is about $1000 ... Ethan, if you read this, I like what I've read about your products but it's too expensive for me.

 

Not a problem! I often send people to GIK when they're on a budget. I'm good friends with Glenn Kuras, and he has "bang for the buck down" down to a science.

 

--Ethan

[Weasel9992]

I'm ready to make an investment into acoustic treatment for my home studio. My budget is about $1000. I record and mix in this room, but I don't think it's realistic to aim to improve the room for both purposes. So my goal is to make the room as good for mixing as possible by deadening it. I'll have to get my reverb/room ambience via effects. I don't record drums, just vocals and guitars (acoustic and amp'd), so I think this is ok. I attached pictures of my room below. They're composites which I just pasted together using MS Paint, so sorry for the crappy quality. The front/rear walls are about 13.5' long, and the side walls are about 12'. The ceiling is the standard 8' high. I have issues in both rear corners - one has a door which leaves no room for a corner mounted bass trap, and the other has a window which does leave a few inches but not enough to mount a corner trap symmetrically. I've been researching the different options for a while and I'm leaning towards GIK Acoustics . Ethan, if you read this, I like what I've read about your products but it's too expensive for me. I don't like Auralex at all - the look, the price, and the fact that you have to permanently glue it to the walls. I also looked into PrimAcoustic, but I like what I've read about GIK's products better. My plan is to get 2 Monster Bass Traps (2' x 4' x 6" thick) to mount in the 2 front corners about halfway up the wall. I'll also get 4 of the 244 Bass Traps (2' x 4' x 4" thick). 2 will go on the front wall, mounted vertically, roughly behind each speaker, and the other 2 will go on the rear wall more or less mirroring the placement on the front wall. And finally I'll get 3 of the 242 Acoustic Panels (2' x 4' x 2" thick). One will go on the right wall above the guitars, one will go on the left wall between the windows, and one will go on the ceiling above the seating position. How does this plan sound? I'm not sure what to do about the rear corners so any advice there would be appreciated. Any and all feedback is welcome. Acoustic treatment is a new field for me, so I want as much advice as possible before I commit. Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long-winded post.

 

That sounds like a good plan. You *might* have to move the Monsters from the front to the back of the room...I'd try it both ways to see where you get the best gains. The rest of it sounds great.

 

Let me know if you have any questions or need any more help with placement.

 

Frank

[albiedamned]

That sounds like a good plan. You *might* have to move the Monsters from the front to the back of the room...I'd try it both ways to see where you get the best gains. The rest of it sounds great. Let me know if you have any questions or need any more help with placement. Frank

 

The problem with the back of the room, as you can see in the pictures, is that in one corner I can't do a corner mount at all because of a door being in the way and in the other corner there is a window a few inches away from the corner so the corner mount would have to be asymmetrical (more along than back wide than side wall). Any tips on how I should treat these areas?

[Weasel9992]

The problem with the back of the room, as you can see in the pictures, is that in one corner I can't do a corner mount at all because of a door being in the way and in the other corner there is a window a few inches away from the corner so the corner mount would have to be asymmetrical (more along than back wide than side wall). Any tips on how I should treat these areas?

 

Yeah, I see your problem. You can either do stands in those areas or go to the back up position, which is the trap the wall/ceiling corners in the back of the room, put the Monsters on the back wall (with a couple of inches of space behind them if you can), then do 244's in the front corners and on the front wall behind your monitors. 242's would go around the listening position, of course.

 

Frank

[albiedamned]

Yeah, I see your problem. You can either do stands in those areas or go to the back up position, which is the trap the wall/ceiling corners in the back of the room, put the Monsters on the back wall (with a couple of inches of space behind them if you can), then do 244's in the front corners and on the front wall behind your monitors. 242's would go around the listening position, of course. Frank

 

I was going to put the Monsters in the front corners - you think the back wall is a better placement for them? As for the back corners - I could take advantage of the 1 foot clearance above the window frame and door frame and hang traps from the ceiling straddling the 3-way corners. What do you think of that approach, and would 244's or Monsters be better?

[Weasel9992]

I was going to put the Monsters in the front corners - you think the back wall is a better placement for them? As for the back corners - I could take advantage of the 1 foot clearance above the window frame and door frame and hang traps from the ceiling straddling the 3-way corners. What do you think of that approach, and would 244's or Monsters be better?

