Gear heads WHAT WOULD YOU DO? studio placement Floor plan Pics joined

[mdjice]

Hi I need you guys' help and knowledge.
I'm re organizing my studio and adding a Argosy desk with a 40 HUI controler (tascam)
I know I have to have some room behind the speakers etc... please look at the options below and let me know which one is the best. I mix in the room and record i the booth.
Everything can be moved but the vocal booth.
What would be the best arrangment ? (speaking accoustic) I have 2 ns 10s 2 20/20 bas and a genelec sub for monitoring.
here are pics of the elements in the floor plan
thank you so much
PS: all dimension are correct for each piece of gear or furniture to scale (room)

OPTION 1:



OPTION 2




OPTION 3:



THE RACK:



THE BOOTH WITH SMALL COUCH



THE BIG SOFA




THE TASCAM/ ARGOSY 90



ROOM VIEW1



ROOM VIEW WITH THE RACK



THE DOOR LOCATION

[mdjice]

any advice?

[johndykstra]

I think option 2 will give you the best stereo accuracy. But Ethan or someone else who's qualified should probably answer before I.

[mdjice]

thanks, the only thing about option 2 is that the couch would not realy make a "client" space anymore and that as soon as u would get in the room you would run into..a rack lol

[tomdarude]

def option 2 !!

than add some absorption panels at your first reflexion points (left,right,ceiling)
after that start adding basstraps in all corners, this will get ya started

cheers tom

[mdjice]

how about the ceilling? as you can see on the pics it's pretty weird shape. that should be better then just flat right?
do I steel need diffusions?
i read on genelec s web site that the speakers should be like 42 inches away from the wall...that s a lot! true or not? also what if they are NS 10s and events do i still need space behind them?
thanks

[mdjice]

help?

[mdjice]

[Sean Sullivan]

Option 2 is certainly the best choice, Nathan will likely come along and explain why in better detail then I will attempt to. But that space seems pretty small for two couches, why don't you sell one to make more room?

[mdjice]

well I had one couch and it just wasn t enough,people come to the studio..in packs! bands or rapper with crew etc... I would always have like 1 or 2 people standing, bored and starting to mess with knobs and stuf... I got the small couch and it s now much better BUT I know that my room is limitted size wise...Do I need that much space between the speakers and the wall?? and can I put something behing the board? like maybe the small couch or a table with gear or? or does it really need to be empty?
thanks

[Clayphish]

Yeah option 2 seems the most logical. To add to the comments above.. if you have one speaker closer to the wall you're not only going to affect the stereo spectrum between the speakers, but you're going to get a increase in bass response from the speaker closest to the wall. I could see this becoming nightmarish if you're trying to keep things neutral as possible,

[johndykstra]

I will again give my unexpert opinion, since none of the heavy hitters seem to be responding.

In your small space, your are going to need to make a number of compromises, as you already know. If moving the desk close to the windows will allow you to move the rack to the wall opposite the door, I would consider doing it. You may loose some accuracy, but it my justify the comfort. Try to get the desk centered as possible. You may or may not need diffusion on the ceiling, but it's shape is going to demand that your desk be centered. I would consider some smaller couches. I would also maybe consider two small racks, one on each side of the desk. How much sunlight is going to hit your record shelf? I'm a vinyl collector, and the thought of sunlight hitting my collection all day would give me an ulcer.

Good luck!

[Ethan Winer]

Another vote for Option 2, but move the record shelf out of the way because that's a reflection point and the left/right front should be symmetrical. Also, I hope the rack behind you is low, well below ear level. And do you really need a booth? You'd do better to skip the booth if possible, and leave the room the full size.

--Ethan

[mdjice]

yeah I might have to move the board a bit closer en put the rack on the right handside. as far as records...the room will have so heavy thick curtuns (velvet) to stop the soundAND avoid the light to and heat (Houston!) to damaged my preciouse collection

[mdjice]

Ethan, yes the rack is below ears level and i really need the booth as this is where my clients do all the recording for vocals.
so NOTHING should be behind the speakers?
thanks for the help!
PS: what do you mean by the left right front should be symetrical? left right front of what? and symetrical to what?

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by mdjice

i really need the booth as this is where my clients do all the recording for vocals.

Why not just record them in the control room? Either way they need headphones, so the only difference is that you'll use headphones too. This is a minor inconvenience compared to what you give up by having a booth. Nile Rodgers recorded all the vocals for Diana Ross's last album in his home studio control room, and that project came out pretty well.

If you're still determined to have a booth anyway, you'll need to treat it extensively with not only mid/high frequency absorption but also bass traps. The smaller the room, the more treatment you need to avoid a boxy boomy sound.

