My recording room: A short and painful horror story, with a graph

[Monkey Man]

using near-field monitors for mixing may not be effected by the room as much, unless the sound is bouncing around?

Yup. Also keeping the volume levels low will further take the room out of the equation.

Slate VSX. Look into it. It's about to get a huge version 5.0 update sometime in October too.

... or Waves Nx.

I was going to suggest this route as arguably the easiest. Will probably give the best results too.

 

[nightlight]

using near-field monitors for mixing may not be effected by the room as much, unless the sound is bouncing around?

Carpet on the floor, and makeshift traps using blankets over the wall, a few inches away or behind you when you're at your mixing desk, make a makeshift way to hang the blanket, or portable traps you can put away when guests stay.

One band I was in, we practiced in the singer's parents basement, thick carpets on the floor, and he had tapestries hanging a few inches away from the unfinished concrete walls, and some blankets hanging down from the ceiling; made a difference in the room, we didn't have as much sound bouncing around off the hard surfaces; not perfect, but it helped.

I can just picture my wife screaming when I start hanging carpets and quilts from the ceiling like I’ve gone crazy.

Heck, I see that picture of stuff hanging from the ceiling in my mind and I want to scream.

It’s a house and people live in it, unfortunately. Just impossible to do this and look like we are neat and tidy people.

Room correction software is great and all but you aren't going to correct the problem by treating it so why bother? Get a kickass set of cans and mix on headphones. Check your mixes in your car. There really is no alternative for you. I just did up a soundproof ( more or less) room and i am going to have to treat the shit out of it. It still won't be perfect. This is what home studios are all about. I am going to need a ton of bass trapping all over. It's just the nature of the beast.

Alternatively, build 7 foot tall gobos on casters and place them around you. Pull them out of the room when you have guests. Still won't be perfect.

I honestly thought of getting those rockwool pads made and putting them behind me as I mix. Unfortunately, the room is really tiny. The whole house is really. I can’t move them out of the room because there is no place to put them if I do.

You know what studio headphones are right?




Ahhhhhhhh yesssss.....

I don’t like mixing on cans, it gives me a headache in a few minutes. I’ve tried and it just doesn’t help me.

I just have a pair of ATH M50xs. They’re not too great for mixing, even with room correction software. Been meaning to upgrade to Beyerdynamics, but they’re expensive.

I find headphones also don’t allow me to get a good balance of instruments and a handle on things like reverb. Of course, that could be because I then listen on monitors and make more changes.

The resonance at 150Hz and 300Hz are likely related. 150 is the fundamental, 300 is the 2nd.

The way you read the graph is the X axis is log(Freq) so every 10 steps is 10x from before. The vertical lines show you where the even increments are. 100, 200, 300, etc.

Thank you, that’s very helpful.

Here’s the room, it’s just so jam packed, I can hardly move in there really.

We’re planning to do some renovation work in a few months, wooden floors is one thing. Will assess around then whether I can get a diffuser and maybe some other treatment in there.

 

[ChuggNorris]

How about some nice shaggy carpet up in that nice little equipment room??


Bet that would help... looks like an echo chamber right now.

 

[nightlight]

Slate VSX. Look into it. It's about to get a huge version 5.0 update sometime in October too.

I’ve actually been eyeing VSX for sometime now, and ever since I did, I keep getting mails from Steven Slate about various offers on it. Maybe someday.

Yup. Also keeping the volume levels low will further take the room out of the equation.


... or Waves Nx.

I was going to suggest this route as arguably the easiest. Will probably give the best results too.

How do these products compare to SoundID Reference? I also have the add-on that gives me the option to hear the mix on near-field, mid-field and far-field monitors.

Actually thinking my Eve Audio SC208s maybe too large for the room. They are very detailed, but what’s the use of that with all the nodes in my room?

I actually had better results years ago when I was mixing in some of the larger rental units I was living at. But as the years went by, my mixes have been getting poorer and poorer exponentially.

Hopefully, I won’t be moving anytime soon in the near future. Just get the renovation done and see how to make this room better.

 

[Monkey Man]

Rugs on the floor and curtains on the walls will make a big difference Brother AJ.