 

I'd try the Monsters on the back wall first...244's on the front wall, in the front corners and at the wall/ceiling corners in the back. You can always switch the Monsters for the 244's in the front corner later on if you want to...they'll mount exactly the same way.

 

I'd still do the wall/ceiling corners for a couple of reasons: first, doing the tri corners like that will take up A LOT of real estate, and second, I don't think it'd make a big enough difference over the regular wall/ceiling corner to make it worthwhile.

 

Frank

[albiedamned]

What is the thinking behind putting the thickest traps on the back wall instead of in the corners?

 

Thanks for your advice, by the way.

[Weasel9992]

What is the thinking behind putting the thickest traps on the back wall instead of in the corners? Thanks for your advice, by the way.

 

There are different schools of thought on this, but mine is that the back wall will be the first hard boundary layer the low end energy will encounter. Yes, sub-100Hz frequencies are essentially omnidirectional, but they are still propagated *in* a particular direction based on the location of the transient emission source...the speakers. There are some speaker designs that go a different way (Martin Logan dipoles, for example), but point source speakers like yours will behave this way. I'd rather get the most absorption up on the back wall, which will be the source of some of the deepest valleys and highest peaks....the front wall will be the second boundary, so the 244's will attenuate the low end response further.

 

Frank

[albiedamned]

Does anyone else have any thoughts? I am phishing for feedback before I plunk down my money.

[MrKnobs]

Does anyone else have any thoughts? I am phishing for feedback before I plunk down my money.

 

Personally I most prefer the Auralex MegaLENRDs, which can be used free standing in vertical corners. I'm an acoustics researcher, and I've not seen / measured a product (including a panel / membrane absorber) that absorbs so well in the low bass for the real estate it consumes in your room.

 

Then again, I haven't tested everything.

 

Terry D.

 

P.S. Note that MegaLENRDs are not the regular LENRDs, which I have tested extensively and (my personal opinion) find useless for frequencies under 125Hz, which is where most of the problems are for small rooms.

[CN Fletcher]

There are different schools of thought on this, but mine is that the back wall will be the first hard boundary layer the low end energy will encounter. Yes, sub-100Hz frequencies are essentially omnidirectional, but they are still propagated *in* a particular direction based on the location of the transient emission source...the speakers. There are some speaker designs that go a different way (Martin Logan dipoles, for example), but point source speakers like yours will behave this way. I'd rather get the most absorption up on the back wall, which will be the source of some of the deepest valleys and highest peaks....the front wall will be the second boundary, so the 244's will attenuate the low end response further. Frank

 

To a point... trapping heavily in the back of the room is more to kill the energy once you've heard it and to try to prevent it from building up in the room... however, you really need quite a bit of that trapping [on the order of feet, not inches] to do the job properly.

 

Bass goes omni-directional around 250Hz and likes to couple to hard surfaces [like walls... which is why you always experience more bass when you're leaning against a wall as opposed to standing in the room].

 

One thing you can do that will be very effective is treat your side walls and ceiling as well as the back wall [the floor isn't really practical if you plan on moving around in the room... but a good, thick "shag" carpet can help so long as it's not on the 'dance floor' where you'll be moving your chair around].

 

As far as trapping at the back wall goes if you can spare a foot or three it's not too difficult to build frames out of 2"x 4" studs and then hang sheets [or strips] of 1/4" plywood from wire that you've covered with rock wool or fiberglass insulation. Make sure none of the strips are the same size!! and have them hanging in space. This way the low frequency energy will be absorbed as it tries in vein to move the piece of suspended light weight wood. It's really best to do these with them in a pattern of 3 running "east-west", 3 running "north-south" and then repeat the pattern [which is why it'll eat up a foot or three of depth in the back of your room].

 

In the meanwhile... albiedamned... check your PM's for other thoughts and feedback.

 

Peace.

[Weasel9992]

.

 

That could work well if it's properly executed, but you have to be careful. If the plywood is too thick it'll be reflective just like another hard boundary layer, rock wool notwithstanding. Plywood will also resonate along a fairly narrow bandwidth based on density and thickness, so it'll act more like a tuned absorber than a broad band panel. An open-back trap design has proven to be more reliably and generally effective in lab testing, which is why we use it.

 

Frank