Started my Room Project...

[capkutay]

Pre-note: I posted some models at the bottom

Hey all,

After countless measurements, A/B mic position tests, finding weak spots, etc, i've finally started my room project.

My room is currently not treated, aside from a large Turkish Rug which I hung on one of my walls (across from monitor 1), and some aurelex bass traps in the corners. I actually like the rug since it's quite heavy/thick and has ridged patterns on it's face.

I've posted a couple models of my room.

What I do/want to improve in my room:

Guitar:
I want to get a very HONEST sound out of my Dr Z Rx jr. I mic it up with some different combos, audix i5/shure sm7b/beyer m160. And then I'll put either C414 or an AT4045 5 feet away at a 45 degree angle. (i found that what works best with my amp)

Vocals
I also record my vocals (male rock vocals)

occasionally some of the rappers i make beats for do some vocal tracks here

I just mic up guitar amps and vocals, occasionally acoustic guitar. No drums/no bass amps

Any suggestions on how to treat this room?

Monitor 1 is 140 inches from the wall, Monitor 2 is 210 inches from the wall. Rest of the dimensions are in the models.

Thanks to anyone whose willing help me out...

[capkutay]

I'm assuming I'm getting no replies because the lack of a detailed question...

My question is...where on the walls should i put bass traps? I was going to use 3-4'' thick bass traps on the walls and ceiling corners...should I use oc 703s in this situation?

[johndykstra]

I would:

start buy rearranging. Place your workstation on the wall with the book case and guitar amp...centered. Symmetry is important, particularly in the front of the room, and this will have your speakers firing in the long dimension... also important. Place your bed along the back wall of the room.

What happens next is entirely dependent on your budget. The foam bass traps, for example, aren't nearly as effective as those composed of dense fiber. And the fiber traps aren't as effective as even more options, but all of this effectiveness comes at greater expenses of not only money, but time spent researching options.

Were I you...

I would construct some mineral wool bass traps (4-6" thick) for all 4 vertical corners...spanning the gap for the 3 90 degree corners, and placed on the 45 degree one. The traps can be mounted to a movable frame, and moved into corners while mixing, and surround your performer while tracking.

Use the foam traps you already have along your ceiling/wall corners.

Hang the persian rug over your bed to help kill the reflections coming from your rear wall.

With the bass traps in the corners, and the rug killing reflections in one dimension, at this point when you clap your hands, you are likely going to notice even MORE flutter echo than you did before!!! This is because your side walls haven't been treated yet. Once you start to cure some acoustic problems in your room, others are considerably more noticeable.

Your going to want some absorption on the side walls, particularly where the first reflections from your monitors are: (Sit at mix position, and have a friend move a mirror around on the side walls. Anywhere you can physically see EITHER monitor in the mirror, you are going to want to treat with absorption. This same theory applies to the ceiling too!!

In the back half of the room, your side walls are still untreated, but you may find you are able to kill the echo with house hold objects...book case...coat rack...70's knot rope wall hangings...etc.

The wall behind your speakers (front wall) should be addressed, at a bare minimum, build some panels (2-4" thick) to go directly behind your speakers.

After all of this, it's likely you'll want thicker absorption on the back wall than the rug can provide. But do all of this in steps, and stop when you are satisfied.

[johndykstra]

OC 703 is good, as well as roxul safe n sound mineral wool. Check which is more affordable in your area. OC is more rigid, and more usable in a "frameless" application than mineral wool, which is considerably more "crumbly". In terms of thickness of any type of trap... the thicker it is, the lower the frequency it will be able to affect. 3-4" is fine, 4-6" better, so on, and so on.

[capkutay]

Awesome, thanks for the advice!

I'll check the deals I can get on OC 703 vs mineral wool in my area..

Given your advice, and the what i've read, this is my room plan:

1) Rearrange (below)

2) Build three-four 6'' bass traps for the 90 degree vertical corners

3) Build two 4'' absorption panels on the sidewalls facing the monitors/workstation

4) Build two 2'' panels on the ceiling ABOVE the workstation

5) Build two 2'' panels for the wall BEHIND the workstation (rear of the monitors)

6) Build two 4'' panels for the wall across the workstation, placed directly across from each monitor

7) Place heavy/rigid persian rug on the side wall on the second half of the room

Building a total of 3-4 6'' bass traps, 4 4'' panels, 2 2'' panels. Then A/B the room compared to my original room recordings. Then take it from there....possibly build some ceiling-wall bass traps to replace the aurelex's if i'm not satisfied

I'm going to start by putting my workstation at the wall opposite the piano/guitar amp...same dimensions for my monitors to resonate.. and A LOT less of a moving hassle.

Any errors here?

I'll be posting some pictures of the construction project and some sound files of the room.

[johndykstra]

THe other wall would be better, as your front half would be symmetrical. All this stuff is subjective. You may find you don't need to do half of this stuff... you may find you want to do twice as much. It's a slippery slope.

[capkutay]

Since I'm hanging these in my bedrooms...would Roxul mineral wool be the "safer" solution? i've read conflicting information on the safety of OC 703, would most likely prefer not to have it in the room i sleep in every night

[PaulP]

Originally Posted by capkutay

Since I'm hanging these in my bedrooms...would Roxul mineral wool be the "safer" solution? i've read conflicting information on the safety of OC 703, would most likely prefer not to have it in the room i sleep in every night

If anything Roxul is probably worse than 703 as it's made, in part, from all
sorts of unknown stuff out of the bowels of smelters. But there are documents
claiming neither is bad for you, that they're in fact safer than the cotton you
wear on your back (did you know that was bad for you ?).

Think of it as possibly adding lightly to the already high levels of pollution we
subject ourselves to every day.

In general I wouldn't worry about it for your own self but I'd probably think
twice about having infants come in close contact. And I'm not sure I'd want
to sleep under a cloud of the stuff unless it was wrapped in plastic.

This thread is a good read :

The Comparative Safety of Rockwool, Fiberglass, and Organic Fibers (a review)

but you'll still have to make up your own mind.

Paul P