Hello there, thank you again for all of your replies and input.
Up to date I have made a couple of changes to my studio. Most of the "construction work has been completed (bar a couple of minor issues i.e replacing faulty acoustic air duct etc) and I am now fully focused (as much as time will allow me at least) on getting a room that functions well as a mixing / mastering room. I understand that mastering engineers such as Bob Katz advocate not having a large control surface or any other items that can cause comb filtering in his mastering room as well as mounting speakers on floor stands (he also goes on to recommend having a separate room for auditioning "club mixes" and showing clients why going for "that" bass sound in the main mastering room will cause imbalances and likely exaggerated bass end once the track is played elsewhere on a variety of different playback systems.
I have been setup for about 6 months and have had time to work on a couple of mixes and one mastering project however due to various reasons (and partly my knack for always seeking perfection) there are definitely some remaining issues to be addressed in my studio in order for me to feel confident taking on more high profile jobs (and of course get the required result, being professional sounding mixes and masters that translate well onto a variety of listening systems outside of my studio).
Hello there, thank you again for all of your replies and input.
Up to date I have made a couple of changes to my studio (new wooden floor and black rug, due to asthma, plus a whole lot of software upgrades and a whole host of new plug-ins (or toys as i like to call them
)). Most of the "construction work has been completed (bar a couple of minor issues i.e replacing faulty acoustic air duct etc) and I am now fully focused (as much as time will allow me at least) on getting a room that functions well as a mixing / mastering room. I understand that mastering engineers such as Bob Katz advocate not having a large control surface or any other items that can cause comb filtering in his mastering room as well as mounting speakers on floor stands (he also goes on to recommend having a separate room for auditioning "club mixes" and showing clients why going for "that" bass sound in the main mastering room will cause imbalances and likely exaggerated bass end once the track is played elsewhere on a variety of different playback systems.
I have been using my setup for about 6 months and have had time to work on a couple of mixes and one mastering project however due to various reasons (and partly my knack for always striving for perfection, or atleast trying
) there are definitely some remaining issues to be addressed in my studio in order for me to feel confident of taking on more high profile jobs (and of course get the required result, being professional sounding mixes and masters that translate well onto a variety of listening systems outside of my studio).
I have installed the following acoustic treatment so far:
8 GIK Tri Traps in the corners of the room, plus 2 GIK 242 Panels on either side of the sweet spot at the wall early reflection points as well as 2 GIK 242 Panels which hang above the above the sweet spot (all should be visible in photos i will upload shortly). I initially intended to install some diffusors on the back wall/door as well as more Panels/Bass Panels on stands behind the speakers on the "front wall". However I decided to first apply some fuzz measure readings to the room and see what effect my acoustic panels and bass traps were having so far as well as hopefully figure out if these additional acoustic treatments would be necessary (or perhaps more importantly "what/which" kind of acoustic treatments are required to tighten up the room).
I first carried out the fuzz measure tests on the room without any treatments (i.e empty room) and then again with the above mentioned treatments installed. I will also post up theses shortly.
The diagram shows the readings taken pre-treatment (in red) and post treatment (in orange). The waterfall graphs also demonstrate the readings taken before and after in the same way. I have had some problems with the impulse response readings and RT60 etc... and am in the process of figuring these out, but i wont trouble you all with this at present as i am sure i can figure out what im doing wrong
).
It appears as though the bass traps/panels are doing a good job of reducing the low frequency resonances which do appear to ring around the room (particularly at 40Hz, 80Hz, 120Hz etc) and the frequency response appears to have been "compressed" (as i like to call it)...so that the extravagant peaks are being pulled down and the deep nulls are being pulled up into a more consistent frequency response.
What i took most notice of was how the frequency response (both pre and post treatment) still appears to have a very turbulent amount of sharp peaks and deep nulls. I understand that this is to be expected to some degree and the best an acoustician can hope for is to "tame" these peaks and troughs as much as is possible resulting in a much more uniform and consistent frequency response which fluctuates less.
I have read through a few posts and it seems there is some debate (between certain members at least) as to which measurements are actually required and to what extent they are actually useful. My particular stand point on the matter is that "as long as the mixes and masters coming out of my studio translate well outside of the studio 9 times out of ten, i am in no way attached to any particular belief or working practice/methodology is "right" and which is "wrong". Once again my sole goal and focus is to achieve a studio where my mixes and masters translate well on a variety of other systems as soon as possible...and i state this fact again in the hope of avoiding igniting any unproductive debates
aside from which please feel free to comment and offer advice, opinions and suggestions are welcome and much appreciated.
Lastly (for now atleast), In terms of my own experience mixing in the room so far...I have been having some real trouble getting my mixes to translate to other environments at all. I have spent a great deal of time contemplating why this might be and have highlighted the following as possible issue that need attention:
1) Completion of acoustic treatment, perhaps the room simply needs more treatment, I have researched additional GIK panels which can target specific frequency areas which might help tighten up the seemingly excessive peaks and troughs in the low end and low mids. However there also appears to be less and less space in my studio as a result and i also have that fear of the room sounding "too dead". At present the room sounds ok to my ears, and the difference between empty room and when all of the panels are installed is night and day...I dont actually know how i managed prior to any treatment.
*Quick Recap - my room is roughly 13ft(L) x 7ft(W) x 8ft(H)...
2) Another area of contention (in my mind at least) is that of monitoring. I have been using a pair of KRK VXT6's since 2008 and have mainly been using them in my bedroom before moving to the new room and have always liked how they sounded(despite no treatment). However since trying to mix in the new room all of a sudden i feel lost as if i can no longer trust the monitors (i understand to a certain degree this is normal as my ears adjust to the new room) and it has lead me to question whether the VXT6's are the ideal monitors for the room size/shape or indeed if these monitors are even ideally suited to the task at hand (predominantly/more commonly mixing, secondly mastering---as tracking monitors they have always sounded great, but great sounding tracking monitors are not my priority!!!). According to Bob Katz I understand that mid range monitors are always preferred to near fields for mastering except for in exceptional situations (perhaps when we are talking about more experienced engineers?). However I don't believe that mid range monitors will fall within my realistic budget any time soon (let alone the adjustments id have to make to accomodate them in my small/medium sized room) and have always been used to using near field active monitors where ever iv been lucky enough to work.... I almost suspect that i might have to seek out a better suited pair of monitors for my room and perhaps with a flatter frequency response and a more natural and clearer sound "so i can hear ALL of what is "really" going on precisely. On this point in particular i am in need of some advice from a more experienced engineer as i have read so much about the subject as to the point i feel as if i know nothing about it (anyone else ever get that?
). Finally in considering if my monitors are perhaps not helping the problem, I also have read a great deal about the need for subwoofers, and to be honest am not sure in terms of: Subs cause more problems/are uneccessary in small rooms? True/false???
In closing (for now?)..I will again be very appreciative of any advice that can help steer my project in the right direction, as at this stage i would benefit greatly from avoiding any obvious pitfalls regarding making the wrong decisions on purchases and if necessary i.e extra acoustic treatment/replacement monitors/sub etc.)
Thanks All
Peace
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