Are "control/mixing room reflectors" that important?

[MacoySIN]

I don't even know if that's what you call them but I was told those things are usually put behind the listeners area to make the sound bigger in small rooms. I'm in the middle of building my mixing room and the space is pretty tight. Should I go ahead and build this or will this be just a waste of space?

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Fox Mulder]

They are called diffusors. IMHO They are meant to make big rooms sound bigger. Usage in small rooms can be real shitty. You don't want it.
What's my definition of the least biggest room?
Height - 12 feet
Width - 14 feet
Length - 16 feet

 

[lolzgreg]

If you deaden the wall behind the speakers completely, you'll be fine. I would use rockwool/panels to do such. If you don't, reflections will be reaching your ears at nearly the same time as the direct sound and obscure the top end of your mix.

 

[MacoySIN]

yup the wall behind the monitors have fiberglass insulation. will it be ok to deaden the wall in front of the monitors too though? i was thinking of installing fiberglass on that wall too but afraid i might deaden the room to much. the room is about 12 feet in length and width but not perfectly square.

thanks guys!

 

[lolzgreg]

How close are the monitors to the wall? If they're close, you're going to want to get insulation behind each one and above each one.

 

[MacoySIN]

thanks lolzgreg and Maamar Huq! the monitors will be pretty close to the wall, about 5 inches i guess. yup there will be a lot of insulation behind the monitors, some on the ceiling and some more on the sides. the floor has carpet by the way. what im really concerned about is the back area of the room, should i go on building the diffusors or just put some insulation on there too to save space? cause putting diffusors will take at least a foot off the length of the room which is a lot considering the room is really small. will it make the room too dead without diffusors and will i have problems mixing in this?

 

[vespiz]

If you haven't, check this out: http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

Small rooms need to be pretty dead, bigger rooms get away with being more "live" (with diffusors etc).

 

[MacoySIN]

thanks vespiz!