My Control Room: Blessing and a Curse!

[floydisbest]

I am working in an efficiently-priced studio with a nice, 6-window view of the Grand River in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I am monitoring out of Adam A7's via an Apogee 8000 DAC VIII in addition to stock computer speakers with a tiny sub, and also headphones.


Unfortunately, 2 of the 'walls' in my control room are-window based, one is looking to the outside Grand River, while the other is looking into the Live Room.





The control room is 9' tall, 9' 6" wide, and up to 28' long. I now have 3 Owens Corning 4" Traps floating above the desk at about 7' 6", with a quite heavy stage-curtain behind the whole desk as well. I have 4 more traps on-hand that I've been using as isolation for instruments.

I am uncertain If I should flank additional bass traps along all of the rear and above corners, and also how far out from the rear/listening position they should go.







My listening position is about flush with the windows, and flush with where the stage curtain ends with my ears.

I do know that it is more ideal to monitor in a (( wide )) listening area VS narrow, but the river VS live room issue is what is getting me. This room has the best ~vibe~ I've had the opportunity to work in, but I certainly want it to be the most beneficial acoustic-wise also, as I occasionally do mastering as well....

Here are additional pictures of the live room also ( 30' x 20' x 10' tall).+

These are a couple of weeks old, there is now a vintage Ludwig drum kit about on about the center of that large rug. All the floors have been freshly-painted with outdoor deck paint by my landlord.








Any idea, period will be insightful and not be taken negatively!!

Thanks!

[DanDan]

Looks like a nice place to work. I suggest you move your speakers etc. right up to the front wall. Put two SuperChunks in there, 32 inch ones, floor to ceiling. This may place your listening spot forward of the window. Shift those side panels up to form a RFZ, covering part of the windows if necessary. The back wall is very far away, fill it with flightcases, couch, large musos , shipping boxes, a bar, jacuzzi.......
DD

[greatgreatriver]

L o v e l y space man!

[floydisbest]

Thanks for the feedback, DanDan and greatriver! I guess I will try my best with rigid fiberglass to make my space happen, although I know it is ideal to be in a bigger space... it's just not quite enough room in the BIG room for a full band and computer setup, plus I wouldn't be making use of these outside windows!

Should I get all the corners with basstraps mostly?

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by floydisbest

Should I get all the corners with basstraps mostly?

Yes the more corners you cover the better the bass will be. It really is that simple.

[DanDan]

Lovely, full of light, but odd acoustically. Odd, I said, not necessarily bad. This may be good already, or easily treated. Those windows will absorb a lot of bass. Are your walls sheetrock? Ceiling? Floor? What is the front wall made of?
If all these surfaces are not very rigid, i.e. not concrete. You may not have much of a problem at all. A Cloud and RFZ and careful positioning may be all that is needed.
Let us know your surface materials and maybe get hold of FuzzMeasure or REW and let's take a real look.
DD

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by DanDan

....maybe get hold of FuzzMeasure or REW and let's take a real look.

That's what I'd like to see, simply because this could be an odd space acoustically like Dan said. Not necessarily bad, but odd.

Here's to hoping you never end up in the river...

Frank

[jhbrandt]

Originally Posted by DanDan

A Cloud and RFZ and careful positioning may be all that is needed.

Yes, just catch all those early reflections. I'd say more, but they already said it.

Originally Posted by DanDan

get hold of FuzzMeasure or REW and let's take a real look

[floydisbest]

Thanks for the add'l help, guys.

I run a PC, so it looks like I'll be studying up on how to use REW properly and make according changes..

Do you think 4" traps in all corners behind and above the workstation will work? How far ((in)) should I come from the rear wall? I've somewhat killed 1st reflections with the heavy-duty stage curtain...

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by floydisbest

Do you think 4" traps in all corners behind and above the workstation will work?

Down to at least 100Hz, they'll be absolutely fine. You'll probably need more than just corners done to get the 70-250Hz area under control though.

Originally Posted by floydisbest

How far ((in)) should I come from the rear wall?

Your HEAD should be 38% of the way into the room from the front wall (the wall behind your speakers). That's a starting point...you can tweak your positioning from there.

Frank

[floydisbest]

Thanks Again

Weasel:

I did also read that ideally you want 38% in from the wall, and also height-wise and side-to-side.

I can probably do the height and side to side deal, but my problem with the length of the room is because it is actually 28' long, I would have to back the whole desk up about 4-5 feet, loosing my lounging area and possibly some dead room space on the other end of the room.

Is there any other way around this?




DanDan:

-the floor is some kind of wood, painted with outdoor porch paint by my landlord

-the ceiling is wood paneling

-my right wall (sitting position) is made of 1.5" thick wood from bottom up to 42", then 40" of glass, then the rest above is indeed sheetrock to the ceiling

-my left wall is thick wood/outside wall for 27" from bottom up, then 73" of window, then more thick wood/outside wall to the ceiling

-the front wall is actually an old loading-door (hence the red I- Beam above where they could roll heavy pallets, etc in from the outside). It isn't very thick and is some thinner wood. I had to use some Great Stuff on it to catch any insulation issues. It has been braced shut and doesn't rattle anymore.

[DanDan]

Lots of not fully rigid surfaces, i.e. not concrete.
You need to kill the early reflections from the sides and above, no matter what else happens. I would make measurements before doing any bass trapping.
The room is so long that I really wonder about any traps back there. I don't think 38% is practical and probably doesn't apply here for the same reasons. I am thinking of on enormous Bass Trap behind the speakers. Lots of Rolls of attic insulation left in plastic, behind your curtain. Time to measure. REW, Waterfalls.
DD

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by floydisbest

I did also read that ideally you want 38% in from the wall, and also height-wise and side-to-side.

No, you want to be centered side-to-side. You'll be at whatever height your desk dictates.

Frank

[floydisbest]

That's good news- I thought for sure I'd read that the general 38% rule pertained to all 3 of those, but I'm glad it doesn't!

I was planning on making a bunch of panels, but I guess I don't necessarily need anything pretty behind the stage curtain... is attic insulation dense enough? Or is the density only suggested for the purpose of cramming a lot of absorbency in a nice tight-knit fashion?

thanks

[floydisbest]

Also, would 2" Rigid Fiberglass for RFZ clouds work well enough? I've been using 4" bass traps I think...

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by floydisbest

Also, would 2" Rigid Fiberglass for RFZ clouds work well enough? I've been using 4" bass traps I think...

They'll work fine for higher frequency stuff, which is usually what you're concerned about at the listening position. The only issue is that they won't touch the height-related lower frequency stuff, which will be around 150Hz and below. If that's not a big problem for you, then go with the 2" panels.

Frank