Advice on acoustic treatment of NYC apt, control room only

[touched1]

Greetings all,
I've done the searches of Tape op and other boards.. I'm looking for success stories and advice on turning a small room in a NYC apt into a control room style room.

I am well aware that without serious construction to the room, I cannot "soundproof" the room. I am however looking to minimize sound and vibration traveling from this room to the rest of the building.

The house is a 2 story brick 2 family dewlling, us on the 2nd floor, the landlord's family on the first, with their sleeping quarters in their finished basement.

The studio, which will be used primarily for direct recording, and mixing, is in a 9x9 square room connected to a living area by french doors, and the rest of the apt via a nice wooden door. It has one 3x4 window and a closet.
There is no one above me or on any side of the walls, just the landlord's family below me. The floors are hardwood, presently with no covering of any kind.

I do some bass heavy music (some would call it dub) that I monitor through a pair of Genelec 1030's. No subwoofer.

No drums will be tracked, but it would be nice to use my marshal combo occasionally.

I can spend about $500 on acoustic treatment. I was thinking of purchasing.

Carpeting + foam for the floor
Stands + foam for the speakers
Foam tiles + corner bass traps for the walls
Drapes or other heavy material for the doors
Drapes or foam for the window

Beyond that, I'm not sure what to do. I don't think construction is an option.

Any advice, and stories of what worked for other people in similar situations would be gratly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jason

http://www.saucerx.com/teledubgnosis/

[jajjguy]

There's a lot you can do to help the sound of the room, but very little you can do to keep from disturbing the neighbors. Making sure the doors seal and stuff will help for mid and high frequencies, but the low stuff will travel mainly through the structures. If you can isolate the speakers from the structure of the house, that'll help, like putting them on a foam pad like a GRAMMA (see recent review in TapeOp). But really, the most effective way to approach this is to find out what times of what days you can play without disturbing them. Do they play softball on Saturday afternoons? Good luck.

[touched1]

Thanks for the response, I'll have another look at the latest Tapeop.

I think my landlord and I have similar schedules, so I'll have to work while he's home unfortuntely.

As far as isolating the speakers from the foundation, putting them on stands with foam under them should help right?

Ugh!! Someday I'll have a rock compound and make all the noise I want.

[Flight Feathers]

hey jason,

i am doing pretty much the same thing you are. i put up a bunch of Sonex foam up agains the back wall (the one the speakers are facing). that really helps cut down on the high frequencies and overall liveness of the room. i also have hardwood floors and a flat drywall ceiling, instead of carpeting, i was thinking of draping cloth accross the ceiling because i like the look of the floors. the room really needs bass traps, that's next. you can see some pictures here: http://www.5dstudios.com/studio/

where in the city are you? i'm in park slope.

later
ayan

[touched1]

Hi Ayan,

I'd love to keep the hardwoods, but that looks to be one of the major culprits in the transmission of low frequencies. I think I'll try this
http://www.hsfacoustics.com/studiopacks.htm
to minimize reflections, but I don't know what to do about the bass.

Everything I read says construction is the only way, and it's not an option for me.

Just moved to Windsor Terrace from Greenpoint. It's nice out here, but I have to give up the workspace I had in Williamsburg, where noise was not an issue.

Nice looking studio by the way. i love my Joe Meek stuff.

Jason