Get a sub or treat the room?

[RedDog]

I put this thread here to both ask the questions of what your preference is, to (a.) treat your listening space and (b.) Learn of your choice in subs. My side questions are your choice and experience in bass trapping and diffusion, DIY preferably, and whether or not your sub is a matching piece to your monitors. I mix on Krk Rokit 8's and Mackie mr5's, I'd like to find a smaller sub to fill out the lower octaves.

Any tips or experience you have is greatly appreciated. Pics of the room to follow.

 

[Ihsahn1981]

Treat the room..

Alot of useful info here:
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/studio-building-acoustics/

 

[heshian46]

I used to mix on a pair of 5" monitors and a matching sub in an untreated room. A year ago I moved to a pair of HS80Ms with no sub and treated the shit out of my room (super chunked the corners, 4" traps at 1st reflection points and cloud, rear wall diffusion) and the difference is immense. I have enough low end with the 8s. But also, my old 5" and sub combo sounds better wi the treatment.

If your going to be referencing any type of substantial low end, you need to treat the room and control low end build up. It's totally necessary in my opinion.

 

[Melb_shredder]

+1 to treating your room!

 

[SethTheGreat]

+1 to treating your room. Building bass traps/broadband absorption is super easy. Haven't taken the time to build any diffusers yet though. They look so intimidating! :/

It cost me around $400 total to build around 14 2ft x 4ft x 4inch panels.

 

[egan.]

Subs are tough enough to place and balance in good rooms. In untreated rooms they're just a straight up liability IMO. I'd definitely treat the room.

 

[Terminus]

With 8 inch speakers I doubt the sub is going to be worth it.

 

[RedDog]

With 8 inch speakers I doubt the sub is going to be worth it.

See, that's what I was thinking too. But the Rokit's are kind of colored and didn't wow me with their low end the first time I brought up a mix.

 

[Terminus]

Right I have those same monitors and the same problem.

 

[RedDog]

Here's my problem, then. My room is crazy.

the broken lines are not walls at all, but still boundaries. My bedroom literally LOOKS DOWN on the monitors, in this next pic.

So there is this huge open space above the monitors. a Whole story, in fact. There are more photos on my personal facebook account if you'd like to add me.

Treatment of the room is not impossible, just very very challenging.

 

[SethTheGreat]

Wow... I dunno... If I were you I think I'd go ask on gearslutz or something... That looks complicated.

Since your room is pretty big, you might benefit more from a sub. Don't personally have any experience though.

 

[colonel kurtz]

Subs are tough enough to place and balance in good rooms. In untreated rooms they're just a straight up liability IMO. I'd definitely treat the room.

this

adding more low end to an untreated space is going likely to make shit worse for you

 

[greyskull]

Treat the room.

 

[mstone564]

Treat the room... Then get a sub! It was well worth it if you're only rocking 5" monitors.

 

[Ihsahn1981]

I can also recommend getting a measurement mic like this:
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/ECM8000.aspx

Then you can analyze your room with this software:
http://www.hometheatershack.com/roomeq/

It was a revelation to me to see just how poor my room was.
Then as I started treating it I could see how it improved.

Unfortunately, I have also learned that there is no cure for a small room.
If it is below a certain size, acoustic treatment can only get you so far.
Still, it will be worth it!