treating a pretty square room

[jeremynothman]

Hey

I've got a bedstudio (for lack of a better term :D - my bedroom and control room in one), and unfortunately, while the room is an OK size/volume, the walls are both pretty close in dimension to one another. I've noticed quite a problem with my low end - monitoring around 100Hz is very difficult.

It's 4.65m x 4.38m x 2.61m (Walls - painted brick, ceiling - gyprock, floor - lino), and plugging those dimensions into MODECALC, i can see holes at ~800-100Hz and the same an octave lower. These affirmed my fears.

I know i've got to deal with reflections first, but i figure i should try and get the bulk of my treatment done at once, to do it correctly.

Additionally, I have a large window (2.75m x 1.55m)on one side of the room, towards one side of the wall (as in, not centred on the wall). There's also regular bedroom furniture in the room, which makes some reflection a bit strange. Would it be best to have my wardrobe behind the mix position, which some sort of diffusive devices on it?

Currently i've followed the ".38 of the long wall from the short" principle in having my mix postion placement and the speakers form about a 1.4m per side triangle.

My main fear is that if i use regular broadband absorption to try and fix my buildups at around 150Hz, will i kill the range that i really need filled out (100Hz)? I also assume that the only real chance of bringing back the 50Hz is to create a real basstrap (would be in the ceiling, i guess), aimed at my 37Hz buildup?
The most substantial buildup is in the lower end (150Hz-ish), so should i be trying to absorb alot of this and try reflecting some of the higher stuff/Maybe creating a hemispherical diffuser for behind mix position, but still using thick rockwool (4") behind it?

Thanks for the help (and sorry for the long post)!

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by jeremynothman

My main fear is that if i use regular broadband absorption to try and fix my buildups at around 150Hz, will i kill the range that i really need filled out (100Hz)? I also assume that the only real chance of bringing back the 50Hz is to create a real basstrap (would be in the ceiling, i guess), aimed at my 37Hz buildup?
The most substantial buildup is in the lower end (150Hz-ish), so should i be trying to absorb alot of this and try reflecting some of the higher stuff/Maybe creating a hemispherical diffuser for behind mix position, but still using thick rockwool (4") behind it?

I wouldn't worry about absorbing too much sub 50Hz...you won't. In a small, nearly square room the best course of action is to treat the heck out of it...you really can't go overboard. Get the corners, floor to ceiling, the back wall and the wall/ceiling corners...4" or 6" bass traps. What you may interpret as "loss" of low end is actually just the low end tightening up in response to treatment.

Frank

[jeremynothman]

cool
So are you basically suggesting to ignore the idea of diffusion anyway in a room this size (and not worry about over-absorbing high end)?

Also, is there a "best" place to put my wardrobe?

edit: I tried do an ASCII diagram, but gearslutz doesn't like it (took out all my extra spaces)


If you can imagine, the wardrobe is currently about 2.5m behind the desk with the computer.
The window and bed are to the bottom left, where the picture cuts off.

My plan (as part of the acoustics fixing) is to move the tower under the desk, remove the vinyl carry-case and get a larger screen to push back in line with the speakers - my centre image is currently very weak compared to what i'm used to working with elsewhere

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by jeremynothman

cool
So are you basically suggesting to ignore the idea of diffusion anyway in a room this size (and not worry about over-absorbing high end)?

Also, is there a "best" place to put my wardrobe?

edit: I tried do an ASCII diagram, but gearslutz doesn't like it (took out all my extra spaces)


If you can imagine, the wardrobe is currently about 2.5m behind the desk with the computer.
The window and bed are to the bottom left, where the picture cuts off.

My plan (as part of the acoustics fixing) is to move the tower under the desk, remove the vinyl carry-case and get a larger screen to push back in line with the speakers - my centre image is currently very weak compared to what i'm used to working with elsewhere

Yes, I'd ignore diffusion for now and concentrate on absorbtion.

Your center image is weak because you're off center with respect to the room. It's a little hard to tell with the picture, but it looks like you need to move over to the right. Definitely need to move that tower too, like you said.

The wardrobe can stay behind you...centered on the back wall would be the lesser of acoustic evils.

Frank

[jwl]

To expand on what Frank said: adding good broadband absorption to a room with low end problems will raise the nulls, and lower the peaks. The bass sounds flatter, more accurate, but the lack of boominess sometimes fools people into thinking the bass went away. That's not quite accurate; the bass peaks went away.

Get some familiar recordings that have been mastered by a pro and listen in the new room to get used to the new, more accurate sound.

I agree, don't worry about diffusion for now. Step one is adequate bass trapping. The more you add, the flatter your response will get.

[jeremynothman]

Thanks guys!

It's not that off centre - i moved about 10cm further to the left because it improved the bass response.. perhaps it's now boosted? I know that whenever i've pushed the monitor back it's also helped quite massively, but if i did any more it would fall off the desk!

I'd definetely move that back though once i had some absorbers back in here - it just seemed to be a poor compromise at the moment - image OR bass, and not both.

[jwl]

It sounds like you're on the ball.... but even so, this article might help:
RealTraps - How To Set Up a Room

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by jeremynothman

I'd definetely move that back though once i had some absorbers back in here - it just seemed to be a poor compromise at the moment - image OR bass, and not both.

Unfortunately that tends to be the case for rooms that aren't built to suit this purpose. The only option is to move things around and treat the space to maximize it for recording/mixing, but even the best case scenario will involve some compromise...hopefully as little as possible.

Frank