What Acoustic treatment do you have in your control room? Acoustical Engineer Gavin Haverstick from Haverstick Designs takes us through Studio acoustic design concepts referring to the process of creating a controlled acoustic environment within a recording studio or any space where sound quality is critical. It involves the strategic placement of acoustic materials, such as absorbers, diffusers, and bass traps, to achieve desirable sound characteristics, including clarity, balance, and minimal distortion.
I custom designed and built very substantial broadband absorption (multiple materials inside) ranging from 10 to 18" in depth (floor to ceiling) in all necessary locations. 10' wide diffuser across the rear wall. Two PSI Audio AVAAs, and Trinnov ST-2. Room is pretty small but measures +/- 1~2dB over 450Hz; and +/- 3~4dB under 450Hz. Little on the dry side, but that's my preference.
I am going the Ikea way in my studio, cheap and effective! Filling shelfes with rockwool covering it nicely with fabric. Doesnt get any more cost effective.
Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:44 Lucy Kalantari 02:05 Haverstick Designs 03:35 Challenge 04:21 Gavin's Background 06:36 Working In "Bad" Rooms 08:18 Designing With A Budget 09:39 Common Sense 11:11 How To Treat Your Room 16:22 Active Bass Traps 18:37 Speaker Position 20:58 Subwoofer Position 22:41 Soundproofing 25:44 Outro
Summarized How he'd approach optimizing room-acoustics in terms of "bang for buck": 1. Mixing position (face short wall) 2. Speaker position (your end of the triangle is ~1 foot behind your head) 3. First reflections (>2 inch thickness) 4. Bass traps (can't overdo it)
Thank you for this video! Other questions to answer before treatment are, what sound pressure levels will be used in the room, what music styles (or speech), and even how many people will be normally in there.
I may have posted this before, after years of chasing room treatments etc. I finally realized I can't mix on speakers, I'm 67, so high end is gone, I only feel comfortable with headphones, I know it's frowned upon but it works for me, doesn't mean my mixes are worth a crap, but thought it might be useful for someone
Since I only have a single large rectangular room (750sf) for recording and mixing, I opted for theatre board on the outside walls with occasional acoustic panels, some clouds hanging below the dropped acoustic tile ceiling, and wall to wall short office carpet with a few shag rugs in various spots. I haven't even installed bass traps but reflection of mids and highs are already mitigated and the mix position has a very flat response centrally located AWAY from any walls.
I really like Gavin's outlook here where it is more "what can we do here?" versus the traditional "what can't we do here?". Subtle shift, hugely different conversation. Very refreshing to hear and definitely an outlook people need to adopt. You don't have to have a perfect space, but what can you do to make the most out of your space? I've found the answer is often "a lot". Great interview!
My room is11' wide, 12' 6" long, and 5'11" high. Yes the ceiling is that low. The floor is concrete. the height is to the bottom of the joists which are filled with rock wool. I have smallish bass traps in the corners, somewhat of a diffuser in the back wall, a sound panel on one side wall to help with reflections. it's as good as it's going to get but it's my studio and i love it!
Got 14 of 6'x2' (2in thick) panels on the walls and the ceiling, and a pair of 7' bass traps in the corners, all mineral wool, in a 10'x15'x10' room. But I still have noticable resonances at two very specific frequencies, 74Hz and 110Hz. Room modes, I guess? Been working on it for about a month now and still no real solution. I'm currently just using a calibration plugin to get accurate results with the tracks though.
Adding room correction to roomtreatment is always wise in my opinion. But even then some things are hard to get rid off. That's why sometimes, specific notes will sound louder than others, but you can't get rid of it with compression. If that happens testlisten with headphones. If the issue is not there on headphones, it's likely your room. That's my approach at least.
Thanks for the comment! You are definitely starting out with challenging room dimensions since we typically try to avoid dimensions that are divisible by the same number or each other. Since all of these dimensions are divisible by 5' and the width/height are divisible by 2' and 10', it makes for more pronounced dips/peaks. Running a quick room mode calculation, it appears that you have a side-to-side Axial mode around 75.3 Hz and three (3) separate Axial modes at 113 Hz (front-to-back, side-to-side and floor-to-ceiling). Since these are Axial mode issues and not Tangential, the corner traps aren't really helping and the 2" thick panels really won't move the needle on these issues due to the fact that the performance really drops off below 200 Hz for 2" fiberglass panels. Thicker bass traps or tuned traps may be needed to hear a night and day difference for these issues that you are experiencing.
