Hi guys,
I know you get a thousand of these, but I couldn't resist.
I've been a lurker for years and learned a lot from here and I've finally signed up to hopefully be a contributing member of this community. :D
I've absorbed a lot of info regarding acoustic treatment and placement in a room from these threads as well as resources like Ethan and Glenn's articles, which are great at demystifying the whole process but I thought I'd best try get some information specifically about my room's situation.
So a bit about me, I'm a hobbyist producer/DJ working out of a bedroom studio who's had a bit of success but not really enough to afford spending a fortune on professional treatment.
I produce electronic music and don't record in the room, other than some guitar which goes straight into my interface.
Being in South Africa, good treatment is pretty hard to come by and also quite expensive. Auralex stuff is at least triple the price here than it is in the US, Vicoustic is about the same price and the one place with decent enough customer service to actually get back to me about their broadband absorbers quoted me over $1000, so I've decided my best bet would be to build my own traps to possibly help resolve issues in my room.
The material I'm planning on using is this stuff:
Isover Ultimate U Thermo Board which are 120x60cm each although I'll have to trim a few down to 120x50cm to fit in some places. I'd also plan on complementing these panels with professional bass-traps if my wallet ever allows it.
Here's an NRC chart for 70mm boards, although I suspect the 100mm will be more absorptive:
ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting
I'd use a burlap-like, porous material for covering them and construct frames that would allow me to mount them on the rear wall with a 10cm gap. I'm planning on use 100mm for the rear walls and corners and a 30mm board for the front wall, flush against the wall.
Here are some pictures of my room.
Mix position:
3.10m from left wall to right.
3.40m from front wall to left
2.60m from ceiling to floor. The ceiling is wooden and slanted - I'm in the lowest part of the slant and it extends another 60cm at its peak. It's also covered by a slanting dry-wall ceiling, I'm not entirely sure of how much of a gap there is between that and the real ceiling though.
http://i.imgur.com/DXlcn.jpg
The two main problems I can see I'm going to have to tackle are the fact that to my right is a large window, (the blinds are covering it in the pics but they pretty much cover the whole thing) and the fact that my left speaker is in a corner. I'm also not too stoked about the fact that my position isn't really based symmetrically seeing as I'm so close to the one side wall.. I'm also assuming the shelf above the desk isn't helping things.
Also, the furnishings are all fixed which means I don't have much hope in terms of rearranging things.
From my door-way looking in:
http://imgur.com/2qNZO.jpg
Behind me:
http://imgur.com/PYBvT.jpg
To my right:
http://imgur.com/PQcRD.jpg
More rear-wall and corner:
http://imgur.com/tPh1i.jpg
So in terms of placement, I'm thinking of a 30mm board flush against my front wall, lengthwise, so it covers almost the entire surface. I'd be using thinner board so that the high frequencies aren't totally absorbed and there's still a bit of liveliness going on.
How would I go about treating that corner below the cupboard and next to the window? Should I just construct a small BB that would fit there?
Like the front wall, I'm thinking of mounting a thicker board with an air-gap in that piece of wall behind me that's between the desk and the bookshelf, would it also be a good idea to make a smaller panel to lay perpendicular to that one, to the left of the window to try fill out that corner?
I would also mount a panel to the left of me, on the surface below the window which should cover up a lot of the surface. Or should this be a lower priority, seeing as the that surface is quite low?
On the main part of the rear wall, above the bed, I'd mount two or three, where I can see the speakers reflected in a mirror. That corner above my bed I'd try straddle entirely and also mount another panel to the left of the bed, between the door.
I'd also lay a thickish carpet in front of my mix position to try combat the effects of the hardwood floor.
If possible, I'd also mount a panel on the wall to my right, to the left of the door although that might not be pragmatic due to the fact I wouldn't be able to properly open the closet door. :P
I'm also thinking of a few foam panels to glue to the underside of the bookshelf/shelf above my speakers for some absorption of the highs which be reflected off of them. I'd also fill that bookshelf behind me with a lot more books to act as a diffusor of sorts.
I'm sure you've noticed I haven't paid any attention to the ceiling. I spoke to a very informative engineer yesterday who'd built his own traps and he mentioned that for treating the ceiling, I'd have to go through the dry-wall and actually treat the real ceiling itself. I've also never been too sure, but does a slanted ceiling help with acoustics at all, seeing as it isn't exactly parallel to the floor?
I'll also have monitor decouplers (Auralex Mopads) next month so the Pres-stik balls under the speakers will be gone. :P
So that's about it. Am I on the right track or am I just going to be wasting my money? Would I not really be able to do much with my mix position in the place it is now (up in a corner)?
My room doesn't seem to be as live in my mix position as it is in other areas (like towards the bed) where flutter echoes are very apparent. I'd really just like to deaden the space generally and try resolve any issues that would be colouring my mixes.
Is my idea of placement correct, or would I be using too much which could result in a space that's too dead?
If I have trouble with building them or sourcing the materials, I guess my best bet would be these
http://www.genesisacoustics.co.za/pr....php?id=100005 with two 120x120cm on the back major surface of the back wall, and two 120X50cm for directly in front and behind me. That would take me to the fringe of my budget and I would have to supplement with more traps at a later stage. Would only partially treating a room create more problems than it resolves?
Really, any information and advice specific to my room would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks guys. :D
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