Private studio in Slovakia

[Starlight]

I found that once twisted, the live and neutral stayed as a twisted pair without help but I used tape to keep the earth alongside.

The first photo in post 34 shows a few runs with tape every 20cm (8"). Those cables have white tape every 20cm.

Post 41 may interest you, Jag94, as it shows the cables in their sheaths, one end inside the studio and other end dangling by the fusebox. I bought different coloured electrical tape so that it is easy to find matching ends as there are cables for clean audio (red tape), ordinary power (blue tape), lighting (white tape), and a spare (black tape).

[Jag94]

Source of the post I found that once twisted, the live and neutral stayed as a twisted pair without help but I used tape to keep the earth alongside.

Ahh. Got it.

Post 41 may interest you, Jag94, as it shows the cables in their sheaths, one end inside the studio and other end dangling by the fusebox. I bought different coloured electrical tape so that it is easy to find matching ends as there are cables for clean audio (red tape), ordinary power (blue tape), lighting (white tape), and a spare (black tape).

I remember seeing that as I went through your build thready. I'll be using EMT conduit so that the conduit acts as the equipment ground, allowing the ground wire to connect directly to each isolated ground receptacle and make a home run back to a separate ground bus bar. But I really like the idea of using different color electrical tape to distinguish different cables. I read about that in a electrical book i just finished reading.

[ericwisgikl]

Hi Starlight,

Correct me if I'm wrong. Is it right that Jonh, in his designs, runs audio cable parallel to electrical cable, and as close as posible, avoiding interferences by twisting the electrical conductors?

Could you tell us more about electrical and audio cables runs?

Best regards,

Eric

[Starlight]

Source of the postIs it right that Jonh, in his designs, runs audio cable parallel to electrical cable, and as close as posible, avoiding interferences by twisting the electrical conductors?

That is correct. John has a fair number of publicly available PDFs on his web site; look at his resources page, particularly under the headings Articles and, further down, Articles on Studio Wiring.

Source of the postCould you tell us more about electrical and audio cables runs?

I suggest you start with John's PDF Grounding, Wiring, & Zero Loop Area from his resources page. Read the last page, the conclusion, and then the whole 14-page document. You will see photos showing the double conduits, one for electricity, the other for audio, along with explanations about ground loops.

I think of studio designers like car designers, where basically they are all providing help to do the same thing but each designer has their own style and preferences. Putting a Citroën gearbox in a Ferrari may not make an ideal car. Better to use all Citroën or all Ferrari design and parts. I think this is something DIY studio builders should be aware of when designing their own studio, that some things will be generic and are simply good practice while other things can be specific to certain designers or to a specific type of studio, whether BTF, RFZ, LEDE, NE, Ambechoic, ESS or another type, or a specific type of room, whether control room, tracking room, mastering room, etc.

[ericwisgikl]

Thank you Starlight. Now I understand better why it is worth to run audio cables next to electrical ones. It's in order to avoid ground loops.

My concern now is what about electromagnetic interference? Do balanced lines suffer them? Or is it just a concern for unbalanced lines?

What about the suggestion of running audio cables as far as possible from electrical ones, and crossing them at 90 degrees only?

Anyway, I like John's method. And it makes things easy!


Cheers,

Eric

[Starlight]

Source of the postMy concern now is what about electromagnetic interference? Do balanced lines suffer them? Or is it just a concern for unbalanced lines? What about the suggestion of running audio cables as far as possible from electrical ones, and crossing them at 90 degrees only?

I am not as knowledgeable about electrics as I could be so I follow John's instructions - or do my best to translate and explain them to the electrician and trust he does his job properly.

[Jag94]

Hey Starlight,

it looks like your silencer boxes are 2 layers thick, is that correct? If so, what did you use to connect the 2 layers? construction glue? screws? both?

[Starlight]

Yes, Jag, they are double-skinned, glued and screwed. Have a look at posts 39 and 42 on page 3 for their construction and post 56 on page 4 for the duct liner. Normally silencer boxes are fully enclosed but in my case John Brandt specified a wall or a wall and a ceiling to be the remaining sides. Post 65 on page 5 shows them being caulked and mounted.

[Jag94]

Ahh yes, I must have missed the description part. Thanks for sharing. I like the idea of only having to build 5 sides of the box instead of 6. Both of mine will be going directly up against my interior leaf on the inside of the room, so I'm considering doing the same thing. I can't see how I could lose isolation, since the wall itself will have approximately the same amount (probably more) of mass as the walls of the silencer box. If I make these boxes as beefy as the walls, it will make them extremely heavy, so removing one whole side of the box could help with the weight.

[SoWhat]

Greetings Jag94,

Both of mine will be going directly up against my interior leaf on the inside of the room

Are you only using two boxes (one "in" and one "out")?

All the best,

Paul

[Jag94]

Are you only using two boxes (one "in" and one "out")?

All the best,

Paul

That is correct. Rod didn't have any issues with that idea, so I figured it'd be ok.