Makes me wonder what to do with a small bedroom studio that, because of a protruding section from the other side of the wall, is kind of L-shaped. A small, stubby L. What do you do with the leg of the L? Where is the ideal mix point?
With L-shaped rooms, you want to set up where your ears can be equidistant from the side walls. You don’t want to have a bunch of open space to one side because it throws off symmetry.
This was really as basic as it gets^^ Brmbrrbrrl 38% rule.. Brmmrrbrlrlr facing the short wall... brmbbrrlrlrbr first reflections.. ah you dont say 😅 I would welcome longer and more in depth videos/talks about acoustic treatment! ❤️
ok have a question for you professionals. but just to warn you ahead of time: it's utterly dumb carry on. as you shall very soon discover... got my 4x kali lp6s, for a stereo / quadraphonic. multiple seating positions. in a 4x4m room (approx). with decent thick brick walls since its an old house. none of that drywall nonsense. anyhow what i was planning to do here was dangle each kali lp6 and suspend with thick rubberized bungie cords. to hang each one beneath a very robust thick and sturdy monitor arms. that are then bolted into the walls.... not my understanding is definately poor enough to make it some silly science experiment. but the main reason it occured to me was to isolate the speaker not to transfer unwanted resonances into tables, or speaker stand. because there is simply no places to have the room for a regular standalone speaker stands. and the desks neither all have other types of mandatory equipent etc. or simply a speaker cannot otherwise be situated vertically high enough to be at the correct ear level etc. so that is my plan (not executed yet). however my other prior understanding is that it perhaps can change? or might reduce the lower end frequency output of the speaker itself, becoming a lot thinner sounding? or maybe i do actually need to perform the science experiement first and see how it goes. but basically it is because the general size of the 4m x 4m room is just a little bit too small to accomodate the extra space lost out to fake walls or sofets etc. because for all of the other suff i have in here. (that it is not a dedicated room just for audio). wheras in a larger space you really do have the extra. and in fact acoustics insider (other youtuber guy) did once mention about the general room sizing, that things gets a lot easier for a larger room. for example basically anywhere above 4m square, and to also mean that things like thicker sound deadening panels, or bass traps does not impinge so much. and just generally with all the bass room mode reflections etc. anyhow thanks for these other tips. like the sub crawl. and having the friend holding up the mirror, to find the 1st reflections. very valuable techniques. it was so much appreciated thank you! & have a nice day now. best wishes from uk
What Acoustic treatment do you have in your control room? Acoustical Engineer Gavin Haverstick from Haverstick Designs takes us through Studio acoustic design concepts referring to the process of creating a controlled acoustic environment within a recording studio or any space where sound quality is critical. It involves the strategic placement of acoustic materials, such as absorbers, diffusers, and bass traps, to achieve desirable sound characteristics, including clarity, balance, and minimal distortion.
Really appreciate you having me on the show. Always fun to catch up!
Thanks Gavin! You Rock my friend!@@haverstickdesigns
I custom designed and built very substantial broadband absorption (multiple materials inside) ranging from 10 to 18" in depth (floor to ceiling) in all necessary locations. 10' wide diffuser across the rear wall. Two PSI Audio AVAAs, and Trinnov ST-2. Room is pretty small but measures +/- 1~2dB over 450Hz; and +/- 3~4dB under 450Hz. Little on the dry side, but that's my preference.
I am going the Ikea way in my studio, cheap and effective! Filling shelfes with rockwool covering it nicely with fabric. Doesnt get any more cost effective.
@@stringsdiezelThose are great results! Nice work!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:44 Lucy Kalantari
02:05 Haverstick Designs
03:35 Challenge
04:21 Gavin's Background
06:36 Working In "Bad" Rooms
08:18 Designing With A Budget
09:39 Common Sense
11:11 How To Treat Your Room
16:22 Active Bass Traps
18:37 Speaker Position
20:58 Subwoofer Position
22:41 Soundproofing
25:44 Outro
Summarized
How he'd approach optimizing room-acoustics in terms of "bang for buck":
1. Mixing position (face short wall)
2. Speaker position (your end of the triangle is ~1 foot behind your head)
3. First reflections (>2 inch thickness)
4. Bass traps (can't overdo it)
Thanks ever so much
Every time Warren says “How the devil are ya?” It makes my day ❤
Haha thanks ever so much!
