choices in room treatment...please help

[Surreal]

i have 2 rooms to choose from and maybe $700 to spend...

one is 9 x 10. i favor this room as a choice there are 3 doors and a little vent into another room, but there are no widows and is the innermost room in the apartment. there is no radiator either. (i harbor dislike for radiators. a lot.) the obvious problems are that the room is small and almost square.

the other room is 10x 14...but there is a 3 x 4 closet which takes from the room and in the opposite corner there is a friggin radiator. on top of these grievances, there are 2 windows. i live in new york and near a train...so...i hear the train. frequently. technically i can hear it in either room and will have to work around it in either case, but it is mugch less of an issue in the first room.

both have reflective floors...i figure a rug should do the trick...o yeah, while i am on the topic; the floors are dingy and i REALLY want to install laminate. bad choice?

i will record guitar and vocals. and i will work with a bunch of stuff "in the box" (reason, logic, etc)

i have looked at GIK and Readytrap and know they are good options and that i can call them and all that jazz. i will. but i like forums.

and suggestions for speaker stands would be great.

[Surreal]

o, and the reason i am posting this after looking at other posts is that i am pretty sure symetry is necesary for good acoustics but i the most symmetrical room is almost square. tight spot.

[Acoustic Cloud]

Start with decent traps OC 703 705 rockwool, mineral wool etc. Whatever you do, dont go gluing Auralex type foamstuffs all over the walls like a madman, like I did!

If you use their glue, you need to use a chainsaw with a dragster motor in it to remove them, and may make some new windows in your house!

Theres a few doodz here on GS that make nice containment products, checkem out!

[Scott R. Foster]

Can you post a rough sketch of the two floorplans?

[bpape]

You're right. Both have plusses and minuses. The windows themselves are an easy fix acoustically but the isolation issue sounds like a real problem.

Normally, I'd say work with the larger room but in this case it sounds like it may not be an option. The smaller, more square room will present more challenges but at least it is quiet (relatively) to start with.

As much as it pains me, I think I'd have to go with the smaller room and deal with the internal issues. With your budget, there is a lot that can be done to deal with them regardless of which treatment option you choose. You'll have to pay careful attention to seating placement and do a lot of tweaking of monitor position - but hey, those things are free. In a square room they're critical though.

Bryan

[Surreal]

here are some bad sketches

LoL

dimensions are close though on the rooms themselves though

left edge in room one is 10 and bottom is 9

the small box in the upper left is the radiator. and the big one o fthe lower right is the closet the 2 windows are on top or room 2...forgot those. 3 feet wide and maybe 5 feet tall.

the rest is easy

[Surreal]

it gets worse.
10 feet ceilings.

pretty darn close to cubic.

[NesNeedsGear]

hey, if you're in NY, you're in luck.
I recently ordered a large shipment of OC 703 dense fiberglass.

I literally have about 40 rectangular cuts ( 2' x 4' x 4") of 703, and some pieces of 705, and i'm willing to let them go at slightly lower prices than the retailers (i need money FAST for some mics/pres/console).

PM me if you're interested. I'm in Bronx, NY...near the Zoo.

[Scott R. Foster]

Gotta agree with BP's first impression.

Looks like the small room is the way to go.. as best I can tell... after adjustment for closets etcetera, the smaller room is actually about as big, or bigger.. and doesn't have the masking problems of the slighty "smaller" room.

The standard wisdom is to put your mix desk facing the short wall, so that your listening position is about 40% off the front wall as measured down the long axis of the room.

Though very tight, a room this small, as long as you add early reflection control and some broadband treatment in the corners you can still make yourself a "decent" critical listening environment.

Nonetheless... given the size of the room, I would want to add a sub... unless your monitors have truly superlative LF performance.


Good Luck!


PS: These subs are a pretty darn good bang per $ IMO and add a lot of detail to the average value rig... YMMV

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage....536&filter=kit