Acoustic treatment, where to start?, what to do?

[decair]

So, I can't hang anything on the walls other than framed pictures and art work as per my contract with the landlord. So, rather than building framed panels and hanging them...I've come up with another option. Using old-school hospital bed curtain frame (or something similar) to float cloth panels with dense foam sown in to heavy fabric. Very similar to what Cloud Acoustics manufacturers. Then when I move, I don't have to rehang anything...thoughts?

[Mslwte]

So, I can't hang anything on the walls other than framed pictures and art work as per my contract with the landlord. So, rather than building framed panels and hanging them...I've come up with another option. Using old-school hospital bed curtain frame (or something similar) to float cloth panels with dense foam sown in to heavy fabric. Very similar to what Cloud Acoustics manufacturers. Then when I move, I don't have to rehang anything...thoughts?

there is a guy in the uk who makes stands for bass traps etc.. might be someone over your way who has done something similar.

[gavisthename]

Have you considered cheap clothes rails from ikea? You could use the frame to cover with insulation, then you have a moveable sound absorber panel on wheels

[decair]

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10219135/

Ikea project strikes again!

[gavisthename]

I was thinking more like a conventional rail, but I guess that could be of use too

[Mslwte]

im resurrecting this thread from the dead, the funds are ready i just need to know what to do now lol

here is a layout of my room any help is much apprieciated!

[Program]

Hi Mslwte, I asked the same question some time ago. Guys told me to sort out the listening position 1st by following the 37% rule = its the % of the longer side of the room so you should be at 37% from the front wall. Some say that you can be a few inches off centre too. That's all I did for now.

My room is similar to yours & also has a door/window in corners so I guess you'd need to make mobile superchunk bass traps. You can go with corner panel type of bass trap too, for example a 2 part floor-ceiling which you can easily remove when going out of the room but people say they don't absorb as much. It's recommended to use a thicker but less dense rockwool type material for a superchunk. You can sort out the early reflections (side walls, ceiling) with panels made out of thinner but denser material + slightly distanced from the wall for more absorption. You have some furniture and stuff like that which should also help a bit. Material that is often recommended: Owens & Corning, Rockwool or Knauf etc. That's what I had planned for my room, hope it helps.

[Mslwte]

yeah i was looking at hanging the traps in the corners where the doors are. i dont have a problem with that. would it be best to cover each corner first or concentrate on where im sitting in the first instance? ie putting two traps in the corners in front of me and a trap above me and some panels behind the monitors?

[Faust]

Hey James. Thats right yes, the best place to start is the front wall (the one your desk is at and you face).

looking at your room, I would start with:

-traps in the corners.
-acoustic panels (or one largish one) for early reflections behind the monitors.
-acoustic panel for early reflections above you.

Ideally you would also be able to place an acoustic panel either side of you at the 'mirror points' to both your left and right for early reflections, but with the shelves and decks in there that might be difficult (although maybe not, as your example possibly isnt to scale).

If gear is in the way of those points you could always have panels on stands like so -

[Faust]

Then - stage two would be the back of the room.
Then possibly a few choice corners between ceiling and wall. But yes, first sort the shit closest to where you sit.

The post from Program above is bang on. Set the room up and your listening position as well as possible first (using the 37% rule) then build from there.

What are the dimensions of your room by the way?

[Program]

That's very nice advice Faust.
Btw, do you have superchunks or panels in your corners & are they floor to ceiling? I'm thinking panels would be very handy & mobile but I'm worried if they'll absorb enough.

[Mslwte]

ha ha fancy not adding the dimensions! i thought you would be able to guess from my artistic impression!

dimenstions are 280cm x 355cm and 98 tall.

im not going to be able to work to the 37% rule. i think the best i can manage is to pull the desk down/away from the wall. and i also dont think there will be much room for panels on the sides, the best i could achieve here is to have one on the wall on the right hand side. but it would have to be slightly higher than say a panel on a stand on the left side.

does it matter the height of the panels? and do they all have to be the same height as each other?

[Hades]

I don't think the height matters that much if you take them from a certain proper minimum size so to speak.
I think thickness matters a lot more.