Great video Gents, very helpful
Thanks!
It's funny how this video pops up while I'm in the process of sound-treating my room. 😄
Shocking! 😂 I hope it was helpful. Thanks for watching.
Aha! Glad we were able to help!
Thanks@@haverstickdesigns You Rock!
Excellent information Gavin, thank you
Glad it was helpful!
The warren podcast 😱😱😱🤧👏👏👏👏 very exciting
haha thanks ever so much!
Thank you for this video! Other questions to answer before treatment are, what sound pressure levels will be used in the room, what music styles (or speech), and even how many people will be normally in there.
Absolutely! Always important to know how the room will be used before you design treatment for it. Thanks for watching!
Thanks URLTOM! I appreciate the great question!
Thanks Gavin!@@haverstickdesigns
I may have posted this before, after years of chasing room treatments etc. I finally realized I can't mix on speakers, I'm 67, so high end is gone, I only feel comfortable with headphones, I know it's frowned upon but it works for me, doesn't mean my mixes are worth a crap, but thought it might be useful for someone
Thanks ever so much for sharing!
I hear you, I've heard that comment form many other people!
That was excellent. Thank you!
Thanks ever so much!
Thanks Gavin for the low-down, a great subject and you are a master of your trade. Thanks very much Warren for this interview, great insight
I appreciate that so much! Thank you for watching.
Thanks ever so much Joey! You Rock my friend!
You Rock!@@haverstickdesigns
07:46 Best point!!! I've done everything possible to treat my little studio but to also like to stay in it!
Since I only have a single large rectangular room (750sf) for recording and mixing, I opted for theatre board on the outside walls with occasional acoustic panels, some clouds hanging below the dropped acoustic tile ceiling, and wall to wall short office carpet with a few shag rugs in various spots. I haven't even installed bass traps but reflection of mids and highs are already mitigated and the mix position has a very flat response centrally located AWAY from any walls.
That's a great share, Gavin, do you have any advice!
I really like Gavin's outlook here where it is more "what can we do here?" versus the traditional "what can't we do here?". Subtle shift, hugely different conversation. Very refreshing to hear and definitely an outlook people need to adopt. You don't have to have a perfect space, but what can you do to make the most out of your space? I've found the answer is often "a lot". Great interview!
I really appreciate your comment - that means a lot! Thanks for watching the interview.
Gavin is truly wonderfully helpful!
You Rock!@@haverstickdesigns
Yes he is! @@spitfiremusic3997
@@spitfiremusic3997 Thank you so much for the kind words! I appreciate it! 🙌
My room is11' wide, 12' 6" long, and 5'11" high. Yes the ceiling is that low. The floor is concrete. the height is to the bottom of the joists which are filled with rock wool. I have smallish bass traps in the corners, somewhat of a diffuser in the back wall, a sound panel on one side wall to help with reflections. it's as good as it's going to get but it's my studio and i love it!
Thanks ever so much for sharing!
I have been told my brain is a reflection free zone. So far l only mic vocal in a booth aka closet, everything else direct or electronic.
I'd like a brain that was a reflection free zone!
Thank You 🙌🙌
Thanks ever so much
Currently watching from Fort collins. Rams Bawl!
Haha thanks!
💚💛🐏 Go Rams!
Haha nice!@@haverstickdesigns
🔥
Thanks ever so much
I live in an anechoic chamber. Anybody know a good room simulater plugin? Cheers
Congratulations! I’m impressed
The ultimate flat frequency responser. I enjoy your channel a lot. Cheers@@Producelikeapro
Thanks ever so much!@@moogfooger
Got 14 of 6'x2' (2in thick) panels on the walls and the ceiling, and a pair of 7' bass traps in the corners, all mineral wool, in a 10'x15'x10' room.
But I still have noticable resonances at two very specific frequencies, 74Hz and 110Hz.
Room modes, I guess?
Been working on it for about a month now and still no real solution. I'm currently just using a calibration plugin to get accurate results with the tracks though.
