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Building my own little studio, need some resources

Dietz - excellent advise!! I'm not sure everyone has an easy time deciding when it is no longer a hobby... in fact I suspect that is when once can least afford it?

Here's my thing, and I feel somewhat alone when I say it, but there is so much bad advice on the internet. I no longer suggest it as a first source to folks who are trying to learn. And even with that there are books filled with nonsense.

So I end up repeating myself about studying the masters - Newell, Rettinger, Olson, Giddings, Beranek, and Cooper are my go-to authors, there are others.

I also advice that anyone with any interest put in the effort to learn something about the acoustics of small critical listening spaces. Even if you then choose to hire a designer you will be in a much better position to evaluate their philosophy and bias, and you will learn even more.
 
Okay, I have to say more about that "hobby" word.

Of the professional composers on this forum who make a living writing music - and there are quite a few - how many work in rooms that were designed professionally? And I'm not even talking about people like me who have worked a fair amount over the years but are prostitutes on the side.

I can tell you that of the ones I know in Los Angeles, both the percentage and number are incredibly low. Without dropping names, I can tell you that these are professionals with major film and network television credits.

Project studios are usually rooms in people's houses!
 
Project studios are usually rooms in people's houses!
Same here, same here, in my own place. Still professionally planned. :)

I worked with quite a few professional (and successful) composers / musicians who started out on a DIY-approach. During these collaborations I pestered all of them to invest in their respective listening environments. Once they got their working rooms right, they couldn't believe themselves what they missed before, and how much easier, more efficient and - most of all - how joyful they got stuff done.

And the best thing about it: Properly done acoustics don't need permanent upgrades. ;)
 
All joking aside (I was going to mention the obligatory pic of Pat sajak), make sure the balance control is correct on your audio interface before doing anything. I had an interface that had a bias when the control said evenly balanced. There was actually a hard wired problem with it from the factory. I wonder how common this is?!
 
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All joking aside (I was going to mention the obligatory pic of Pat sajak), make sure the balance is correct on your audio interface before doing anything. I had an interface that had a bias when the control said evenly balanced. There was actually a hard wired problem with it from the factory. I wonder how common this is?!
what do you mean with balance? Left right? Balanced output?
 
All joking aside (I was going to mention the obligatory pic of Pat sajak), make sure the balance control is correct on your audio interface before doing anything. I had an interface that had a bias when the control said evenly balanced. There was actually a hard wired problem with it from the factory. I wonder how common this is?!
I think this is no common problem. What can be problematic i the effective balance you get in your sweat spot. Sonarworks tells me my right side is louder by 1db. May be due to the room, speakers, who knowd
 
good advice here.

I only want to add: In the Netherlands, there are several people who can help you in real life. Send me a PM where you are if you want to connect. I'm not going to help you directly but I know some companies who could help you.

In the Netherlands:
There are composers who completely pimped their living room with good acoustics and custom-built studio furniture.
Others built complete studios.
Also others work from IKEA desks and cheap speakers without any acoustical treatment.

All of the above make great music and have success.

I would really advise you to budget good ergonomics and a proper backup system for your work.
 
Save the money on excessive acoustic configurations and get Sonarworks. It is far cheaper and will normalize your frequency response far better than you can do manually for 10x the price in a "little room". Every purist will tell you to set up the room properly, and you should, but you need to keep an eye on your wallet, and look at what gets you bang for the buck. An ideal physical set-up is something you can only get in a real studio control room where the pricetags are much higher (and you have legitimate wall/ceiling geometry to work with, instead of a box or rectangle)

Do every bit you can physically and acoustically for free or on the super cheap (stuff like, point the speakers correctly, measure placement and match suggested ratios), and then let a calibration like Sonarworks fix the rest.
 
Save the money on excessive acoustic configurations and get Sonarworks. It is far cheaper and will normalize your frequency response far better than you can do manually for 10x the price in a "little room". Every purist will tell you to set up the room properly, and you should, but you need to keep an eye on your wallet, and look at what gets you bang for the buck. An ideal physical set-up is something you can only get in a real studio control room where the pricetags are much higher (and you have legitimate wall/ceiling geometry to work with, instead of a box or rectangle)

Do every bit you can physically and acoustically for free or on the super cheap (stuff like, point the speakers correctly, measure placement and match suggested ratios), and then let a calibration like Sonarworks fix the rest.
Thanks for this advice. Besides Physical room treatment being quite expensive, it is also very time consuming to analyse, make choices and then proceed to buy or make the right stuff. Considering all this, sonarworks isn't that expensive at all..
 