You can screw rails (like 2x4's) onto the studs and hang the curtains from rows of screwed-in hooks.

Made a big difference for me.

How do these products compare to SoundID Reference?

Don't know the product brother, but I can tell you that the virtualisation of Waves and Slate products, considering the fact that they're mimicking great rooms, should in theory provide anyone in your situation with the best bang for buck. IMHO

 

[nightlight]

Rugs on the floor and curtains on the walls will make a big difference Brother AJ.

You can screw rails (like 2x4's) onto the studs and hang the curtains from rows of screwed-in hooks.

Made a big difference for me.


Don't know the product brother, but I can tell you that the virtualisation of Waves and Slate products, considering the fact that they're mimicking great rooms, should in theory provide anyone in your situation with the best bang for buck. IMHO

It’s frustrating, I was looking at some acoustic treatment solutions and realised that if I mount them on the walls, I will have to move everything within the room to make space for them. That’s not feasible for me, unfortunately. Space is at a premium.

I also thought about reorienting the room so that my computer and monitors are parallel to the longest wall. However, due to the drum kit and the guitar amps and cabs, this is also not feasible. I had given the room layout a lot of thought when I moved in, can’t see it being better.

I think I’ll look into VSX, since it has good reviews. Will have to rely on Reference ID till I get it though, which means everyone will be treated to atrociously sounding shite from el casa de AJ.

 

[rsm]

I can just picture my wife screaming when I start hanging carpets and quilts from the ceiling like I’ve gone crazy.

Heck, I see that picture of stuff hanging from the ceiling in my mind and I want to scream.

It’s a house and people live in it, unfortunately. Just impossible to do this and look like we are neat and tidy people.



I honestly thought of getting those rockwool pads made and putting them behind me as I mix. Unfortunately, the room is really tiny. The whole house is really. I can’t move them out of the room because there is no place to put them if I do.



I don’t like mixing on cans, it gives me a headache in a few minutes. I’ve tried and it just doesn’t help me.

I just have a pair of ATH M50xs. They’re not too great for mixing, even with room correction software. Been meaning to upgrade to Beyerdynamics, but they’re expensive.

I find headphones also don’t allow me to get a good balance of instruments and a handle on things like reverb. Of course, that could be because I then listen on monitors and make more changes.



Thank you, that’s very helpful.

Here’s the room, it’s just so jam packed, I can hardly move in there really.

View attachment 341468

We’re planning to do some renovation work in a few months, wooden floors is one thing. Will assess around then whether I can get a diffuser and maybe some other treatment in there.

all those hard surfaces, all those right angles at random locations,...

you're gonna need some traps, tapestries, carpets, blankets,...


you can make a temporary, portable set-up around you and your mixing desk, though a carpet under your desk and chair would help; then fold it up and put it all in the garage when you don't need it.

no way around it, unless you do it all in the computer and use headphones.

IMO

 

[Ben Waylin]

View attachment 341468

Those open, flat, reflective spaces are what's killing you..

You don't need to move anything, or break the bank - just fill those spaces with inexpensive sound treatment.

 

[RaceU4her]

i have hooks i hang moving blankets up if i want to deaden things, mic stands can work too.

 

[MadAsAHatter]

Mine’s a mess also..View attachment 341204

Is that one of those Hondo rifle-guitars from back in the 80's?

 

[nightlight]

Maybe I could just obviate the mixing process and rely on preset tones from the digital devices I have. Here's some reamped guitars I did. No mixing, the only plugins were the Townsend Labs Sphere mic on my vocal chain and an autotune plugin.



As you can guess. the vocals sound like they were recorded in a cardboard box for your listening pleasure.

Hell of a stupid workaround, but my wife will kill me if I make the music room look anymore nasty than it already is.

 

[DanTravis62]

Here’s the room, it’s just so jam packed, I can hardly move in there really.

View attachment 341468

We’re planning to do some renovation work in a few months, wooden floors is one thing. Will assess around then whether I can get a diffuser and maybe some other treatment in there.