There's always the theory about this, and at which positions you should place this or that panel,
but then reality strikes again, and you're faced with doors and windows, and simply lack of space : the room isn't big enough to be doing a 37% rule, unless you want to lose half of the little space you're already dealt with.

So, looking at a realistic situation, I would say getting your corners filled with traps as much as possible (preferably floor to ceiling) is first priority, and then trying to add some absorbers at the wall you're looking at.
Next your mirror points with absorbers, and all the rest is "optional" so to say.

Sooo, looking at your picture from a few pages before, I would cover the wall behind your production desk (the one you're facing) with absorbers as thick as reasonably possible, and as much as possible, also cause it's about the only wall you can easily do.
I would try to make a flat bass trap for the corner left next to the door.
(not sure how you say this in english, what I mean is : not triangular, but normal, that you hang on the wall or put on the floor parallel to the wall, this is an example of what I mean :
http://www.primacoustic.com/fulltrap.htm )

I would put triangular bass traps in the right corner
(example : http://www.primacoustic.com/maxtrap.htm )

I would try to hang up a few absorbers above (and even underneath) your decks boot, but I wouldn't overdo it, since you don't have much space for absorbers on the opposite wall, and you might create a bit of an unbalanced situation otherwise if you cover one side wall completely with absorbers while the other is basically one huge diffuser (vinyl rack).
If you can hang up any absorbers on the wall with the vinyl rack, then by all means do so.
Also, throw out the CD rack, CD's are horrible mediums anyway.
Everybody knows CD's are crap as acoustic absorbers !
No seriously, never considered putting them under your decks boot or putting them in those portable maps so you can use that space to hang up some diffuser or absorber ?

anyways, just my 2cts, I'm not at all an expert in this.

[Hades]

I did my studio about 3 years ago.
Back then I basically got one of those primacoustic room kits, and bought 4 basstraps for the corners of the wall I'm facing.
I then hung up absorbers on the side walls and some small diffusors on the back wall.
All of these absorbers and diffusors were part of the kit, so that was pretty easy.
I still want to hang a little more absorbers on the wall I'm facing (still have 2 panels left, so that's perfect), and I gotta hang up something above my desk on the ceiling (forgot to mention that in my previous post, btw, so try to do that as well if you can).
The bass traps really are the biggest thing in my opinion. Also, you gotta bear in mind that bass traps absorb pretty much all frequencies, while absorbers usually only work for mid to higher frequencies.
So basstraps are allrounders, so to speak.

I was happy with that primacoustic stuff, but let's be honest : it's very pricey, and you can perfectly do this yourself. Back then I didn't have the time and couldn't be bothered. But in the years after that I renovated 80% of my house, so I got a bit more "handyman" skills now than I used to have, so I wouldn't buy those panels anymore now, I'd just make them myself.

good luck, and post some pics if you're finished.

[Hades]

another thing I forgot to say : my working space isn't ideal acoustically. Though I have anough space on my walls I can "cover", I have 2 high racks to my right, and a 3-tier stand behind me.
But fuck that, I was more worried about finding an ergonomical working space that could fit all the gear I wanted than getting a spot where there wouldn't be so much waves bouncing of my gear as there probably is now.
If I'd have a massive problem, I might reconsider things, but it suits me fine for the moment.
I'd rather have the gear I want than the perfect acoustic environment.

[Faust]

Your dimensions are really quite close to the last studio space I had (and not that far removed from my current space. The 37% rule is totally possible (depending on the size of your desk or/and how important that door in the top left corner is).

I knocked this up based on your example and given dimensions - Pretty much everything is to scale apart from the desk (I used my own desk measurements), record shelves, and whatever your decks are on (I went for ikea expedit book shelf dimensions for both those).

[Faust]

The blue things are traps and panels by the way :]

[Faust]

As Hades rightly points out, reality most times in these cases strikes and we have to make do with whatever improvements we can with the given situation, be they perfect or not.

[Críoch]

Missed this.. Cool mock up!

[Undernithe]

Ok fresh off the block question here....anyone have a good way of treating your mixing desk? Early reflections happen off all surfaces, why would your hard ass desk be different. BTW im not getting rid of my monitor bridge and getting monitor stands, so looking for other options. Cheers!