DO NOT buy foam. Foam has an extremely low price/performance ratio. It might look cool, but that's about it. It falls off drastically at 500 Hz and you're left with all the boom below. Instead buy mineral wool. Owens Corning / Rockwool (US/EU) is cheaper than foam, and performs infinitely better. Get industrial grade if you can (RW3 if I recall correctly—the name may vary in different countries so look up the specs). ~50kg/m3 is the average that you can safely aim at. Get lower densities if you can spare more space and make thicker absorbers. I got all the RW3 I needed for $300 or so.

They're usually sold in slabs of 120x60cm with a thickness of your choice. I went with 5cm, so I just stuck 2 slabs together to make absorbers for early reflections. I went for 15cm and expanded the height to 140cm (cut and stuck in the frame in a zig-zag pattern). The big floor-to-ceiling bass traps in my corners are 20cm with an airgap behind them. For the early reflection ones and the ones on the back wall, your best bet is to have at least half of the thickness of the panel in distance from the wall. Shelf brackets are a cheap and easy solution for mounting them and securing whatever distance you need.

The Mineral wool health risks?
Whether it is safe for our health?.., so we will breathe with this every day:)

I came across this article here
What is mineral wool and what are the health concerns?

Anyway I also just ordered a plates of mineral wool as I liked the idea of a sound insulation:)
aaronventure, did you covered plates with some cotton sheet like tablecloths etc...which material is better to use?
 
Buy rigid slabs, not fluffy. Camira Cara is an "acoustic fabric" and some acoustic panel manufacturers will use that, but I've used microfibre cloth. If you wish to double wrap it, sure. But never naked and never fluffy.

I've seen a lot of wall mounted foam that would shed particles if you pressed it or went over it with your hand, so I'd be more worried about that.
 
Hello ThomasNL

Actually, it's all said. Of course, it would be great if you could invest 90% for the room and the remaining 20% (110%) for the equipment à la Dietz. But you wrote about your "little room".
That's why you will never reach the recommended studio of Dietz - if only because of the "little".

The main disadvantages of "little":
  1. There will be problems reproducing the really low frequencies. Simply because your room can't even come close to reproducing the long waves without them being refracted, reflected and mirrored many times.
  2. You will probably have to place your monitors quite close to walls. That means a lot of reflections...

So it will be a matter of achieving an optimum in your circumstances and doing it the way maybe 80% of hobby studio operators do.
This will probably include: bass traps in the corners, acoustic damping on the walls near the monitors, buying monitors that are suitable for the near field, for sure. If the monitors are placed within 80cm-1m the acoustic problems of the room are less important. If the monitors are very close to the ear, you should also consider using coaxial monitors. So bass and treble arrive at the ear at the same time...

And yes, maybe it would be worthwhile to have an acoustic studio do an analysis. Sometimes these are even free of charge. I mean, that https://hofa-akustik.de/en/advice/ (HOFA for example offers something like that). In any case, you should always measure again after "optimizations." This way you will be able to slowly approach the optimum.
An important point will then be to know what the weaknesses of your configuration are so that you make few wrong decisions.

All the best
Beat
 
If I were going to buy insulation, I'd use recycled denim instead of fiberglass. I've used it as padding for a wristrest, and it's easy to deal with. There's no risk of fiberglass fibers. Do a search for "recycled denim insulation."

Also, I remember reading that it's good at absorbing soundwaves.
 
If I were going to buy insulation, I'd use recycled denim instead of fiberglass. I've used it as padding for a wristrest, and it's easy to deal with. There's no risk of fiberglass fibers. Do a search for "recycled denim insulation."
Also, I remember reading that it's good at absorbing soundwaves.

thanks Nick for that info!

wow... it's definitely captivates me personally, since right now I'm in the process of refitting my small room. I wonder if there are those lucky guys who have already done a great studio from that material.

here is some info what interested me in Recycled denim:

  • Better indoor acoustics. Denim insulation's acoustic ratings are about 30 percent higher than those for traditional insulation, creating a quieter interior for homeowners.
  • Better indoor air quality. Recycled denim contains no volatile organic compounds or formaldehyde, which off-gas and pollute a home's indoor air.
  • Improved health and safety. Installing recycled denim doesn't irritate the skin or the respiratory tract. Moreover, the product requires no carcinogenic warning label. Typically, this insulation is treated with an EPA-approved borate solution that provides a Class A fire-resistance rating, which certifies a product as effective against severe exposure to external fires, not readily flammable and not a contributor to the spread of fire. (Borate has lower toxicity than table salt and is safe for humans and the environment.) It's also treated with an EPA-registered fungal inhibitor for additional protection against mold, mildew and pests.
A downside to installing recycled denim insulation is that it can cost twice as much as fiberglass for similar insulation effectiveness. Environmental engineers agree, however, that the benefits of removing asthma- and allergy-triggering toxins from a home's indoor air outweigh the increased expense.
 
after many consideration, I decided to get Basotect BASF (melamine foam), of course it is more expensive, but less of potential health risks than Rockwool and it's very easy to work with.
 
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