[SoWhat]

Greetings,

Yes, if you've read through enough threads, Rod has always stood by the 1-in-1-out design (provided it's constructed properly, of course). Same with other designers. I know that Stuart and others prefer 2-in-2-out for maximum isolation.

All the best,

Paul

[Soundman2020]

Source of the post Yes, if you've read through enough threads, Rod has always stood by the 1-in-1-out design (provided it's constructed properly, of course). Same with other designers. I know that Stuart and others prefer 2-in-2-out for maximum isolation.

Exactly! And the key there is "maximum isolation".

It's all about how much isolation you need. If you only need low to moderate isolation, then "1-in-1-out" is fine, assuming that it is well decoupled from the structure on both sides. But if you need high to very high isolation, then "2-in-2-out" is the way to go. It eliminates the extra flanking paths through the silencers themselves. For very high isolation, you need every trick in the book. Maybe the "2-in-2-out" system only gains you a few dB, but if you an do ten things that each gain you only ONE dB, that means you gained 10 dB, which is a huge improvement! For many home studios, where only moderate isolation is the goal, it probably isn't really necessary to go for the "2-in-2-out" system.... but there's certainly no harm in doing so!

- Stuart -

[Starlight]

I cannot remember who was talking about filters for the exterior HVAC grilles. I couldn't find any so I cut two squares of polyester batting (not Dacron but the same stuff) to have some DIY filters, like this. My ventilator has filters but I want to stop insects from using the ducts as a place to make a home. For example, imagine if a wasps' nest filled and blocked a vent part way along a run; I would like to avoid having to dismantle the HVAC setup if I can.

I have not reported anything in over two months; what have I been doing? My builder chap said he had outdoor jobs to do over the summer and that has left me time to continue at a more relaxed pace, mostly just tidying up and preparing things. Slovakia has had a massive resurgence of Covid-19 which, sensibly, resulted in a 90-day lockdown that will take us to the end of the year and twice testing the entire population.

So treat this as an interim (incomplete) update.

First up, the HVAC guys didn't have a T-shaped piece in stock so they cut a hole in a duct and added one of these:

The hole has rough edges which will not show and may not add much noise to the air current.

I decided that the edge could disrupt the smooth, silent air flow ...

... and I had the time to file the edge smooth, caulk the join and tape over the dry caulk to give air a smoother path. If nothing else it gives me peace of mind.

There will be a drop ceiling under the ducts in the studio. I looked at all the colour possibilities on the 'net and then discovered that locally I can only buy white. Painting them grey was going to be easier and cheaper than importing them from abroad. Two coats of primer and two of the final grey colour, all done with a miniature paint roller by my wife.

The job of dismantling the 41 traps I made 9 years ago is in progress. The hessian (burlap in the US) gets binned and the thousands of furniture staples that held the hessian in place are painstakingly removed with a screwdriver and pliers. The screwed wooden frames are dismantled and the insulation will be reused, sitting above the drop ceiling.

My designer, John Brandt, wants tiles in the drop ceiling that are more acoustically transparent than I can buy locally, so I am making my own, 99 of them, from the old trap frames. They will be covered with grey breathable fabric and have polyester batting filling.

I have an idea for a more creative and inspiring ceiling that just an office type dropceiling. It will involve 7 hexagons. Here is a mock-up I made from an old pallet. We will see how these turn out as even the mock-up is not yet finished.

Also using old pallets, I have been practising making holders for lights. This was my first attempt.

Then I rememberd that Jennifer cut perfect circles by making a jig for her jigsaw, so I copied her idea. Thanks, Jennifer!

Now that's what I call a circle!

The lights are made to hang from a ceiling but I would like them to sit flush with the ceiling. As there will be space above I can recess them; I just need to build a bracket that they can be secured to. It is all good fun experimenting.

These things will become clearer when I am further along and can show you where and how they fit into the bigger picture.

[Jag94]

Source of the post I cannot remember who was talking about filters for the exterior HVAC grilles. I couldn't find any so I cut two squares of polyester batting (not Dacron but the same stuff) to have some DIY filters, like this.

It was me! And I did something similar with a cheap product i found at the local hardware store. Thanks for sharing your idea.

I have an idea for a more creative and inspiring ceiling that just an office type dropceiling. It will involve 7 hexagons. Here is a mock-up I made from an old pallet. We will see how these turn out as even the mock-up is not yet finished.

Holy buckets that looks really cool! I can't wait to see how it turns out.

LP0929.jpg
Then I rememberd that Jennifer cut perfect circles by making a jig for her jigsaw, so I copied her idea. Thanks, Jennifer!

Now that's what I call a circle!

I love that idea of using a jig. I just bought a nice wood router that I used to cut the OSB on my interior sheathing around the door opening using a special bit, and it came out flippin incredible. I learned how to make a jig for the router to make nice circles for my silencer boxes too. It's good to see people having good success with DIYing things like this. You and Jennifer both have given me confidence to try these things that I've never done before. So thank you both for documenting your builds and being so open about it.