Advice on my room with LOTS of extra corners?

juicylime · 7th January 2012

My room has more corners than a rubricks cube. I'd like to invest in some panels to help make it as good as I can, and I'd like them to be something I can take with me when I upgrade to my next room.

My room is 2.81m high, 5.96m long and moves from 2.08 to 2.68m deep.

Attached are some sketchup diagrams. Any advice from on dark arts of acoustics/monitor positioning/absorption would be extremely welcome

juicylime · 12th January 2012

I'm going to start trying to this room into shape form the week. Any pointers are welcome.

Rob The Viking · 13th January 2012

In a rectangular room, I think it's generally better to position your studio lengthways so your taking advantage of the furthest distance between 2 walls.

Basically what I'm saying is that you might be better off to put your set up against the left or right wall in picture 4, instead of the bottom wall. Seems like a pretty short distance, and you will be more likely to run into modal problems with standing waves, ie bass cancellation etc.

juicylime · 13th January 2012

I just googled home architect software. There's certainly a lot of them. Which one are you recommending?

Glenn Kuras · 13th January 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob The Viking

In a rectangular room, I think it's generally better to position your studio lengthways so your taking advantage of the furthest distance between 2 walls.

Basically what I'm saying is that you might be better off to put your set up against the left or right wall in picture 4, instead of the bottom wall. Seems like a pretty short distance, and you will be more likely to run into modal problems with standing waves, ie bass cancellation etc.

You are correct. From there you would just straddle as many corners as possible in the room. The hard part about this room is going to get good symmetry from the setting spot forward in this room.

darkbuddha · 13th January 2012

That's quite a room to have to work with. You don't mention a budget, but assuming it's the typical DIYer budget, I think I'd seriously consider moving the DAW/table into the alcove where the sofa is currently and build an 1.5m long acoustical divider (floor to ceiling) on the open side to force symmetry into that space. Then treat with the usual basics.

If you're budget is a bit more generous, there are other options... check out something like http://www.myroom-acoustics.com/host...hite_paper.pdf.

juicylime · 17th January 2012

Thanks for the replies guys.

Has anyone got experience sweeping their room with Room EQ wizard and other similar apps? My 'flattest' condenser is a Neumann KM140, which are known for their treble lift. As most of my issues will be well below the 9khz bump, am I okay to use it as the mic in room testing?
Nuemann KM140: Georg Neumann GmbH - Diagram

I'm getting rid of the filing cabinets and possible the sofa. These are the three positions I think it's narrowed down to:

juicylime · 18th January 2012

I borrowed a decent measurement mic (Beyerdynamic MM1) and did some readings of my room today. I've never done this before and am learning as I go. I',m pretty sure I'm doing something wrong.

Where should the mic be positioned in the room?
My waterfall graph doesn't seem to have any fall off in time, is this my room or my software settings?

Here's what I got:

From my listening position:

From the back of the room:

darkbuddha · 31st January 2012

Having gone through this on my own room over the last couple months (using REW for analysis), here's what I'd suggest (and what I'd do if I were to do it again):

1. Clear the room and set up a set of monitors to be able to do testing.
2. Test each location where you might want set up your mix position (as symmetrical as possible) and see which one provides you with the flattest frequency response.
3. Treat the room with bass traps and retest. Repeat until bass response and ring times are well managed.
4. Load in your desk & gear and set monitors into some relatively likely position and retest. Move monitors forward and back, inward and outward, testing each time to find any significant improvements or deficits with any position. Choose the position that provides the best frequency response.
5. Treat early reflection points.

Some tips...

- Start by reading this and applying it to all your testing: http://www.gearslutz.com/board/studi...er-v2-1-a.html
- Follow the calibration procedure for your software & gear.
- Test a lot. Analyze, make changes, test some more, and repeat... a lot.
- The general consensus is that the center of the room is a bad place to setup your mix position. Choose something closer to one end or another.
- Set the range for the waterfalls to +5dB from peak down to -50dB from peak, and set the time range out to 600-1000ms. That should give adequate time to see some degradation in the ringing in the room.

Hope this helps.

juicylime · 6th February 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkbuddha

Having gone through this on my own room over the last couple months (using REW for analysis), here's what I'd suggest (and what I'd do if I were to do it again):

1. Clear the room and set up a set of monitors to be able to do testing.
2. Test each location where you might want set up your mix position (as symmetrical as possible) and see which one provides you with the flattest frequency response.
3. Treat the room with bass traps and retest. Repeat until bass response and ring times are well managed.
4. Load in your desk & gear and set monitors into some relatively likely position and retest. Move monitors forward and back, inward and outward, testing each time to find any significant improvements or deficits with any position. Choose the position that provides the best frequency response.
5. Treat early reflection points.

