How can i make my room sound better?

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surf's up
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How can i make my room sound better?

Post by surf's up » Wed May 10, 2006 10:20 pm

yeah, I hate to pose such a vague and dreadfully unaswerable question, but I thougt Id see what sort of advice you kind folks might have for my situation.

I am forced to track and mix in one small-medium room (14.5 ft X 11.25 ft w/ 10 ft ceiling that slants down to about 8 feet at one end). I added a considerable number 703 panels into the wall-wall corners and directly on the walls to give some absorption, which tightened up the low frequencies some and helped a lot compared to the room's raw sound. I still am not fully pleased with the way the room sounds for tracking. I realize I can only do so much with what resources I have, but I know it can be better than it is now. I have problems with flutter echoes and just the general "live sound" of the room. I dont mind a dead sounding room as i can always use other ways to generate ambience, but im concerned that merely beefing up the absorption might not really do anything about the fundamental problems of the room design.

I recently acquired some MiniTraps for better bass absorption, eventually hoping to have 2 in each of the 3 corners, and was thinking of moving my exisiting 703 "bass traps" to the walls to cover more square footage and get better absorption overall (flipping them around so the foil faces inward first of course).

Im also intrigued by the idea of some diffusion though. I know it is often said diffusion is ineffective in smaller rooms. Is it pretty much something I should forget about until I can move into a new space or might there be some usse for some kind of homebrew diffusor here?

also, there is particularly nasty spot in the appx 2.5 X 2 doorwell area. i cant put a bass trap in the corner or the door would not be able to open, but there is a noticable ugly echo in that region and id like to tame it...perhpas just adding absorption to the walls of the doorwell?

Also, there is a little ledge near the ceiling above one of the walls i guess for plants or pictures or whatever normal people put in ther bedroom? im thinking of just tossing some blankets and pillows up there to tame it a bit...I started already.

sorry this post came out mostly as rambling non-sense I know ill mostly just have to try shit until it sounds better, just wondering if any smarter minds have any ideas or solutions. here are some (poorly taken) pics of the room to give you a somewhat better idea of what im working with. i am in the process of moving some of the panels around, just trying to decide where and how.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b192/ ... /room1.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b192/ ... /room2.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b192/ ... /room3.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b192/ ... /room4.jpg

myfipie
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Post by myfipie » Thu May 11, 2006 3:54 am

It sounds like to me you are heading in the right direction, but let me ask. How did you build the panels that you have in the corners? Are they 4 " thick? Do you have wood backs on them? How many do you have?
It sound like you did not straddle the corners? You really need to straddle corners to hit the low end.

Glenn
GIK Acoustics
www.gikacoustics.com

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surf's up
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Post by surf's up » Thu May 11, 2006 8:11 am

the panels i used in the corners were 4" (2 back to back pieces of 703), straddling the corner, stacked from floor to ceiling. the were just the 703 with fabric covering them, no frame. I have decided to go with MiniTraps for all the corners instead though.

myfipie
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Post by myfipie » Thu May 11, 2006 8:20 am

surf's up wrote:the panels i used in the corners were 4" (2 back to back pieces of 703), straddling the corner, stacked from floor to ceiling. the were just the 703 with fabric covering them, no frame. I have decided to go with MiniTraps for all the corners instead though.
Sounds good. I am sure Ethan Winer will be more then happy to help you out with room set up.

Glenn
GIK Acoustics
www.gikacoustics.com

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Ethan Winer
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Re: How can i make my room sound better?

Post by Ethan Winer » Thu May 11, 2006 12:31 pm

> I know it is often said diffusion is ineffective in smaller rooms. <

Yeah, that would be a waste of money and effort for a room that size. And good diffusors are not trivial to build. Really, you're much better off sticking with absorption.

From the rest of your post it seems you have a good handle on things.

--Ethan

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