Need help choosing a room to mix in

[Ethan Winer]

Definitely Room A, the larger room. Set up so the "cut out" is in the back of the room behind you.

--Ethan

The Acoustic Treatment Experts

[Gonzo Production]

Thanks for the replies,

If I choose room A should I set up the desk in the center of wall C? or more towards the corner of A & C so that high frequencies can shoot down the full length of the room? I am planning on floor to ceiling bass traps in each corner as well as some panels for early reflections, but the angled ceiling on wall C has me a bit worried. I ought to try and treat the whole angled ceiling because it will bounce lots of unwanted sound right at the mixing position correct?

Part of me feels like room B could work but it is just so close to being a cube that I am worried. I do wish the ceiling in room A was a bit taller and did not have the angled ceilings, though I guess the angled walls in room B would be just as problematic?

Thanks again for your input

[Ethan Winer]

You should be centered on Wall C. More here:

How to set up a room

--Ethan

[Gonzo Production]

I think I'll trust Ethan on this one based on his very impressive track record. Orain, what makes you so positive room A is the wrong room?

I don't plan to put anything against wall D. Would it be a good idea to build a floor-to-ceiling wall of bass traps extending from wall F to wall A? Or should I just treat the corners and ceiling corners in that little nook. I'll stop bothering you with these pre-design questions but I will be sure to post back in the following weeks as get situated and try to tame this less than ideal control room.

Thanks

[kasmira]

Room A. Much larger. I like the shape of room B but, it is very small.

Edit: Didn't notice the larger ceiling height...well edit again in a few minutes. Stay put..

~ 911.4 cf = 146.5" x 125" x 86"
~ 94.9 cf = 31" x 61.5" x 86"
~1006.3 cf = Total Room A Volume

~ 719.3 cf = 133" x 89" x 105"
~ 196.8 cf = 104.5" x 31" x 105"
~ 888.1 cf = Total Room B Volume

Room B's volume is lower, by a little over a hundred cubic feet. This is a big difference in a room that size..however. Depending on how you go about building your traps, how much room you have to sacrifice...whether you are DIYing or buying commercial solutions (GIK/RealTraps/RPG/etc), where the door placements are in the room..etc, it is a hard decision to make.

The worst position out of all of the possible ones I can see is the first one you mentioned. Room A, stuck in the tiny nook there. Big no go for me at least, especially next to a closet. If I were to choose room A, optimal position would be facing wall C, with walls D/E/F behind me. If I chose Room B, facing the wall parallel to A (with A behind me) would be optimal. Can you rip out the closet in Room A? If so that would be completely ideal. If there were no doors back there you could make a LARGE bass trap.

[kasmira]

Originally Posted by OralnHardly

...room B is set up so that you would have to do significantly LESS trapping...signifigantly...

Why is that, exactly?

Originally Posted by OralnHardly

...and doesn't have a nook...nooks can drive a room bat crazy...

Agree'd, but if this is a serious treatment plan, that nook can be an entire, massive bass trap. Which would be highly effective to the lowest of octaves!

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by Gonzo Production

I don't plan to put anything against wall D.

That wall is a source of reflections, so at the minimum you need to treat those corners.

Or should I just treat the corners and ceiling corners in that little nook.

Yes.

I'll also dispel the myth that having two depths is bad, because that staggers the reflections from walls D and F so they arrive back at your ears at different times. This is definitely a Good Thing.

--Ethan

[Gonzo Production]

Unfortunately I cannot rip out the closet. I will be using this space for the next two years so I am committed to making it work. I estimate I can afford about $2000 on speaker stands and acoustic treatment at the moment, though I am not entirely averse to spending more if I have to. I also plan to buy a specialized microphone to measure my room before and after treatment, probably the Nady CM 100 or Behringer ECM8000.

Ethan:

I should have been more specific with my last post. I meant to say there won't be any furniture against wall D. I plan to cover the entire alcove with bass traps and broadband absorbers.

You're saying that rather than extending a wall of bass traps from wall F, stuffing the alcove with absorptive material, and turning the room into a rectangle I should leave a bit of the alcove intact to randomize reflections? (It would probably be a trapezoidal cutout due to corner bass traps and absorptive panels parallel to wall D). Sorry if that's difficult to understand I can fix up a crude sketch to explain what I mean.

Thanks again everyone

[OralnHardly]

Originally Posted by Gonzo Production

I think I'll trust Ethan on this one based on his very impressive track record. Orain, what makes you so positive room A is the wrong room?


Thanks

You know, I missed this post.

That is quite rude actually. No worries I'll just delete all my untrustworthy info. Cheers.

[Gonzo Production]

No need to take offense my friend. I genuinely appreciate your input and did not mean to be rude. I have read many articles by Ethan and I consider him an incredibly professional and reputable source, whereas your initial reasoning was that you had a gut feeling room B was the better room. The only thing I was unsure of was how you went from being undecided between the two rooms to suddenly room B being the unequivocal winner. I value your opinion and the opinion of anyone kind enough to offer input because all I'm trying to do is learn. I'm new to acoustics and you undoubtedly know more than me. Sorry if I offended you because that was not my intention.

[OralnHardly]

No man. That wasn't my initial reasoning and I was NEVER undecided. Not even close.

Nice try though.

[kasmira]

Originally Posted by Gonzo Production

You're saying that rather than extending a wall of bass traps from wall F, stuffing the alcove with absorptive material, and turning the room into a rectangle I should leave a bit of the alcove intact to randomize reflections? (It would probably be a trapezoidal cutout due to corner bass traps and absorptive panels parallel to wall D). Sorry if that's difficult to understand I can fix up a crude sketch to explain what I mean.

Thanks again everyone

I'm not Ethan but I think I can elaborate a bit on this. Ethan was simply dispelling that having two different depths is not completely destructive. It wont break up any flutter echo but it does give the room length modes a little less power since they're divided in half among two frequencies. Plus, it gives you a great area for trapping. I do not think he meant corner bass absorbers will work better than the entire section being a large absorber (we can all agree larger and deeper is better), he was just noting that corner bass absorbers in that area will work well (which, given that the back of rooms tend to be boomy, I will definitely agree).

It's good that you have a decent budget in mind and I think with the combination of some DIY and some commercial solutions you could have some great results in there with your budget. Decide what speaker stands you're getting and how much of the budget that will take up so we have an idea of your acoustics budget.

If it were me personally, I would instantly work that section into a huge absorber if possible, and treat the front area, especially corners, and treat all first reflection points.

I would recommend getting the measurement mic and speaker stands asap and play around with speaker set ups before purchasing anything acoustics related. Speaker position and room choice are both decisions best made with measurements, and most importantly testing both rooms and multiple speaker set ups is FREE and will let you know how much of what type of treatment you need in there.

Lastly, we don't know the construction of the walls so it still is very possible the second room might be better.

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