I've recently been researching into the subject only to find that the room that I was planning on turning my Studio into is considered bad for Acoustics. Hopefully yous can give me some advice here...

Anyway, I know that Larger rooms are better, but my room is only 12 x 9, it's not exactly a "square" which is a plus I guess. Half of my ceiling is flat, but the other half is very irregular with slopes and beams etc, would this be a good thing? Also, is it true "the more objects in the room the better"? I'll hopefully post some pictures up within the next few days, it's hard to explain the shape of the ceiling.

Thanks in advance!

Last edited by neverforget on Dec-01-2008 at 19:02

hey look i dont have a degree in acoustics, but im guessing irregular shapes are wanted, but what you dont want is the side reflections coming at different times from side walls that can stuff things up with balance i guess. just check out certain types of rooms design are good.

yeah bascially you dont want any convergences within your room. if there are try treating it. but really when talking room modes you only worry about up tp 300hz i think?

just keep reading mate, heaps helpful stuff out there.
anyone else got some tips?

If you can, get some acoustic panels. If you can't try to fill your walls with something else, thick cloth is good for midhigh-high frequency absorption, which I would recommend for side walls (and top back). Heavy couch or a bookself would be good on your back wall for lower frequecy absorption, pay attention to the back corners especially.

There are a lot of threads and websites on the subject. Search for "acoustic treatment".

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Thanks folks, appreciate it. I'll get some photos up tonight or tomorrow hopefully to give yous a more clear idea of what I mean. I'll do some more research!

quote:

Originally posted by neverforget Thanks folks, appreciate it. I'll get some photos up tonight or tomorrow hopefully to give yous a more clear idea of what I mean. I'll do some more research!

I studied acoustics and have outfitted a few studios but if you can, include a floorplan, just something very simple done in like MSpaint. This will help greatly with deciding a listening position, speaker placement, treatment placement, etc.

Need to also know a few more things:

1, What are you using the room for? (composing, mixing, recording, all of these, a combination of these?)
2, What are the materials of the room? (drywall, brick, breezeblock etc.)
3, What is the floor? (wood, concrete, carpet, rugs etc.)
4, What is the ceiling (suspended, beams, flat, cottage cheese etc.)
5, what furniture or other items will be in there? (a sofa, just studio equipment, storage boxes etc.)
6, is it a basement, ground floor, or upper floor?
7, Are there many windows?

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN I studied acoustics and have outfitted a few studios but if you can, include a floorplan, just something very simple done in like MSpaint. This will help greatly with deciding a listening position, speaker placement, treatment placement, etc. Need to also know a few more things: 1, What are you using the room for? (composing, mixing, recording, all of these, a combination of these?) 2, What are the materials of the room? (drywall, brick, breezeblock etc.) 3, What is the floor? (wood, concrete, carpet, rugs etc.) 4, What is the ceiling (suspended, beams, flat, cottage cheese etc.) 5, what furniture or other items will be in there? (a sofa, just studio equipment, storage boxes etc.) 6, is it a basement, ground floor, or upper floor? 7, Are there many windows?

Thank you very much, that would be absolutely great if you could help. I'll actually get some pictures posted up within the next 15 hours and answer all the questions, I don't have enough time at the moment unfortunately. Thanks again

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN 1, What are you using the room for? (composing, mixing, recording, all of these, a combination of these?) 2, What are the materials of the room? (drywall, brick, breezeblock etc.) 3, What is the floor? (wood, concrete, carpet, rugs etc.) 4, What is the ceiling (suspended, beams, flat, cottage cheese etc.) 5, what furniture or other items will be in there? (a sofa, just studio equipment, storage boxes etc.) 6, is it a basement, ground floor, or upper floor? 7, Are there many windows?

1.All of these.
2.Brick and Plasterboard for the ceiling.
3.Carpet
4.(Posted pics)
5.Bed, wardrobe, 2 desks, bookcase, drawers.
6.Top floor (3rd Floor)
7. One window, I'm also on a main road which causes noise problems

Anyway, heres some pictures which should help:

Back Wall:


Front Wall:


Window Side:


Other Side:


Various Celing pictures:

Last edited by neverforget on Dec-01-2008 at 19:00

Good job, this helps a lot.

First the good news:

Brick walls - good because they don't resonate like some cheap drywall does with low frequencies.

Carpets - great news, soaks up noise and gives heavy resistance to reflections, which can be horrible with wood or concrete (unless treated/suspended etc.)

Furniture - Not a lot of furniture and what you do have doesn't have things like large glass surfaces, and is made of porous materials such as wood.

Ceilings - cuts both ways......if the room is setup properly it could actually be bonus that they are unusual (can help with dispersion and standing waves).

3rd floor - not better than other floors but glad it's not a basement because usually they have all sorts of acoustic issues.

Only one window.

Bad News:

Brick walls can be harsh sounding in terms of reflections of high frequencies so you have to make sure that you treat the room right to avoid/cancel this problem

Ceilings - cuts both ways.....this could give unwanted reflections and it's going to be taking an educated guess as where you should set up your listening position and then some trial and error, combined with the right room treatment.

Window on a main road. Is this double glazed or single pane? Also, venetian blinds are possibly the worst form of window covering - the resonate at varying frequencies (many different sometimes) and reflect like shit and have virtually no absorbtion. You're going to need to think about curtains or a roll down if you want to get serious. The best are thick, heavy curtains that will slightly overlap in the middle, made of something like velvet or cord. Also the rail to support them need to be close to the wall so there's not too much of a gap along the top or sides when pulled shut.

