You can have all the best gear in the world in a studio, but none of it matters if the room sounds bad.
And most rooms sound very bad, especially in home studios. Sure, they can look great, and cool, and be loaded with gear. None of that matters except as eye candy. It does nothing for the gear.
Not only is very bad a bad thing, even slightly bad is a bad thing. None of the gear matters if you can't hear it accurately!
And every room that isn't designed for acoustics has problems in MANY frequencies with suck-outs and standing waves, and will not give you an accurate picture of what's really happening with your work. That's why it's hard to get mixes to translate to other rooms, your car, your headphones, and wherever else you listen to music.
In world class facilities, people spend millions on acoustics, special construction, hire acousticians, measure everything, spend 100K on monitoring systems, have the room measured and EQ'd several times a year, etc., etc. That's easy.
But in most studio spaces, there isn't anywhere near the budget for even 'close but no cigar' let alone 'great'.
In the last year or two I've spent a lot of time and energy with acoustics in my studio space. I've run pink noise tests. I've used measurement mics. I've invested in lots of bass traps and first reflection control. And I've been both hoping I got it right, and thinking maybe I do have it right after extended listening tests.
But that's just been my opinion. The proof is in the pudding.
I have a friend who's not only the best composer I have ever worked with on projects, he has a studio that's as well-equipped as a world class facility, with gear that makes your ears water. He's been in the business longer than I have, and I've always valued his input on all things music and audio. His work is astounding.
The sound quality of his work is also wonderful, and like me he has plenty of experience working in world class facilities and knows what they're supposed to sound like.
Last week he asked me to work with him on a project, and in the course of the work came over to my place on Saturday.
He hadn't visited since I really began my acoustical treatment journey. He recently tore out & replaced his old acoustical treatment, flooring, etc., and reoriented his mix position, so as things often happen he's been interested again in acoustics and monitoring solutions.
As we were working, he said, "This room sounds like a mastering suite. It's great, I can hear every detail."
He wanted the details on how I did it.
Honestly, clients have been over, and have liked the sound quality, but they don't have much of a frame of reference compared to folks who live in the studio 24/7 as my friend and I do. So I was really excited that he made that comment! It was all the proof I need that the room is finally worthy.
I have to give much credit to Ethan Winer at RealTraps, who helped me figure out how to solve the problems with certain frequencies, bass build up and suck outs, reflection points, etc.
But...what the heck...I'll also give myself a pat on the back for following through with it and putting together an accurate monitoring system.
So...why is the room working well now? A few things that work together. You want to treat both the front and back of the room. It's important to find the right location for any acoustical panels you're using, hang them at the right height, and listen, listen, listen to every single change in the configuration. Walk around with an SPL meter as pink noise is coming out of the monitors, and measure various locations where bass is building up or being sucked out. Put the monitors at the right height, the right distance from the side and front walls, position them properly, and measure and listen again.
This process has taken me years. I've made every mistake in the book along the way! But I've been persistent in aiming for a good sounding room to work in.
I use a combination of reflection absorbers, bass traps, and diffusion. I've tried to set up the room as symmetrically as I can, and where I can't, I've used acoustical treatment as well as I can in order to minimize asymmetry. I've put the monitors in a good spot.
Is the room perfect? No. In any room standing waves in the low frequencies are a problem due to simple physics, so you can stand in different spots in the room and hear differences in bass depending on where you are. But from the mix position, the problems are minimal, and I've been able to minimize the standing wave problems in other parts of the room. A proper acoustically designed room - not talking soundproofing here, we're talking the physics of how the audio bounces around inside a room - will sound a bit more accurate.
Here are shots of both sides of the room, the mix area and the recording area (it's one large room, about 33' x 14'). You can see how I've hung the acoustic treatment. The front hasn't changed much in a year, but the back has changed a lot.
Back of room:
Front:
And most rooms sound very bad, especially in home studios. Sure, they can look great, and cool, and be loaded with gear. None of that matters except as eye candy. It does nothing for the gear.
Not only is very bad a bad thing, even slightly bad is a bad thing. None of the gear matters if you can't hear it accurately!
And every room that isn't designed for acoustics has problems in MANY frequencies with suck-outs and standing waves, and will not give you an accurate picture of what's really happening with your work. That's why it's hard to get mixes to translate to other rooms, your car, your headphones, and wherever else you listen to music.
In world class facilities, people spend millions on acoustics, special construction, hire acousticians, measure everything, spend 100K on monitoring systems, have the room measured and EQ'd several times a year, etc., etc. That's easy.
But in most studio spaces, there isn't anywhere near the budget for even 'close but no cigar' let alone 'great'.
In the last year or two I've spent a lot of time and energy with acoustics in my studio space. I've run pink noise tests. I've used measurement mics. I've invested in lots of bass traps and first reflection control. And I've been both hoping I got it right, and thinking maybe I do have it right after extended listening tests.
But that's just been my opinion. The proof is in the pudding.
I have a friend who's not only the best composer I have ever worked with on projects, he has a studio that's as well-equipped as a world class facility, with gear that makes your ears water. He's been in the business longer than I have, and I've always valued his input on all things music and audio. His work is astounding.
The sound quality of his work is also wonderful, and like me he has plenty of experience working in world class facilities and knows what they're supposed to sound like.
Last week he asked me to work with him on a project, and in the course of the work came over to my place on Saturday.
He hadn't visited since I really began my acoustical treatment journey. He recently tore out & replaced his old acoustical treatment, flooring, etc., and reoriented his mix position, so as things often happen he's been interested again in acoustics and monitoring solutions.
As we were working, he said, "This room sounds like a mastering suite. It's great, I can hear every detail."
He wanted the details on how I did it.
Honestly, clients have been over, and have liked the sound quality, but they don't have much of a frame of reference compared to folks who live in the studio 24/7 as my friend and I do. So I was really excited that he made that comment! It was all the proof I need that the room is finally worthy.
I have to give much credit to Ethan Winer at RealTraps, who helped me figure out how to solve the problems with certain frequencies, bass build up and suck outs, reflection points, etc.
But...what the heck...I'll also give myself a pat on the back for following through with it and putting together an accurate monitoring system.
So...why is the room working well now? A few things that work together. You want to treat both the front and back of the room. It's important to find the right location for any acoustical panels you're using, hang them at the right height, and listen, listen, listen to every single change in the configuration. Walk around with an SPL meter as pink noise is coming out of the monitors, and measure various locations where bass is building up or being sucked out. Put the monitors at the right height, the right distance from the side and front walls, position them properly, and measure and listen again.
This process has taken me years. I've made every mistake in the book along the way! But I've been persistent in aiming for a good sounding room to work in.
I use a combination of reflection absorbers, bass traps, and diffusion. I've tried to set up the room as symmetrically as I can, and where I can't, I've used acoustical treatment as well as I can in order to minimize asymmetry. I've put the monitors in a good spot.
Is the room perfect? No. In any room standing waves in the low frequencies are a problem due to simple physics, so you can stand in different spots in the room and hear differences in bass depending on where you are. But from the mix position, the problems are minimal, and I've been able to minimize the standing wave problems in other parts of the room. A proper acoustically designed room - not talking soundproofing here, we're talking the physics of how the audio bounces around inside a room - will sound a bit more accurate.
Here are shots of both sides of the room, the mix area and the recording area (it's one large room, about 33' x 14'). You can see how I've hung the acoustic treatment. The front hasn't changed much in a year, but the back has changed a lot.
Back of room:
Front:
