Hey @Triple7Music! Thanks for your insights, you’re totally right, I already gave up on the idea of using the LENRDs at least until I see how the DIY approach turns out. As mentioned above, the plan right now is to build 40x40x240cm (floor to ceiling) 4’’ rockwool traps held on wooden frames and fabric on 4 corners. I don’t expect to achieve a mint sounding studio but if I see some improvement, I’ll consider myself happy.
Just to be clear: the room is already treated with 2 large (120cmx200cm) 4’’ rockwool panels (wooden frame and fabric covered) slightly angled on the ceiling, the same set in the back wall and 5cm Sonex diffusors on the side walls and behind the monitors, but leaving the corners and angles untreated was deffo a bad idea.
PS.: Despite all the “Absolutely dead” and the “Elements is murder” (which it is) stuff, this is what makes me gotta LOVE this community. Really greateful, guys!
40x40cm traps will be good. 50x50 even better. Don’t squeeze the rockwool into the frame. Just loosely Don’t use high density rockwool. This is normally recommended but that’s assuming that bass traps will be 4" thick. If you go higher than 6" in thickness, low (fluffy) rockwool is best for very low frequencies. Good luck.
I just quickly put this in the calc. which compares different acoustic materials. The green curve is the high desity rockwool. As you can see, lower density is dramatically better below 100Hz.
It’s weird you mentioned about acoustic treatment but you did not mentioned what is your Monitor speakers. If you’re mostly doing it on a headphones, those treatment you described are useless.
Tell more about the speakers, so that we know the characteristic of the frequencies, depends on the model, size, placements, etc, etc…
For me, it’s not always about absorbers, diffusers. How close to the wall are the speakers, is it sit on your desk, or is it on a speaker stand. These kind of things will also improve your listening experience too.
Is there any hi-pass filter on your speakers? did you use active sub?
So if bass trap won’t help, try to move your speaker monitors away from the wall if possible.
If it’s not possible, it might be the time to get a new pairs that suite your needs. Perhaps, you can compare with specs first before buying.
Sometimes, It doesn’t make sense if you spent more money for treatment over your monitor.
So this is just my opinion. Other producers i’ve read in forums, in this kind of situation are simply end up using other speakers.
Well, needless to say if I was only mixing with headphones I wouldn’t even had started this topic. I assume you would have read about the size of my room, so you can imagine I don’t have a really broad range of options to place my monitors or have an optimal distance from the walls. Also, I’m not going after a AAA mastering room, but just want to improve a bit the current conditions described above.
That said: I use a pair of Yamaha HS-5 and here you can check their frequency response. They are closer to the walls than I would like to but I really don’t have that much range to move them much further. I don’t use a sub pack.
Here’s a VERY rough, merely illustrative, diagram of my room with its current treatment:
The speakers are in stands with a thin acoustic absorber base. The transparent red rectangles are 4’’ rockwool panels (the ones in the ceiling are slightly angled) and the black panels behind the monitors and on the side walls are Sonex diffusors. My idea was to break the corners with floor to ceiling self-built low density rockwool corner traps mounted on wooden frames and covered with fabric, hoping that it would improve a bit. In a latter stage I may consider Auralex corner absorbers for the ceiling-wall junctions but I want to see where do I get with the DIY approach first, as @criskcracker and @Triple7Music suggested.
I kind of like my current speakers (have tried others before and these are quite nice and flat within the budget I can afford) and I think the size is appropriate for the room, but I don’t know, do you have any thoughts or gear recommendation in this regard? I also doubt that top-of-the-line speakers would make any difference in my current listening environment.
Auralex and vicoustic stuff won’t do much, make these areas as thick as you can with 70-90% density rockwool. And if possible leave a 5-10cm gap between the wall and panels, will help absorption.
Hey there guys! I must admit I haven’t found enough time to build the traps yet, but it’s definitely on the top of my to-do’s list. Actually right now I’m sharing a project with a colleague that is really versed in room acoustics and also quite a handy-man so I’m planning to ask him for a little help.
I promise I’ll share the outcome of this journey and some pics as soon as possible.
Looking at the shape and dimensions of the spare room you’ve got… I’d myself rather invest in a pair of high-end studio headphones, plus some software like Waves NX. That space is a textbook no-no for mixing/mastering.