Some tips...

- Start by reading this and applying it to all your testing: http://www.gearslutz.com/board/studi...er-v2-1-a.html
- Follow the calibration procedure for your software & gear.
- Test a lot. Analyze, make changes, test some more, and repeat... a lot.
- The general consensus is that the center of the room is a bad place to setup your mix position. Choose something closer to one end or another.
- Set the range for the waterfalls to +5dB from peak down to -50dB from peak, and set the time range out to 600-1000ms. That should give adequate time to see some degradation in the ringing in the room.

Hope this helps.

Good info. Thanks!

7th January 2012	#1
juicylime Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2006 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 804 Thread Starter	Advice on my room with LOTS of extra corners? My room has more corners than a rubricks cube. I'd like to invest in some panels to help make it as good as I can, and I'd like them to be something I can take with me when I upgrade to my next room. My room is 2.81m high, 5.96m long and moves from 2.08 to 2.68m deep. Attached are some sketchup diagrams. Any advice from on dark arts of acoustics/monitor positioning/absorption would be extremely welcome __________________ Saved. By the buoyancy of citrus. www.HamletSweeney.com

13th January 2012	#6
darkbuddha Gear maniac Joined: Nov 2011 Location: Sarasota, FL USA Posts: 174	That's quite a room to have to work with. You don't mention a budget, but assuming it's the typical DIYer budget, I think I'd seriously consider moving the DAW/table into the alcove where the sofa is currently and build an 1.5m long acoustical divider (floor to ceiling) on the open side to force symmetry into that space. Then treat with the usual basics. If you're budget is a bit more generous, there are other options... check out something like http://www.myroom-acoustics.com/host...hite_paper.pdf. __________________ -Wyatt Composer, researcher, educator

18th January 2012	#8
juicylime Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2006 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 804 Thread Starter	Room measurements I borrowed a decent measurement mic (Beyerdynamic MM1) and did some readings of my room today. I've never done this before and am learning as I go. I',m pretty sure I'm doing something wrong. Where should the mic be positioned in the room? My waterfall graph doesn't seem to have any fall off in time, is this my room or my software settings? Here's what I got: From my listening position: From the back of the room:

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Advice on placement of traps in a room with lots of windows	jkung	Studio building / acoustics	1	1st October 2010 09:49 PM

12th January 2012	#2
juicylime Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2006 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 804 Thread Starter	I'm going to start trying to this room into shape form the week. Any pointers are welcome.

13th January 2012	#3
Rob The Viking Gear nut Joined: Jun 2010 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 125	In a rectangular room, I think it's generally better to position your studio lengthways so your taking advantage of the furthest distance between 2 walls. Basically what I'm saying is that you might be better off to put your set up against the left or right wall in picture 4, instead of the bottom wall. Seems like a pretty short distance, and you will be more likely to run into modal problems with standing waves, ie bass cancellation etc.

17th January 2012	#7
juicylime Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2006 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 804 Thread Starter	Thanks for the replies guys. Has anyone got experience sweeping their room with Room EQ wizard and other similar apps? My 'flattest' condenser is a Neumann KM140, which are known for their treble lift. As most of my issues will be well below the 9khz bump, am I okay to use it as the mic in room testing? Nuemann KM140: Georg Neumann GmbH - Diagram I'm getting rid of the filing cabinets and possible the sofa. These are the three positions I think it's narrowed down to:

31st January 2012	#9
darkbuddha Gear maniac Joined: Nov 2011 Location: Sarasota, FL USA Posts: 174	Having gone through this on my own room over the last couple months (using REW for analysis), here's what I'd suggest (and what I'd do if I were to do it again): 1. Clear the room and set up a set of monitors to be able to do testing. 2. Test each location where you might want set up your mix position (as symmetrical as possible) and see which one provides you with the flattest frequency response. 3. Treat the room with bass traps and retest. Repeat until bass response and ring times are well managed. 4. Load in your desk & gear and set monitors into some relatively likely position and retest. Move monitors forward and back, inward and outward, testing each time to find any significant improvements or deficits with any position. Choose the position that provides the best frequency response. 5. Treat early reflection points. Some tips... - Start by reading this and applying it to all your testing: http://www.gearslutz.com/board/studi...er-v2-1-a.html - Follow the calibration procedure for your software & gear. - Test a lot. Analyze, make changes, test some more, and repeat... a lot. - The general consensus is that the center of the room is a bad place to setup your mix position. Choose something closer to one end or another. - Set the range for the waterfalls to +5dB from peak down to -50dB from peak, and set the time range out to 600-1000ms. That should give adequate time to see some degradation in the ringing in the room. Hope this helps.