Home Studio Setup Help

[Draw the Moral]

Hello.

I've been reading through all of the threads on here, especially Ethan's material...and I'm definitely seeing the need for room treatment and proper setup. Fantastic articles, and I've learned quite a bit...so thank you.

Right now, my mix position is poorly setup in this room and there is no treatment. So, instead of continuing to feel sheepish, a rearrange is in order.

This is going to be the mixing room, the tracking room, and the practice space all in one.

Here's the specs with some diagrams to help.

Length: 25' 7"
Width: 15' 2"
Height: 8' 10"

As you can see with the diagram, the front door and the window are both on the south wall. This is where I'm going to put the mixing desk. The room is carpeted, except for the walkway from the front door, which is hard tile. The front door cuts into the southeast corner about 1' 5".

The North wall has the open archway (no door) with the archway molding that comes out about 2 inches in the northeast corner.

The east wall is solid and blank.
The west wall has another window.
The ceiling is flat.

For furniture (excluding the mixing desk) we have the following:
1x Leather couch
1x Leather Love seat
1x Reclining chair
1x bookcase which is 6'x3'x1'

For equipment that is separate from the desk I have the following:
5 piece drum set
4 guitars on stands
1 Mesa Boogie Combo amp
1 Orange practice amp

I'm building my own acoustic panels with 703 2'x4'x4" and I will treat the corners as much as possible to trap as much bass as I can.

So the question is, what would be the best balance between spouse friendly and acoustically sound (pun intended ) design for this room with these pieces of furniture?
What are going to be some problem areas as far as acoustics for a room like this?
Where should the absorbtion and diffusion be?

Thanks for the help.

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by Draw the Moral

what would be the best balance between spouse friendly and acoustically sound (pun intended ) design for this room with these pieces of furniture?

That's between you and your spouse and your marriage counselor.

What are going to be some problem areas as far as acoustics for a room like this?

Same old stuff that affects every other room: Modal ringing at bass frequencies, and early reflections and flutter echo at mid and high frequencies.

Where should the absorbtion and diffusion be?

Bass traps in as many corners as your spouse / counselor allow, and absorbers at the side-wall and ceiling reflection points. More absorption and/or diffusion on the rear wall behind you can only help. With carpet there's less need for absorbers on the ceiling, but that will still help over a drum set if you plan to record drums in there too.

--Ethan

[Glenn Kuras]

So the question is, what would be the best balance between spouse friendly and acoustically sound (pun intended ) design for this room with these pieces of furniture?

Not sure what kind of budget your on, but see if you might have a print shop around you that does Dye Sublimation printing. You can make the panels into ART!!

Where should the absorbtion and diffusion be?

Use the absorption for the bass trapping (corners) and panels for the early reflection points (What Are Early Reflection Points. SPOTLIGHT:Bob Ebeling - Revolution Studio). Diffusion can be used in the back (behind the where you sit) of the room.