How much should I expect to PAY for a pro room analysis?

[JLiRD808]

So I was gonna get an omni-condenser and REW and learn ALL of this myself when I thought, 'I put so much time into building up my studio that I sometimes don't even work on actual music much'. It would sure save me a lot of time (but not money Im thinking) to pay someone else to do the tests and summarize my results, give advise etc.

I know two live and studio engineers that can do a room analysis. I think they do measurements primarily for live and for home theatre though, but are willing to offer their services.

They're both put me in a position to make them an offer....I don't wanna lowball them, what's a reasonable price? It's just a project studio in a medium sized room with early reflection panels/cloud/traps but with high ceilings and some angles.

Any ideas.....thanks!

[takman]

you should pay nothing.

you should DIY!

[JLiRD808]

Originally Posted by takman

you should pay nothing.

you should DIY!

I KNOW...I want to...but I have to consider some things.

1) A pro would probly have a better omni than the ecm8000 I'd probly grab

2) Uploading waterfall and freq analysis charts for review is great, except that hardly anyone can SEE my spot (other than pics and maybe a floor plan). A pro could probably say, move that speaker just 2" off the wall and add one more trap here or there, etc.

3) By the time I do get good at it and have a neutral sounding room, I wonder how much actual music I could have worked on lol. I JUST upgraded my xp 32bit to W7 64bit with new CPU, mobo, ram, HDs....the time I spend working on my studio can far exceed the amount of time I actually spend making tracks. I'm sure I'm not the only one here guilty of that.

Anyways...thx for the encouragement...I'd like to get started with one or the other within the next couple of weeks.

[Glenn Kuras]

[QUOTE=JLiRD808;6795394]I KNOW...I want to...but I have to consider some things.

1) A pro would probly have a better omni than the ecm8000 I'd probly grab

It really is not going to matter. Your mic is fine.

2) Uploading waterfall and freq analysis charts for review is great, except that hardly anyone can SEE my spot (other than pics and maybe a floor plan). A pro could probably say, move that speaker just 2" off the wall and add one more trap here or there, etc.

3) By the time I do get good at it and have a neutral sounding room, I wonder how much actual music I could have worked on lol. I JUST upgraded my xp 32bit to W7 64bit with new CPU, mobo, ram, HDs....the time I spend working on my studio can far exceed the amount of time I actually spend making tracks. I'm sure I'm not the only one here guilty of that.

Anyways...thx for the encouragement...I'd like to get started with one or the other within the next couple of weeks.

We work with customers all the time for free. It really does not take all that long to set up the mic and shoot the room. The best part is you learn want is going on with your room, so in the future you can make small changes yourself.

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by JLiRD808

I don't wanna lowball them, what's a reasonable price?

If you know them well and consider them friends, try $100. Otherwise offer them $200. Many pros charge twice that much or more, especially if they have to travel an hour or farther. But really, I agree with the others to spend a few hours and learn to measure yourself. Then you can do it as often as you like. Here's my advice:

Room Measuring Primer

--Ethan

________________
The Acoustic Treatment Experts

[oldeanalogueguy]

Originally Posted by JLiRD808

So I was gonna get an omni-condenser and REW and learn ALL of this myself when I thought, 'I put so much time into building up my studio that I sometimes don't even work on actual music much'. It would sure save me a lot of time (but not money Im thinking) to pay someone else to do the tests and summarize my results, give advise etc.

I know two live and studio engineers that can do a room analysis. I think they do measurements primarily for live and for home theatre though, but are willing to offer their services.

They're both put me in a position to make them an offer....I don't wanna lowball them, what's a reasonable price? It's just a project studio in a medium sized room with early reflection panels/cloud/traps but with high ceilings and some angles.

Any ideas.....thanks!

DIY!!

buy a test kit with mikes software etc and DIY

cheaper and just as good as their work
and you can do it over again and again once you have the gear

you could even charge other people to do their rooms!
the kit would pay for itself

[JLiRD808]

Sounds like a plan guys thanks!

See I didnt think about the fact that I could do it over-and-over-and-over again. I could move the teddy bear in the corner a 1/4" and then test again, or clean up the dirty laundry and re-test, or see if signing up for dish network or time warner cable makes a difference!

