help me to design/build a control room!

[xconnyx]

hi!

i got my self a room today which i can build a "control room" in. basically it is a mix and record room, to mix/master and dry tracking guitars and stuff like that. it is not a real control room because there is no live room to be controlled by the control room

since i use another studio to track drums in i need a room which is basically build like a control room to track guitars/vocals/.... (i usually track vocals in the control room with headphones so there is no need for a vocal booth, i got used to it since i'm a vocalist and found out most vocalists seem to like that to be in the same room with the band and the producer/engineer, can't have more communication like that).

here's a schematic from the empty room:

the biggest problem will be that the room is small and a square. so i will need to build a room into the room to have a well treated room to mix and master my work.

if you have any ideas how to design the walls for the new room, feel free to paint it into my schematic and upload it.

i came up with this idea in the first place:

angles are not 100% right, it's just drawn by hand. i cant say at this ponit if there would be enough space left in the room by building walls like that. but i will figure that out in a few days when i added your ideas.

so please if you have ideas to design that room, don't hesitate.

thanks!

 

[ahjteam]

I am no expert on the acoustics thing, but my suggestions are here:

- make it non-square (with your plans you just made it square again, just a lot smaller one) and especially treat the corners of the room
- take the desk atleast 0.5-1m away from the front wall (preferrably so that you can easily walk behind it) and put some rockwool and the bass traps there
- diffuse the left and backwall

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

I am no expert on the acoustics thing, but my suggestions are here:

- make it non-square (with your plans you just made it square again, just a lot smaller one) and especially treat the corners of the room
- take the desk atleast 0.5-1m away from the front wall (preferrably so that you can easily walk behind it) and put some rockwool and the bass traps there
- diffuse the left and backwall

I'm no expert, either, so correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know that's not quite right. If you look at his plan, the room isn't a square anymore, and it even hasn't got any parallel walls left (considering the bass traps on the back and front walls), which definitely is a good thing to reduce unwanted effects such as direct flutter echo. However, in the picture you posted, the room isn't symmetric considering the listening position (the monitors are biased to the left side), the listener's head would be pretty much in the middle of the room depth-wise which might cause problems with the low-end frequencies, and you haven't taken early reflections from the right wall into consideration, which in my experience is the worst drawback in small rooms like that after the uncontrollable low-end.

I might be totally off here, but that's what I've learnt

 

[PostMortem1666]

The original plan looks perfect in my opinion. It's not a square and there are no parallel walls and listening position is not in the center of the room.

 

[ahjteam]

and listening position is not in the center of the room.

I wouldn't say so:

 

[xconnyx]

why would i have to diffuse only the left and the back wall?!

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Have you checked out John Sayer's forum? They have loads of good plans that you could use as reference. For example, this thread has some pretty similar stuff to what you were planning: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4206

 

[Soundlurker]

Use sketchup for the drawings, it's an awesome, free, easy-to-use tool by google.

 

[Fox Mulder]

I wouldn't say so:

Erm, where should the sub be here?

 

[xconnyx]

what about this one here?

then it would be like this:

i could build some movable door to access window, power supply and water pump. also the silly water pump and the wall corner thing in the upper right is not visible anymore.

it is very important that i get the room isolated best way possible and good sounding.

btw, this would it be with "real cm relations" done with sketshup

 

[Joematthews]

^ that design looks the best.

Remember...

Walls at at least 12 degrees going away from the front of the room (ie getting wider at the back)
Absorbtion in the corners and preferably a cloud.
No diffusion in smaller rooms, it isn't effective.

If I get spare time I will use it to do my best to design you something

Joe

 

[Joematthews]

also, do you have speakers suitable for sofit mounting?

Joe

 

[xconnyx]

i like this one best too. just for the fact that the usable space it used way better.

 

[xconnyx]

also, do you have speakers suitable for sofit mounting?

Joe

ööhhmm... no, i dont think so, because if i would have those speakers, i would know what your talking about.

i use studio speaker stands at the moment, but i planed to build a desk which is big enough to place the speaker on in a good position, also i use 2 different sets of monitors.

 

[Metaltastic]

What is soffit mounting, anyway?

 

[Joematthews]

Soffit mounting is mounting the speaker so the baffle is the size of the wall it is mounted in to.

This helps because low frequencies don't radiate through 360 degrees, and as such dont produce phasing issues to such an extent. It also stops diffraction from the edge of the speaker because theres no edge so nothing to diffract around.

Does that help?

Joe

 

[Metaltastic]

Indeed, thanks! But wouldn't the bass buildup by having it totally surrounded on all sides (except the front, obvious) still travel through the walls and be problematic?

 

[Joematthews]

Well, the aim is to build that front wall as massive and as rigid as possible so if the bass escapes it has to escape out the front. Of course it isn't completely effective but it is supposed to tighten up the bass a lot. I can't find the diagrams on the sae reference site but when I do I'll post em.

Joe

 

[Metaltastic]

Well, the aim is to build that front wall as massive and as rigid as possible so if the bass escapes it has to escape out the front. Of course it isn't completely effective but it is supposed to tighten up the bass a lot. I can't find the diagrams on the sae reference site but when I do I'll post em.

Joe

Ok, yeah, I figured it had to be a pretty diesel fucking front wall to make it worth doing - thanks!

 

[88mph]

Man, I need to do a decent treatment to my room. All those drawings look like the Devil's Trap next to mine.