FLAT response in studio's

I'm starting a serious DIY room treatment project soon and would love to hear some stories about this process in treating a mastering studio. I think we all understand just how critical a flat response is for a mastering studio so I'm sure the associated (horror?) stories could be entertaining.

I wont be doing any remodeling so half inch drywall over typical construction is the listening box. Adding another layer of half inch drywall would be a nightmare in this room which is open to many areas and 17 feet high.

My first steps will involve minimizing flutter echo and early reflections. I will be using Owens Corning select sound black acoustic board if I can find it. Framework will be 1.5 inch pine finished with cloth. I have no idea what type of cloth is best to use yet. Some cloth reflects sound waves nearly as well as drywall. The caveat is everything I use to cover the treatments needs to "blend" with decor. Oh the joy!

I have large 2" blinds covering the windows already which in theory diffuse sound. This is important because my speakers are closer to the left side of the room.

The final step (I hope) will be finding the right test CD's for full range response tests. Not sure which disc's to get yet. I will probably adjust my rear wall treatments based on frequency sweeps from 200 cycles up. For the bass region I will hopefully (yea right) be near flat to begin with however as I understand it now, tube traps are the best way to eliminate resonate peaks in bass response.

Should be an interesting project. I would love some tips and cant wait to hear stories about setting up a mastering studio!

Vedric

 

You might find some articles by Jon Risch useful. He is the Cable Forum moderator over at Audio Asylum and posts extensively on a number of audio subjects at AA.

http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/a.htm

I'm not sure that the acoustic requirements of a mastering studio match those of building a decent hifi room at home.

For the really committed, the lowdown on Winston Ma's room (FIM) is awesome reading.

Part 1 - http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue1/mainterview.htm

Part 2 - http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue2/mapart2.htm

Part 3 - http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue3/maroom.htm

Photos - http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue3/maroom2.htm

Regards,
Geoff

 

Wow that's one incredible room and system. I would love to hear it.

I've looked over the Jon Risch stuff. I will likely purchase my tube traps. My panels will actually be wall mounted and fabric covered using a completely different absorbing material. 1" or 2" thick acoustic board from Owens Corning, unless there is something better to use which I'm unaware of. Anyone? Here is the link to the acoustic board.

http://www.owenscorning.com/around/sound/commercial_acoustics/BLACKAC1.PDF

The fabric information in Jon Risch's article was helpful. Thanks! I honestly thought I would get more responses. I can hear what seems like a 3 - 6 db peak in my room at around 80 - 120 hz. Only one area with significant standing waves that i can detect by walking around. I still need to get test disc's and measure for this but I would bet what I'm hearing is fairly accurate. Still not sure which discs are best to use. Stereophile's information on their test disc's is rather vague. Oh the irony!

Thanks for the reply Metralla.

Vedric