Building new space from ground up. Dimensions???

[fluidaudio]

Hey guys,

I've been given the great oppurtunity to build a brand new room from scratch. My current studio is all in one space and I am thinking I will go this way with the new room. Build one great room and do everything in there. What I need to know are what are some ideal ratios of LxWxH for a good space. I am looking at roughly 12m x 7.5m x h? but I don't know for sure.
I use my studio for recording my own projects and other bands on a small level.
It is all DAW based with a couple of decent pre's, some good mics running into a motu interface. I use nuendo to Mix ITB with the help of waves plugs and a TC Powercore card.

I have a pretty good understanding of acoustics but if you guys could give me any advice at all on studio design from your own experiences that would be really great!

Thanks alot,

Justin

[matt thomas]

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php

basic rules:

Make no two dimensions a multiple of another, eg. don't make the width half the length, or the height the same as the width.

Avoid parallel surfaces, eg the ceiling parallel to the floor.

don't make the ceiling too low

look at the link above
narco

[tINY]

The other thing that you do well to remember:

Gypsum board walls make good bass traps - vary the height of the fire blocks to promote different resonances. If you need isolation, use offset studs and double-up the gypsum on the side that doesnt' face the room.



-tINY

[Ethan Winer]

Justin,

> I am looking at roughly 12m x 7.5m x h? but I don't know for sure. <

A height of about 5 meters is good for that length and width.

--Ethan

[bpape]

Wow. 5m high - I'd love to have a space like that to play with.

Bryan

[fluidaudio]

hey guys,
Thanks alot for the tips.
Narco that link was really helpful I just hope I can find the time to read all of the info that is on that site.

Ethan, I am speaking to the builder today and I will find out if it is going to be too expensive to go for a 5m ceiling. If I could only go for a 3-4m ceiling should I make the rest of the room smaller?

Thanks alot,
Justin

[Ethan Winer]

Justin,

> If I could only go for a 3-4m ceiling should I make the rest of the room smaller? <

I wouldn't. It's better to have a large room with less optimal dimensions than a small room with an ideal ratio.

For all the value put on "good" room modes, it may not matter that much anyway. For one thing, a few extra bass traps can make almost any room workable, and it's not like having the ceiling a little lower will suddenly make the room sound terrible. Also, a new article by Floyd Toole (top guy at Harmon Interntional and a very smart acoustician), makes a semi-compelling case for room modes not even mattering as much as has been thought previously.

--Ethan

[tINY]

Ethan.

Is that in the white-paper section at HK, or should I look through recent AES journals?



-tINY