Maybe we can get Gavin on here to help!
Adding room correction to roomtreatment is always wise in my opinion. But even then some things are hard to get rid off. That's why sometimes, specific notes will sound louder than others, but you can't get rid of it with compression. If that happens testlisten with headphones. If the issue is not there on headphones, it's likely your room. That's my approach at least.
Thanks for the comment! You are definitely starting out with challenging room dimensions since we typically try to avoid dimensions that are divisible by the same number or each other. Since all of these dimensions are divisible by 5' and the width/height are divisible by 2' and 10', it makes for more pronounced dips/peaks. Running a quick room mode calculation, it appears that you have a side-to-side Axial mode around 75.3 Hz and three (3) separate Axial modes at 113 Hz (front-to-back, side-to-side and floor-to-ceiling). Since these are Axial mode issues and not Tangential, the corner traps aren't really helping and the 2" thick panels really won't move the needle on these issues due to the fact that the performance really drops off below 200 Hz for 2" fiberglass panels. Thicker bass traps or tuned traps may be needed to hear a night and day difference for these issues that you are experiencing.
Wow I wasn't really expecting such an in-depth reply from you guys! Thanks alot! Much appreciated!
@@arkarmoethouk2445 Happy to help!
Makes me wonder what to do with a small bedroom studio that, because of a protruding section from the other side of the wall, is kind of L-shaped. A small, stubby L. What do you do with the leg of the L? Where is the ideal mix point?
With L-shaped rooms, you want to set up where your ears can be equidistant from the side walls. You don’t want to have a bunch of open space to one side because it throws off symmetry.
@@haverstickdesigns Thanks! A mixing desk move is in order.
Excellent question!
You Rock!@@haverstickdesigns
Marvellous! Mixing Desk!@@wikkidperson
❤😊
Thanks ever so much!
Question about sub position, what if we have kali ws 6.2 (its two horizontally opposed woofers in a box), will crawling technique work with it?
😎
Thanks ever so much!
This was really as basic as it gets^^
Brmbrrbrrl 38% rule.. Brmmrrbrlrlr facing the short wall... brmbbrrlrlrbr first reflections.. ah you dont say 😅
I would welcome longer and more in depth videos/talks about acoustic treatment! ❤️
We have a lot of in depth content on our UA-cam channel that might be of interest to you.
Marvellous! Thanks for sharing!@@haverstickdesigns
ok have a question for you professionals. but just to warn you ahead of time: it's utterly dumb carry on. as you shall very soon discover...
got my 4x kali lp6s, for a stereo / quadraphonic. multiple seating positions. in a 4x4m room (approx). with decent thick brick walls since its an old house. none of that drywall nonsense. anyhow what i was planning to do here was dangle each kali lp6 and suspend with thick rubberized bungie cords. to hang each one beneath a very robust thick and sturdy monitor arms. that are then bolted into the walls....
not my understanding is definately poor enough to make it some silly science experiment. but the main reason it occured to me was to isolate the speaker not to transfer unwanted resonances into tables, or speaker stand. because there is simply no places to have the room for a regular standalone speaker stands. and the desks neither all have other types of mandatory equipent etc. or simply a speaker cannot otherwise be situated vertically high enough to be at the correct ear level etc.
so that is my plan (not executed yet). however my other prior understanding is that it perhaps can change? or might reduce the lower end frequency output of the speaker itself, becoming a lot thinner sounding? or maybe i do actually need to perform the science experiement first and see how it goes. but basically it is because the general size of the 4m x 4m room is just a little bit too small to accomodate the extra space lost out to fake walls or sofets etc. because for all of the other suff i have in here. (that it is not a dedicated room just for audio). wheras in a larger space you really do have the extra. and in fact acoustics insider (other youtuber guy) did once mention about the general room sizing, that things gets a lot easier for a larger room. for example basically anywhere above 4m square, and to also mean that things like thicker sound deadening panels, or bass traps does not impinge so much. and just generally with all the bass room mode reflections etc.
anyhow thanks for these other tips. like the sub crawl. and having the friend holding up the mirror, to find the 1st reflections. very valuable techniques. it was so much appreciated thank you! & have a nice day now. best wishes from uk
That's a huge question that I hope Gavin can answer! Thanks ever so much!