All joking aside, I can't believe that didn't dawn on me sooner. I figured I'd do it maybe a few times, make some adjustments, and then sell the mic. I like the idea of testing other people's places too!

Decision made.....thanks again!

[RJHollins]

Thanks Ethan for the 'primer' link !

I have a new control room underway.
Currently painting walls ...

Before I do any 'standard' treatment, I would like to measure an
empty room 'baseline'.

Thanks!

[JLiRD808]

Originally Posted by Glenn Kuras

The best part is you learn want is going on with your room, so in the future you can make small changes yourself.

I really wish I did a baseline test too to see how my room sounded before I did my RFZ, traps, and cloud. Oh well...moving forward.

BTW, is Gearslutz a good forum to post those charts for review? I know a lot of people on that Hometheatershack.com forum do....

THX!!!

[ggegan]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

If you know them well and consider them friends, try $100. Otherwise offer them $200. Many pros charge twice that much or more, especially if they have to travel an hour or farther. But really, I agree with the others to spend a few hours and learn to measure yourself. Then you can do it as often as you like. Here's my advice:

Room Measuring Primer

--Ethan

________________
The Acoustic Treatment Experts

Damn! That's cheap! I could probably fly you round trip to LAX and pay your hotel bill for how much it would cost to get a professional to do that here in Los Angeles.

[boggy]

Originally Posted by ggegan

Damn! That's cheap! I could probably fly you round trip to LAX and pay your hotel bill for how much it would cost to get a professional to do that here in Los Angeles.

Here, in Serbia, I usually charge 150EUR for measuring, loudspeaker placement and room analysis, if customer isn't far from Belgrade (not more than 100km)... EDIT:... and if he doesn't need any other service from me... but if I already do acoustic treatment design, custom loudspeaker design, or whatever for him... I do measurements, positioning and analysis for free.

Cheers.

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by ggegan

Damn! That's cheap! I could probably fly you round trip to LAX and pay your hotel bill for how much it would cost to get a professional to do that here in Los Angeles.

Well, I usually charge $200 for someone local just to look and advise, or $400 if they're farther or they expect me to schlep my laptop and other gear to actually measure their room. That's for a visit of an hour or so. I will go to LA, but that will cost you at least $1,000.

--Ethan

[JLiRD808]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

Well, I usually charge $200 for someone local just to look and advise, or $400 if they're farther or they expect me to schlep my laptop and other gear to actually measure their room. That's for a visit of an hour or so. I will go to LA, but that will cost you at least $1,000.

--Ethan

Lemme know when/if ur in the Cincy Ohio area!

[DanDan]

It is little known that many of us are cheap slutz.....
My most common job is
An evaluation visit, measuring using a laptop or the in house computer.
A sketchup or verbal treatment plan.
A return visit to show off.

If local, €500.

The pay nothing/DIY (apart from subscriptions to Mix or SOS and accounts Sweetwater or Thomann) ethos has driven skill out of Recording and Mixing.
Mastering is usually still skilled but under very destructive demands.

What is with this onslaught on skill, craft, and art?

DD

[takman]

DIY all the way.

its not that difficult to learn. Can you imagine trying to do this before computers??

doing the calculations by hand..LOL!

Seriously. its so easy these days. You plug in a mic, run a sweep, and the computer spits out the info.

Then little by little, you can fine tune your room..make it better, add this, change that etc....something you cant you do if you are relying on someone else, and that someone needs to be paid.

[Unique]

Please clarify your question, are you looking for professional:
- Acoustic engineer with degree
- 5-10 years of experience
- Bruel & Kjaer testing equipment
- room acoustic analysis report

Acoustics.com: Acoustical Consulting, Acoustical Engineers & Acoustical Testing Referral Database

or a hobbyist?

[NLP]

This kind of service in Slovenia EU:
Engineer with degree, B&K equipment, officially certificate for room acoustic analysis report, without advice cca. 800€ + 20% VAT.
Without officially certificate and no bill cca. 450€, without report and explanation/ acoustic analysis report 150-200€.
+ travelling expenses

[JLiRD808]

Originally Posted by takman

Seriously. its so easy these days. You plug in a mic, run a sweep, and the computer spits out the info.