ROOM SETUP:

The most important thing is the listening position. Get this wrong and everything else suffers. This room is more going to be a composing and mixing (right?) than anything else so accurately being able to hear what you're doing is going to be the most crucial thing.

My thinking as of this stage, with this information, is that you will have to have the listening position either facing the window (lets call that the "door wall") or facing the door wall (call that the "window wall"). The reason for this is if you have the speakers set up pointing to or from either of the other walls (side walls) then the ceiling will cause havoc on one side of the sound source, and there will be no easy fix. So, as the room is nearly uniform from front to back (window to door) it will be easier to have the position on one of these sides as you then only have to (mainly) worry about reflections and acoustics from the other wall (not the ceiling coming in play etc.).

My thoughts were to have the listing position in front of the window, my reasoning being that if you have it against the door wall, sound will come from the speakers, hit the ceiling, be reflected down on to the back of your head, which will really screw accurate listening, and totally mess up frequencies. So if you have the speakers in front of the window, the sound will eminate in straight lines from the speakers not reflecting off the ceiling above them at obtuse angles.

but...this means you would have to move the bed and my suggestion is to put it against the wall next to the wardrobe? (as it won't fit on the other wall because of the cut out bit with the black shelves).

Please don;t start moving shit around yet! I need you to do something else:

Walk around the room doing single loudish claps, clicks with your mouth and higher pitched "oh" sounds. Go to various places in the room, facing different direction for each place and listen where you get a nasty reflection or secondary sound. Then get a chair move it around to similar spots and do the same. My guess is that around the middle of the room, facing the window at seat height will be least harsh and most neutral.

Please let me know what happens and then I can help further.....

wait. do you actually sleep in that bed?

quote:

Originally posted by Zombie0729 wait. do you actually sleep in that bed?

nothing wrong with dwarfs?

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN Good job, this helps a lot. First the good news: Brick walls - good because they don't resonate like some cheap drywall does with low frequencies. Carpets - great news, soaks up noise and gives heavy resistance to reflections, which can be horrible with wood or concrete (unless treated/suspended etc.) Furniture - Not a lot of furniture and what you do have doesn't have things like large glass surfaces, and is made of porous materials such as wood. Ceilings - cuts both ways......if the room is setup properly it could actually be bonus that they are unusual (can help with dispersion and standing waves). 3rd floor - not better than other floors but glad it's not a basement because usually they have all sorts of acoustic issues. Only one window. Bad News: Brick walls can be harsh sounding in terms of reflections of high frequencies so you have to make sure that you treat the room right to avoid/cancel this problem Ceilings - cuts both ways.....this could give unwanted reflections and it's going to be taking an educated guess as where you should set up your listening position and then some trial and error, combined with the right room treatment. Window on a main road. Is this double glazed or single pane? Also, venetian blinds are possibly the worst form of window covering - the resonate at varying frequencies (many different sometimes) and reflect like shit and have virtually no absorbtion. You're going to need to think about curtains or a roll down if you want to get serious. The best are thick, heavy curtains that will slightly overlap in the middle, made of something like velvet or cord. Also the rail to support them need to be close to the wall so there's not too much of a gap along the top or sides when pulled shut. ROOM SETUP: The most important thing is the listening position. Get this wrong and everything else suffers. This room is more going to be a composing and mixing (right?) than anything else so accurately being able to hear what you're doing is going to be the most crucial thing. My thinking as of this stage, with this information, is that you will have to have the listening position either facing the window (lets call that the "door wall") or facing the door wall (call that the "window wall"). The reason for this is if you have the speakers set up pointing to or from either of the other walls (side walls) then the ceiling will cause havoc on one side of the sound source, and there will be no easy fix. So, as the room is nearly uniform from front to back (window to door) it will be easier to have the position on one of these sides as you then only have to (mainly) worry about reflections and acoustics from the other wall (not the ceiling coming in play etc.). My thoughts were to have the listing position in front of the window, my reasoning being that if you have it against the door wall, sound will come from the speakers, hit the ceiling, be reflected down on to the back of your head, which will really screw accurate listening, and totally mess up frequencies. So if you have the speakers in front of the window, the sound will eminate in straight lines from the speakers not reflecting off the ceiling above them at obtuse angles. but...this means you would have to move the bed and my suggestion is to put it against the wall next to the wardrobe? (as it won't fit on the other wall because of the cut out bit with the black shelves). Please don;t start moving shit around yet! I need you to do something else: Walk around the room doing single loudish claps, clicks with your mouth and higher pitched "oh" sounds. Go to various places in the room, facing different direction for each place and listen where you get a nasty reflection or secondary sound. Then get a chair move it around to similar spots and do the same. My guess is that around the middle of the room, facing the window at seat height will be least harsh and most neutral. Please let me know what happens and then I can help further.....

Rann, thank you so much, I couldn't of asked for anything better. I really appreciate it dude. I will let you know tomorrow how the last part goes. My neighbours will be asleep now, so i'll wait until tomorrow. Again, thanks a bunch

quote:

Originally posted by Zombie0729 wait. do you actually sleep in that bed?

Yeah haha, but the angle I took the picture at made it look a lot smaller. I just about fit in it though and I'm around 6,1