--Ethan

[mdjice]

the reasons why I built a booth are:
1. Clients "expect" a booth. My business doubled since then.
2. My equipment makes quit some noise! CPU, fan etc...
3. artists always bring in People and they don't know how to SHUT UP! so a booth keeps most ot out.
I understand that it would be better without but I really need it.
How would I treat it? you mean like glue foam and bass traps ON it?
How do people do in control rooms with a iso booth etc... they treat it as weel just like a wall?
It is padded with carpet now (you can see a pic in my post)

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by mdjice

How would I treat it? you mean like glue foam and bass traps ON it?

Yes, but not on the outside. You need to treat all over the inside.

--Ethan

[danbronson]

Option 2. Make sure to put traps on your early reflection points.

[Lee Knight]

Originally Posted by mdjice

how about the ceiling? as you can see on the pics it's pretty weird shape. that should be better then just flat right?
do I steel need diffusions?
i read on genelec s web site that the speakers should be like 42 inches away from the wall...that s a lot! true or not? also what if they are NS 10s and events do i still need space behind them?
thanks

I'd be hanging 4' x 4' clouds of 4" 703 board in frames. 2 at least. 3 would be better. One over the mix spot and 2 back in line. Leave the front and back "open". You'll catch the weird-ass refections off the ceiling and you'll catch the floor to ceiling as well...

Hang them right at the level where the wall meets the angled ceiling. Anytime you've got something that resembles a parabolic shape like your ceiling, it focuses it's refections in a really bad way. But you've got a nice addition to the volume (space) of your room. The clouds will nullify the parabolic refections while keeping the volume intact.

[mdjice]

Great thanks for all the help! It seams like the main thing right now would be placing a cloud or 2 on my celling along with absorbers (maybe the auralex foam i have left from my booth) on the side walls. Put bass traps in every corner and I should be good right? at least if i pick solution number 2.
Ethan for the inside of the booth it's already done look:


now the outside looks like this, do i need to put some type of abosrber on it as well? (outside and treat it like a regular wall?)

[Matt Hepworth]

Option 2.

Try to center your desk and monitors width-wise in the room (top to bottom in the pic). Shoot for your ears about 37% from the back from the wall (left to right in the pic).

[mdjice]

I tought it was better to be off centered for mixing position? like off center width AND height no?

[johndykstra]

Originally Posted by mdjice

I tought it was better to be off centered for mixing position? like off center width AND height no?

width definately not, you want to be centered otherwise your stereo image can be skewed by different reflection points on the left and right. That's why Ethan recommended that you move the record shelf. Height, I have no idea, but if your head was in the center of height, you'd be mixing 10 feet off the ground in some spaces, so I'm gonna go ahead and say normal sitting height is fine.

[mdjice]

ok col so middle of the room and 38% got it!

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by mdjice

Put bass traps in every corner and I should be good right? at least if i pick solution number 2.

You bet.

now the outside looks like this, do i need to put some type of abosrber on it as well? (outside and treat it like a regular wall?)

The only reason to treat the outside of the booth is if the main part of the room needs it. The one larger corner where the red and white walls meet might benefit from bass traps.

--Ethan

[mdjice]

fung shui??

[johndykstra]

Originally Posted by dylansmale

option 3 is the most convenient and best fungshui. and you have more room for recording. seriously though, do you fung shui?

Well if you want to go that route, #1 would actually have the "best" fung shui. I'm pretty sure having something right in front of the door when you walk in is against the rules of "shui".

[Ross H]

Option 2 for sure. A longer space is better.

Loose a couch and get portable seating for guests. Target has rolling, padded cubes that are comfy to sit on, can be moved around the studio easily for convertable space and has storage inside for mic cables, mics, etc.

I had a low argosy rack three bays wide. I ditched it and got a real tall rack on wheels. My space is close in size to yours and more than 5 people in the room at once sucks. You have to have room to move around when multiple bodies are in the room so keep your room as flexible as possible.

RH

[mdjice]

Originally Posted by Ross H

Option 2 for sure. A longer space is better.

Loose a couch and get portable seating for guests. Target has rolling, padded cubes that are comfy to sit on, can be moved around the studio easily for convertable space and has storage inside for mic cables, mics, etc.

I had a low argosy rack three bays wide. I ditched it and got a real tall rack on wheels. My space is close in size to yours and more than 5 people in the room at once sucks. You have to have room to move around when multiple bodies are in the room so keep your room as flexible as possible.

RH

i ll check out these cubes at target, that sounds like a plan thx!