Soundman2020 - Studio Design Forum

Hi, I've got a small bedroom with a built-in bookshelf and largish closet that I'm wondering about.

The Room:

Small bedroom with built in bookshelves on one end and a large closet taking up most of the wall at the other end. The dimensions are:

Length: 476.8cm
Length to Closet: 408.6cm
Width: 333.3cm
Height: 244.2cm

It will be used for mixing and recording of synths and direct guitars. The only mic will be for tracking vocals. Noise is not an issue as I tend to mix and monitor on the quiet side and the room does not face any neighbors.

Note this is a temporary space, for a year or two while I design and build out a studio in the back, so the budget is minimal (for obvious reasons).

See attached pictures and an attempt at making a room model in sketchup (first time )

Treatment
I will be using a Primaccustic London 12 room kit and clouds for the main treatment moved over from my last place. I also have 8 or so sheets of Auralux I inherited a few years back. I have a room sized rug that I was planning on laying down mostly to protect the wood floor from abuse of rolling around on it.

Questions

1) What, if anything, can I do with the bookshelves in the room? My first though was to cut up the auralux and shove that in there such that it might function as a bass trap/defuser. Maybe put the monitors in there? Just ignore them? Note the shelves are fixed and are 30cm deep.

2) Does the closet function as a bass trap? The doors are really thin and hollow so I have no doubt that lower frequencies pass right through. Can I stuff blankets or something in there?

3) For purposes of speaker placement, do I measure the length of the room from the front to the closet? or do I ignore the closet and measure the room to the back wall.

4) Is the rug a bad idea? It's just a cheap one from Ikea and not very thick.

Thanks!

-D

Hi dustradio.

dustradio wrote:Source of the post1) What, if anything, can I do with the bookshelves in the room? My first though was to cut up the auralux and shove that in there such that it might function as a bass trap/defuser. Maybe put the monitors in there? Just ignore them? Note the shelves are fixed and are 30cm deep.

The bookshelves can be filled to be used as broadband traps. The room is too small for diffusors so don't just leave them as they are. Also, please do not put speakers on the bookshelves, instead, have them on the stands you have at ear level as near to the bookshelves as you can get without touching.

dustradio wrote:Source of the post2) Does the closet function as a bass trap? The doors are really thin and hollow so I have no doubt that lower frequencies pass right through. Can I stuff blankets or something in there?

It would be better if you can open the closet doors and fill it with insulation, the whole closet! You can take the insulation with you to reuse in your next place so this will not be money wasted.

dustradio wrote:Source of the post3) For purposes of speaker placement, do I measure the length of the room from the front to the closet? or do I ignore the closet and measure the room to the back wall.

Placing speakers as close to the front wall as possible helps minimise SBIR (if you don't know what that is, read up on Speaker-Boundary Interference Response, eg. here). In terms of measuring your room, hard boundaries count, so the 4 walls, floor and ceiling. The closet's doors are not substantial enough to count as a hard boundary.

dustradio wrote:Source of the post4) Is the rug a bad idea? It's just a cheap one from Ikea and not very thick.

A rug large enough to cover most of the floor is not ideal because rugs and carpets only absorb the highest of frequencies, making things worse, not better. Small rugs under the castors of your chair or where the singer will stand (to muffle their foot tapping on the floor) will be fine.

Thanks for the quick reply Starlight!

If you don't mind a few follow ups:

The bookshelves can be filled to be used as broadband traps.

What material are we talking here? Rockwool or 703? Chopped up Auralux? A quick google on broadband absorber material brings up a whole host of possibilities.

It would be better if you can open the closet doors and fill it with insulation, the whole closet!

Great idea thank you! Need I worry about loose fiberglass insulation while I'm using the room though? Could I do something simple like just leave the insulation in it's packaging? Uncut sheets of 703 would fit in there fine.

Thanks again!

-D

Starlight wrote:Source of the post Hi dustradio.

dustradio wrote:Source of the post1) What, if anything, can I do with the bookshelves in the room? My first though was to cut up the auralux and shove that in there such that it might function as a bass trap/defuser. Maybe put the monitors in there? Just ignore them? Note the shelves are fixed and are 30cm deep.

The bookshelves can be filled to be used as broadband traps. The room is too small for diffusors so don't just leave them as they are. Also, please do not put speakers on the bookshelves, instead, have them on the stands you have at ear level as near to the bookshelves as you can get without touching.

dustradio wrote:Source of the post2) Does the closet function as a bass trap? The doors are really thin and hollow so I have no doubt that lower frequencies pass right through. Can I stuff blankets or something in there?

It would be better if you can open the closet doors and fill it with insulation, the whole closet! You can take the insulation with you to reuse in your next place so this will not be money wasted.

dustradio wrote:Source of the post3) For purposes of speaker placement, do I measure the length of the room from the front to the closet? or do I ignore the closet and measure the room to the back wall.

Placing speakers as close to the front wall as possible helps minimise SBIR (if you don't know what that is, read up on Speaker-Boundary Interference Response, eg. here). In terms of measuring your room, hard boundaries count, so the 4 walls, floor and ceiling. The closet's doors are not substantial enough to count as a hard boundary.

dustradio wrote:Source of the post4) Is the rug a bad idea? It's just a cheap one from Ikea and not very thick.

A rug large enough to cover most of the floor is not ideal because rugs and carpets only absorb the highest of frequencies, making things worse, not better. Small rugs under the castors of your chair or where the singer will stand (to muffle their foot tapping on the floor) will be fine.

What material are we talking here? Rockwool or 703? Chopped up Auralux? A quick google on broadband absorber material brings up a whole host of possibilities.

703 would be great for there. Rockwool makes many products, so it would be better to mention which specific one you are thinking of. Chopped-up acosutic foam is probably not the best option here! In general, for low frequency absorption you want a product that is not high density, but the actual density depends on the type of material. For example, 701 would be better than 703, but if you already have 703 on hand then it would work just fine. But if you only have 705, then it would be better to sell that and use the money to buy 701. tc.

Great idea thank you! Need I worry about loose fiberglass insulation while I'm using the room though? Could I do something simple like just leave the insulation in it's packaging? Uncut sheets of 703 would fit in there fine.

You could do that, yes. Provided that the packaging does not compress the insulation too much. Some recent packaging I have seen is really tight, and compresses the material a lot. A little compression is fine, but if it seems to be compressed more than maybe 15% or so, that's probably too much. In that case, it would be better to open it up, then cover it with something that will prevent the fibers from floating around too much.

Starlight is also very correct about the speaker placement. In the picture you posted, the speakers are too far out into the room, and you will have SBIR problems. Place them tight up against the front wall (after you fill the shelves, of course!), then set up your mix position based on that. This thread might be useful for that: Angled walls: What are they for? Do you need them? And there's a few other things on this page that would probably hep you with your room layout: "Fake Acoustics": Myths, legends, mysteries, and scams

- Stuart -