Speaker placement & acoustic treatment in a loft

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mandolin
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Speaker placement & acoustic treatment in a loft

Post by mandolin » Tue Jan 19, 2016 12:07 pm

Hello there,

I'm mixing on Focal CMS 50s (planning on getting the CMS sub in the near future) and moving from a small mix room to a 700 square foot loft space with roughly 12-13ft wood celings. I have 4 DIY roxul safe and sound absorber panels (4ft X 2ft), a wooden desk, a rug and iso Acoustic stands for the Focals.

Any suggestions for placement of DIY absorbers or other acoustic treatments to add?

Here's a very rough sketch of how I think things will be laid out.

Image

Cheers,
Todd

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JWL
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Post by JWL » Tue Jan 19, 2016 5:57 pm

Sketch didn't show up.

How thick are your panels? If they are at least 4" thick then you can use them as corner bass traps. If they are less than that you can use them at reflection points on the side walls and ceiling.

For basics on room setup, see:
http://realtraps.com/art_room-setup.htm

For basic treatment strategies, see:
http://realtraps.com/art_basics.htm

When I see the sketch I may have some follow-up advice.

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Nick Sevilla
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Re: Speaker placement & acoustic treatment in a loft

Post by Nick Sevilla » Wed Jan 20, 2016 11:52 am

mandolin wrote:Hello there,

I'm mixing on Focal CMS 50s (planning on getting the CMS sub in the near future) and moving from a small mix room to a 700 square foot loft space with roughly 12-13ft wood celings. I have 4 DIY roxul safe and sound absorber panels (4ft X 2ft), a wooden desk, a rug and iso Acoustic stands for the Focals.

Any suggestions for placement of DIY absorbers or other acoustic treatments to add?

Here's a very rough sketch of how I think things will be laid out.

Image

Cheers,
Todd
That is a LOT of kitchen area. LOL.

Anyhoo... swap the living room area with your studio, place your desk against the right wall oon the picture, nearer the windows, but not all the way there, maybe about 1/3 left over between your middle of your desk, and that windowed wall on the top of the picture. Confused? Hope not.

As to your panels, just place them behind your desk studio, between the living room area and your studio area. It should be better this way, at least your guests will walk right inot the living room area, and not right into your studio area.

Plus you'll have a longer throw of sound going this way. And you'll have the coffee pot nearer your right hand... and snacks. SNACKS MAN.

Cheers
Howling at the neighbors. Hoping they have more mic cables.

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joninc
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Post by joninc » Wed Jan 20, 2016 12:37 pm

a simple way to think of it is follow a straight line from your monitors to their nearest point of reflection - you want to place things here. bookshelfs would work good diffusion on the walls behind you and the absorbers on the ceiling above your listening position (between you and the monitors).
the new rules : there are no rules

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JWL
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Post by JWL » Wed Jan 20, 2016 1:43 pm

Ah, for some reason the pic isn't showing up in the post but when I click on it I can see it in a new tab.

I like Nick's idea of traps on stands around your setup, wherever you go with it.

If that was my room I would consider facing the left wall, in the bedroom area, so that the setup is centered between the left & right walls. I think that would give the most ideal results acoustically. But using the strategy of traps on stands make placement in the room less important.

Also, if I may be pedantic for a moment, bookshelves are NOT diffusors. They are better than a flat wall in that they will break up some reflections, but diffusion is different and much harder to implement, in which sound is scattered evenly in all directions. Diffusion has a sound of its own and doesn't happen accidentally. Details here:
http://realtraps.com/video_diffusors.htm
http://realtraps.com/video_hearing.htm

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joninc
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Post by joninc » Wed Jan 20, 2016 5:40 pm

JWL wrote:
Also, if I may be pedantic for a moment, bookshelves are NOT diffusors. They are better than a flat wall in that they will break up some reflections, but diffusion is different and much harder to implement, in which sound is scattered evenly in all directions. Diffusion has a sound of its own and doesn't happen accidentally. Details here:
right - this is this dude's apartment or home - it's clearly not a pro studio with mega bucks into treatments, a bookshelf is way better than nothing and probably something
a lot of people have in their apartment. it will keep the sound from bouncing directly back which will help.

some is better than none.
the new rules : there are no rules

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