# (help) Turning my large concrete basement into a control room



## Kiddcabbage (Sep 25, 2012)

Hello,

I started this conversation on the REW forums and was advised to take this conversation to the acoustics forum.

We just moved into a new townhome (which we're renting, so no renovations are doable), and I'm left with the concrete basement to turn into my mixing control room. On the plus side, it's a lot of space, so I can do close-mic recording in here, but on the other hand, boy is this room an echo chamber.

Luckily I have a friend who is well-endowed with spare OC703 panels (2" thick) and he's letting me use a ridiculous amount (probably about 55 1'x4'x2" panels) of 703 to try to treat my room. I also have 8 4'x2'x2" Roxul SafeNSound panels that I made (2" thick over 3" air). And also at my disposal are 2 bags of Roxul R-15, which isn't the best acoustic material as far as I know, but I can just stack it heavy in my corners.

So let me talk about the room itself... (I'll include a floor layout of the room because I'm sure my explanation will not suffice...). It is all concrete, as I said, aside from the ceiling, which is uninsulated wooden beams. Assuming you've looked at the floor sketch, then you'll see that the stairs split the room in half and I've taken to the more symmetrical right half of the room, length-wise. I'm currently hanging 703 panels in almost a full half-shell around my desk, about a foot and a half from the walls (left wall excluded, which is about 16' from the left wall. There is about 18" clearance above and below the panels. I also have 3 of my SafeNSound panels hanging directly over my desk, to absorb signals that would bounce around in my wooden beams above me.

Layout of the room (not attached due to size):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4xumqp20xepzoku/basement layout.JPG?dl=0







Here are some pictures of the desk (minus the panels above the desk):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rc5nsue6zsymuuh/treatment1.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3dug3ufzzxqvli8/treatment2.JPG?dl=0

And here's REW data that I used to test the room before and after my current treatment (the 6' and 6' treated measurements):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lqvwuxu9y5ygnl9/Basement room data.mdat?dl=0

Anyway, I'm kind of at a loss for how I might better use the acoustic material I have at my disposal to create a more controlled environment. I've tamed the RT60 of the room a bit, and definitely hear less early reflections, but I still have a big tail in the room that I would like to avoid as best I can.

With the information I've given (and if you need more, I'm happy to give it), how might I more effectively create a better mixing environment.



Below I've attached frequency curves of the room from each speaker and an average of both speakers.
Attachment key:
Left speaker: green is before treatment, red is after.
Right speaker: Purple is before treatment, green is after.
Average: Pink is before treatment, blue is after.


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

While a bit unorthodox, I would try turning 45 degrees and face into what is now your right front corner. The complete lack of symmetry and no way to get any really leaves no other option. Gotta get the starting position right first before you can even think about fixing frequency response.


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## Kiddcabbage (Sep 25, 2012)

If I take down all my paneling and do this, what sort of measurements will best help me tell whether this is an improvement or not?


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## GPS (Sep 24, 2013)

Hi, I took a look at your REW files and it looks like you are getting a strong reflection from the wall directly behind the seating position. If you look at the impulse you can see a reflection at 50ms and a smaller one at around 115ms. The first reflection is from a wall at a distance of around 28feet from the mic. Try putting some absorption on the wall directly behind the seating position to reduce that reflection.


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## Kiddcabbage (Sep 25, 2012)

I've got all weekend to work on this room, and I'd like to restart from scratch.

This may sound amateur (and it is), but are there any guides on here for how I might use REW with a 2.1 system to find the best speaker/listening position before I come back about options from there?


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