Ok Ive got REW installed, got a ECM8000 plugged in, opened the program and [scractches head]

I consider myself pretty tech savvy...but I have a harder time with some manuals than others. I felt the same way when I was trying to DD-WRT some routers. Anyways, right off the bat, the "Help" file says I need an SPL meter as well. Wont the omni mic do the whole job? I'm already stumped....

There's only 1 youtube video of "how to" get started. Unfortunately it looks like he's using an older version. What I HAVE accomplished is designating my 0404 soundcard as my ASIO device in preferences....that's it.

YouTube - ‪Room EQ Wizard - Step 1 - Calibration‬‏

Any other sites/resources I should check out? Not to sound like a blonde 16yr old but I prefer video tutorials.

Thanks!

[ggegan]

Originally Posted by JLiRD808

Ok Ive got REW installed, got a ECM8000 plugged in, opened the program and [scractches head]

I consider myself pretty tech savvy...but I have a harder time with some manuals than others. I felt the same way when I was trying to DD-WRT some routers. Anyways, right off the bat, the "Help" file says I need an SPL meter as well. Wont the omni mic do the whole job? I'm already stumped....

There's only 1 youtube video of "how to" get started. Unfortunately it looks like he's using an older version. What I HAVE accomplished is designating my 0404 soundcard as my ASIO device in preferences....that's it.

YouTube - ‪Room EQ Wizard - Step 1 - Calibration‬‏

Any other sites/resources I should check out? Not to sound like a blonde 16yr old but I prefer video tutorials.

Thanks!

REW may be free, but Fuzzmeasure is more user friendly, and is still relatively inexpensive. I do my initial measurements with swept sines in FM, and use REW mostly for cross-checking the frequency response with pink noise on an RTA. Generally speaking, there have been few surprises using the two different methods, although for my 5.1 system, pink noise and RTA works better for me when dealing with the subwoofer, but swept sine is better for everything else. Using the swept sine provides a lot more info, as well as saved reference graphs that help keep the process orderly and logical. REW can do both and has a couple of cool modes that FM doesn't, but for the average Joe, FM is more than enough, and much easier to deal with.

[George Necola]

You do not need an spl meter.. you can just play record zhe sinewave and the pink noise at "ok" levels. It's about not overload or underload your room.. matter of experience.

If you got the waterfall and all that, start moving the speakers (matter of experience on "how")

If you come to a point where you are stuck with moving, you need to buy the right traps to absorb and maybe diffuse. (Also a matter of experience).

Or.. you could draw a roomplan with sizes, do a measurement and send it to gikacoustics and they will solve your problem (if there is any) for free.

Or you can call me and I will treat you like an expert..

Acoustics are not easy and DIY.



Sent from my Desire HD using Gearslutz.com App

[audiothings]

Originally Posted by DanDan

The pay nothing/DIY (apart from subscriptions to Mix or SOS and accounts Sweetwater or Thomann) ethos has driven skill out of Recording and Mixing.
Mastering is usually still skilled but under very destructive demands.

DD

I think the only good places for a sound engineer today are in post production and live work. They require skills that your average bedroom musician-producer can simply not fib through. And there is no default necessity to make everything loud.

Sorry for the off topic post.

[psykostx]

Do it yourself AND pay a professional ... then compare. That's what the curious cat does... and curiosity doesn't kill the acoustics cat ... unless he's broke

[JLiRD808]

Originally Posted by ggegan

REW may be free, but Fuzzmeasure is more user friendly, and is still relatively inexpensive.

Just checked out FM....Im on PC not Mac....but is there a "user-friendly" PC program?

I feel like Im making some progress with REW, but I have a lot of uncertainties. Basically what I feared would happen IS happening. I haven't touched a song or even opened Cubase for about a week now since I began doing this and figure I'll need another week or so to be confident with my testing and adjusting etc.

Anyways...thx for all the suggestions!

[DanDan]

REW does lots of different things pretty much as well as they can be done. There are other PC programs by Acoustisoft and ARTA.
However, I recommend you stick with REW, it does get easier. Perhaps the key is to ignore all the bits you are not using.
DD

[JLiRD808]

Ok so here's my first posts regarding my first REW measurements:

Can someone analyze my REW measurements?

My 1st measurement...probably WAY off! - Home Theater Forum and Systems - HomeTheaterShack.com

Thanks!