Placement of Auralex Panels in Studio

[Mushy Mushy]

I've just watched this brilliant video on where to place my sound diffusing tiles, however I'm still a little confused.

The guy starts off by saying if funds are tight, place a few panels directly between the monitors. Ok cool, sounds reasonable. However, my studio is in the corner of the room unfortunately. This means I have one speaker right in the corner which obviously means a wall to the left and behind. Reflections will be coming from this wall as well.

So given that i've spent a bucketload in the studio recently and money is therefore tight, I can do either behind the speakers or on the side wall.
Which do you suggest I do first?




EDIT: I suppose I could do a half arsed temporary job with only a few tiles on each. But aesthetically that would look rubbish and i'm a bit OCD with things like that

[mandolarian]

If you have a speaker placed right in the corner, a few tiles aren't going to help with the mid-bass room gain. Those thin little foams tiles only start to absorb in the upper midrange. If possible, position the speakers as far away from the corner/walls and close to you as possible. And consider making a bass trap to fill the corner. Do you have room pics/measurements?

[Mushy Mushy]

If you have a speaker placed right in the corner, a few tiles aren't going to help with the mid-bass room gain. Those thin little foams tiles only start to absorb in the upper midrange.

Interesting. Wasn't aware of that.

If possible, position the speakers as far away from the corner/walls and close to you as possible.

Unfortunately this isnt really possible, although they are maybe 10cm away from each wall. So definitely not bang up against it. Nevertheless not ideal I realise, although there is very little I can do about it.

Do you have room pics/measurements?

That would be helpful I'm sure. Will try to get a pic up in a few minutes.

[Mushy Mushy]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/y6nl4o5pzrzm2 ... 4%2006.jpg

Dont know why the pic doesnt link directly


Anyway, old pic but you get the er, picture.

Rear wall to window is two feet, into which 2 panels could fit.
Left monitor is ~10cm from each wall.
Right monitor is ~10cm from rear wall.

[contrary]

That is a small , challenging room . I would hazard a guess that a moderate amount of room correction eq could be in the cards even after some acoustic treatments have been applied ( especially for early reflections )...I can only suggest that you put a hold on further gear lust , save you $$$ for the next few months , find the stereophile and acoustics forums and read this before you make your next move .

http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Reproductio ... 731&sr=8-1


This place http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/ ( home theature Shack ) might not seem like an intuitive place to be , but there is Donationware room measuring program there that along with a $50 measurment mic ( small capsule omni) can be of great help in digging into reasons why mixes made in an environment do not translate . There is also a wealth of infos and whites papers over at the Genelec site .


The last so called words of wisdom I'd leave you with are these ; sound moves at something around 750 MPH. Nearfeild monitoring DOES NOT make the room a non-sequitor !!



Best of luck Mushy

[Eauson]

This article is quite interesting.
http://www.alexandermagazine.com/record ... 4/bass.htm

[mandolarian]

Dont know why the pic doesnt link directly

Anyway, old pic but you get the er, picture.

Rear wall to window is two feet, into which 2 panels could fit.
Left monitor is ~10cm from each wall.
Right monitor is ~10cm from rear wall.

Saw the pic. Haven't been able to stop the tears as easily.

You're going to get a wall of hurt. Or at least your left ear will. Ouch.

The quick and nasty workaround is to turn the desk so it fits in the corner diagonally. This won't solve the wall/window proximity issue, but could allow a more stable stereo image. It seems the speakers on stands, so you could move those closer to you and toe them in 20-30 degrees.

This diagonal desk arrangement would then allow you to insert a corner bass trap / wideband absorber, that you can build fairly cheaply and without many power tools. Or none at all with a little planning. (I can provide construction tips and links if you want)

If you must keep the speakers 10cm from the wall, then monitor on headphones and only turn on the speakers to annoy yourself and others. Don't bother with the foam 'acoustic' tiles. You need a wideband solution, which is $$$, unless you build it yourself.

Good luck with the studio 'reno'.

[Mushy Mushy]

a moderate amount of room correction eq could be in the cards even after some acoustic treatments have been applied

Agreed. IKMM ARC was/is next on the list. Need to get the room sorted first

read this
http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Reproductio ... 731&sr=8-1

Wicked. Found this on iTunes so will buy today. Much thanks

This place http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/ ( home theature Shack ) might not seem like an intuitive place to be , but there is Donationware room measuring program there that along with a $50 measurment mic ( small capsule omni) can be of great help in digging into reasons why mixes made in an environment do not translate

Great suggestion but I think i'll go with ARC. Clearly they know what they're doing in this area.

The last so called words of wisdom I'd leave you with are these ; sound moves at something around 750 MPH. Nearfeild monitoring DOES NOT make the room a non-sequitor !!

Yeah I know mate, but until I buy my own place i'm stuck with this unfortunately.

[Mushy Mushy]

Saw the pic. Haven't been able to stop the tears as easily.

You're going to get a wall of hurt. Or at least your left ear will. Ouch.

LOL. Thanks mate

The quick and nasty workaround is to turn the desk so it fits in the corner diagonally. This won't solve the wall/window proximity issue, but could allow a more stable stereo image. It seems the speakers on stands, so you could move those closer to you and toe them in 20-30 degrees.

This diagonal desk arrangement would then allow you to insert a corner bass trap / wideband absorber, that you can build fairly cheaply and without many power tools. Or none at all with a little planning. (I can provide construction tips and links if you want)

Unfortunately turning the desk isnt an option. Directly to the right of the desk is my Mackie 32:8 and then directly next to this is a wardrobe. I've thought long and hard about how I could reorganise everything and there are very few practical options

If you must keep the speakers 10cm from the wall, then monitor on headphones and only turn on the speakers to annoy yourself and others. Don't bother with the foam 'acoustic' tiles. You need a wideband solution, which is $$$, unless you build it yourself.

The funny thing is my current mixes arent terrible. They're not brilliant either, but I've been able to work around the current limitations. I will continue to work using monitors simply because I don't like using headphones. Thats just personal preference though.

Good luck with the studio 'reno'.

Thanks. This is turning out to be much harder than I thought

[Vintage73]

It seems a lot of us are stuck in corners.

Thankfully I'm a little further away from the very corner (~40cm), but I'm still pretty close, which is why I'll be building a dedicated music desk at an angle. Not everyone has that option, though.

ARC is in the cards for me, too.

[Hink]

I'm in a corner but thankfully the one wall I have to worry about is a half wall and the room my studio is in is also one step higher than the living room so my monitors are above the half wall.

mandolarian, the man to go to for sound treatment questions

[mandolarian]

Unfortunately turning the desk isnt an option. Directly to the right of the desk is my Mackie 32:8 and then directly next to this is a wardrobe. I've thought long and hard about how I could reorganise everything and there are very few practical options

Ok, you probably won't like my ceiling mount idea for the 32:8 either, so I won't mention it. But, how many precious inches can you move the desk to right? You could build a self-standing wideband absorber panel to cover the left wall. Or if you're set on Auralex, go for their VENUS or LENRD with VersaTile and/or Sunburst wideband products. Also consider moving the speakers forward too. Please. It's the humane thing to do.

[mandolarian]

I'm in a corner but thankfully the one wall I have to worry about is a half wall and the room my studio is in is also one step higher than the living room so my monitors are above the half wall.

mandolarian, the man to go to for sound treatment questions

Thanks, Hink! If you need questions about sound treatment, I'm you're guy. For answers, well, there's always more questions.