Man, no wonder it's so bad on the graph, there's literally nothing on the walls to deaden the room, like at all

as mentioned, even rugs, clothes, anything that deadens the sound will help enormously - if you get a couple diffusers, especially on the wall the monitors are facing, a bass trap or two, or just put something on the walls, youre gonna notice a huge difference.

VSX will help a ton too, but you have to put something up on the wall... especially the wall facing your monitors. Even heavy curtains can make a big difference.

 

[DanTravis62]

Maybe I could just obviate the mixing process and rely on preset tones from the digital devices I have. Here's some reamped guitars I did. No mixing, the only plugins were the Townsend Labs Sphere mic on my vocal chain and an autotune plugin.



As you can guess. the vocals sound like they were recorded in a cardboard box for your listening pleasure.

Hell of a stupid workaround, but my wife will kill me if I make the music room look anymore nasty than it already is.

Everything in the track sounds good, the guitars are just too loud and the vocals too quiet - cool tune though!

 

[nightlight]

Everything in the track sounds good, the guitars are just too loud and the vocals too quiet - cool tune though!

Thanks, sadly this is the best I can muster in these extenuating circumstances.

Really should look into a VSX.

 

[DanTravis62]

Thanks, sadly this is the best I can muster in these extenuating circumstances.

Really should look into a VSX.

The individual tones on all the instruments sounds great though man, it's honestly just the mix balance itself that needs a tweak or two

Especially with a super rough room, you did a great job

 

[ChuggNorris]

How about some nice shaggy carpet up in that nice little equipment room??


Bet that would help... looks like an echo chamber right now.

It’s frustrating, I was looking at some acoustic treatment solutions and realised that if I mount them on the walls, I will have to move everything within the room to make space for them. That’s not feasible for me, unfortunately. Space is at a premium.

I also thought about reorienting the room so that my computer and monitors are parallel to the longest wall. However, due to the drum kit and the guitar amps and cabs, this is also not feasible. I had given the room layout a lot of thought when I moved in, can’t see it being better.

I think I’ll look into VSX, since it has good reviews. Will have to rely on Reference ID till I get it though, which means everyone will be treated to atrociously sounding shite from el casa de AJ.

Look asscrack jablonski, everyone here has told you what to do. The most basic obvious solutions. And you're just ignoring it like a straight up shitbum of the highest order.

Take your lazy ass to Walmart and buy a fucking shaggy carpet to put on that ugly ass floor. The fuck. It's not rocket science. You have an echo chamber. Or stop whining about the room with your Bill Nye the science guy graphs.

If you like playing guitar in a Holiday Inn bathroom, then by all means keep your current setup. First thing, obviously, would have been a rug on that clinical ass floor. Looking like an emergency vet clinic up in this bitch.

Insufferable graph-ass.

 

[Tone Monster]

Those open, flat, reflective spaces are what's killing you..

You don't need to move anything, or break the bank - just fill those spaces with inexpensive sound treatment.

That will tame some high end and thats about it.

 

[Devin]

I have no clue about any of that stuff and I’m sure my setup isn’t ideal, but I’ve listened enough to know what’s gonna translate through the few playback devices I use, ive got my sub and low end pretty dialed in to what I’m hearing in my earbuds

Same

I feel like if you spend enough time with your setup you you get used to it and learn how to compensate for anything


I still always export mixes and listen in my car; if it doesn't sound quite right there I'll know what to do to fix it

 

[Ben Waylin]

That will tame some high end and thats about it.

Yeah, but it's cheap, and a fast/easy way for him to improve his situation.

Can't see from the photo, but he should have diffusers mounted behind his reference monitors as well.

 

[RaceU4her]

Same

I feel like if you spend enough time with your setup you you get used to it and learn how to compensate for anything


I still always export mixes and listen in my car; if it doesn't sound quite right there I'll know what to do to fix it

i have my monitors and then my ear buds in one of the headphone outs on my interface i go back and forth on, then ill upload and listen on my iphone which i actually find to be the best "level checker", i have another little sony cube speaker thing that works good as well, then if it sounds good on all them its usually just right in my truck which is the final test.

i have my "A/B" list in spotify with all my favorite recordings i constantly use for referencing as well, i really try to not mix like a guitar player which is usually what happens when i dont reference