Long time no post! Man what a crazy year it has been. I have been juggling a ton of different things and keeping things updated on the forum took a back seat. That being said, here's a big update!
I'm revisiting the idea of building soffits for my current room because the studio build in the back yard is going to take some serious time (I'm always way underestimating these things). We are still talking to a contractor and trying to get past the codes/zoning part of the process. He's slammed with work as well and it is going very slowly.
However, I did get a lot done on the room BEFORE revisiting the soffit idea lol. Here's where I am at (some of which will be removed to make room for the soffits):
- 5 panels in each of the front corners have been installed! I managed to figure out a way to do this with 2 right angle hooks in the wall that match with 2 eye hooks on the panels. It took some calculating but I was able to get it down to an exact measurement that was repeatable for each one. They seem to be very sturdy holding each of these panels which are roughly 24lbs. It was most certainly the easiest and cheapest method. Every panel can easily be removed and all that is left are two holes in the wall for each one.
- 5 panels in the back corner have been installed! And two are ready to go in the opposite corner above the door way. Plus I am still planning to build a tall panel that can sit on wheels to cover the bottom portion of that corner when the door is closed.
- A door has been installed! It's the $50 door I got on craigslist. The thing weighs a ton and is apparently solid oak according to the guy who hung it (no I was not up for the challenge...
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- I have been working on transitioning to a whole different setup. Basically, I wanted to downsize all my random analog outboard gear and put the money toward a great pair of speakers (Eve SC407's), a great monitor controller (Grace Design m905), and a great converter (Lynx Aurora (n)....which has not been purchased yet). So far I am thrilled with the results! My plan is to get as clean and neutral of a response as possible and put my money towards the best possible signal chain. I am actually amazed at how much difference the Grace Design made over my mackie big knob. I was a/b-ing them and it was astounding. The whole signal came to life like a veil was being lifted. Much more 3D and clear. I was a major skeptic but I have been proven wrong. It's a tough pill to swallow but I got it used for $1875. Worth every penny IMO (for my goals at least).
- I have a much smaller desk now in hopes of reducing reflections. Some custom 45 degree floor racks are in the works to fit under each side. Gonna build these myself with the help of a friend.
- Also, currently building about 10 more panels to hang as clouds and in various parts of the room as needed. I would love some advice as to where I might should place these remaining panels!
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Here are some screenshots from REW. These are all smoothed to 1/48 octave and each show a before and after.
NOTE: I was using my yamaha HS8's for the BEFORE measurements and the mix position was closer to the front wall by about a foot and a half or so. The AFTER measurements were made with my Eve SC407 monitors spaced a bit further apart (very carefully measured from side and front walls to get equal placement). The soundcard is also different for each. BEFORE was with my allen and heath ZED R16 (which I am now selling) and the AFTER is with my friend's Focusrite Clarett 2 Pre. I did run calibration for each.
ANOTHER NOTE: A few months ago I ran into an issue with my EVE SC407's.
I bought them used and they were FANTASTIC. But one day I turned them on and noticed the left speaker was lower in volume by about 20%. I've gone through a ton of trouble shooting with EVE and they ultimately recommended I send the boards in to be repaired/updated. After going back and forth with them I realized I did not feel confident taking the boards out to ship. There are a ton of connections on them and I had some issues with shipping damage on other items recently. So I decided I would ship the speakers in tact...well shipping cost on that took it over the threshold for insurance so I ended up getting a payout of $3000 to cover the one speaker that is acting weird. That being said, I'm currently trying to make up my mind on what to do. Probably going to try selling these as is and hope to get maybe $2000 for them (the repair with shipping the boards is about $1250 plus comes with insurance) and then put all that money toward a new pair.
Anywayssssss I'm not sure if this is affecting the measurements. Obviously I even out the volume on each speaker to 80dB using the sound check on REW. But maybe something else is going wrong? I will say, I ran a test with the Yamaha's right next to these in the new setup and the same phase issue happened so it's not solely the speakers causing that (maybe that's a silly thing to check I have no idea lol).
Thoughts/questions:
- The RT60 and waterfall plots show significant improvement in the decay times.
- There seems to be more phase issues in the new setup?
- There also seems to be some kind of low end distortion happening with my Eves?
- The response seems to have evened out in the low end but in the mids and highs there does not seem to be much improvement and maybe even slightly worse in certain areas....not sure what to think of that.
- The impulse response shows higher levels on the newer measurement...is that odd?
- Any help reading these would be greatly appreciated! I've attached the mdat file with all of these in one.
Cheers and thank you!!
Trevor
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(everything seems expensive now that I'm already in debt for these speakers! 
...I could dip into savings though if I need to...but I got that 0% financing credit card to keep the cash flow up 
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