deviding up a room

[Ethan Winer]

It depends entirely on how large the room is, and how you plan to divide it. More here:

Graphical Mode Calculator

--Ethan

The Acoustic Treatment Experts

[nixoblivion]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

It depends entirely on how large the room is, and how you plan to divide it. More here:

Graphical Mode Calculator

--Ethan

well no, what id like to know is, if the room modes will go through plasterboard.

right now the room im thinking about getting is about 9x5,5x3 meters. these are very very rough numbers!
and i was thinking about deviding it in 2 equal portions so to have a CR with the size 5,5x4,5x3 (so now the width has become the length...)

now, for calculating what my modes might be, do i use the bigger room or the smaller 2 rooms?? or does it mix more??

[Glenn Kuras]

mode calculates are used for solid walls so it will for the most part not be a 100% of what you think. The only way to really know is to measure the room after. Needless to say though making a room smaller is not a great idea.

[nixoblivion]

Originally Posted by Glenn Kuras

mode calculates are used for solid walls so it will for the most part not be a 100% of what you think. The only way to really know is to measure the room after. Needless to say though making a room smaller is not a great idea.

thank you for the info. i know, that measuring and using calculators is not definite. but i just wanted to know the theory behind it so i can plan a little. so if i devide the room with plasterboard, the modes will still be depending on the full room (without plasterboard). this is a good thing, since the dimensions for the modes is quite big, therefore making there quite low.

about the room size. well my thought of deviding the room was to have a CR and a recording room/booth. since the modes are being defined by the full size of the room that is a benefit already (so making the room smaller wont worsen the modal issues).
i also thought that having such a big CR (9x5,5 m) would be a little overkill.
Right now my control room/living room is 8x3,8 m and i think its well long enough, just not wide enough maybe.
so i thought if i have the room devided (5,5x4,5) i would be fine...
also if i use the full room then there will be quite a bit of unused space and quite a waste i guess.

but id like to hear your thoughts on this!

[Glenn Kuras]

Just to clarify. If you put up a wall, depending on how much sound goes through, it will change the modes. How much is pretty hard to say, but it will for sure. The size you are going to take it down to can work but keeping it as one large room will defiantly have a better response in the end. It really comes to down to if really need 2 rooms. Everyone's needs are not the same. For example, if I was recording drums daily I may want 2 rooms so I am not sitting in the same room with them.

[jwl]

Remember room modes are caused by reflected sound. Therefore, when you put a wall partition in the room, the more sound that gets reflected, the more it will change the room modes. If much of the sound passes through the wall partition, the less it will affect the room modes.

So the answer to the OPs question is: it depends on how much sound the wall stops, and how much it passes through.

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by nixoblivion

what id like to know is, if the room modes will go through plasterboard.

It depends how low the mode frequencies are, and how massive the plasterboard is. It's absolutely possible for a room as you describe to have the lowest few modes defined by outer cement boundaries, and the higher modes defined by the inner sheet rock walls! Not only a transition from inner to outer, but also a blend of both at frequencies that partially get through. I've seen this many times.

--Ethan

[nixoblivion]

thanks guys!

1) glenn, i know your right about to rather not devide the room. i havent decided for sure yet. my thoughts are, having such a big room as control room will be harder to treat because there is a lot more area to be treated for the CR. obvioulsy the reverberation in the bigger room is quite a bit longer. im thinking it might be easier to control that in a smaller room.
also having a bit smaller room would be a lot cosier i thought. i find the dimensions (5,5 x 4,5 x 3 meters) to be quite pleasing sizewise (even if i lose some space due to treatment).
if i use the bigger room (9 x 5,5 x 3 meters) then i will have so much free space. i just think that will feel weird! for a mastering CR that makes sense...
id like to hear your thoughts on this!!

2) about the modes. your answers sound very logical! so in theory the fundamental modes would be:
big room: 19hz, 31hz, 57hz
small room: 31hz, 38hz, 57hz

does this now mean, it will be a mixture of both? so i will have the modes 19hz, 31hz, 38hz and 57hz. but the 19hz and 38hz would both be weakend, depending on how strong the wall in between absorbs?
is this correct logic?

[Glenn Kuras]

1) You do bring up a good point which is why I said the smaller room is doable. You really are at the point with that size room that you can do a lot with it.

2) Yes it would, depending on the mass of the wall, it would be a mix.

[nixoblivion]

what i havent thought of yet but might be a problem would be symmetry!

will it be a problem for the symmetry in my CR if one side wall is a massive stone wall and the other side is just sheetrock? I im guessing for higher frequencies this should be no problem. it will become problematic at the frequencies that dont get reflected by the sheetrock. i just have no idea what frequency that will be and therefore if it would be problematic!
any thoughts on this? how thick would the wall have to be built to reflect low enough to not be a problem

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by nixoblivion

will it be a problem for the symmetry in my CR if one side wall is a massive stone wall and the other side is just sheetrock?

No, that's fine. Symmetry is mainly about imaging, which is mainly about mid and high frequencies.

--Ethan