2,200 sq. ft.?  So you have other areas beside the 20' x 20' area (400 sq. ft.) you mentioned?

If you do then you might be able to make a separate control room & live room (plus get rid of that nasty "box" shape area in the process).

Make sure you have enough plugs for the lava lamps. 

 Unless I were going to subpanel I would go with a 15 or 20 amp circuits. I'm thinking that Mike has a 30 amp subpanel feeding 15/20 amp breakers.

 30 amps direct to a receptacle running 12-2 or 14-2 wire could be a fire hazard.
 
http://www.californiaelectrician.net/kitchen/wires.html
 

Starise


 Unless I were going to subpanel I would go with a 15 or 20 amp circuits. I'm thinking that Mike has a 30 amp subpanel feeding 15/20 amp breakers.

 30 amps direct to a receptacle running 12-2 or 14-2 wire could be a fire hazard.
 
http://www.californiaelectrician.net/kitchen/wires.html
 

+1 here Bub
I dont believe anything you have will require more than 2 20 amp ckts. (IMO I cant think of anything you'd have there that would.


If you have 2 spaces in your panel just get the StabLock breaker (or whatever is required) and run your 12/2
30 amp will require 10/2 which wont fit any switch or duplex outlet.
Use one circuit for all your DAW, Monitors, Electronics etc...  and the other for general purpose things inside the room.

Place your dehumidifier outside of the room in another area. As long as theres ventilation down there, it wont matter.


Just as an added measure for electrical noise, anything that has a transformer like older guitar amps, put those on the general purpose ckt. (Might create phantom voltages, noise on the lines)

Just trying to think from a budget home studio stand point but doing it right. 

Another thought on the lighting-CFLs or LED lighting will not produce any noise on the lines (or shouldnt)

My past work included Licensed HVAC Contracting, Sales & Install and electrician in the state of Arkansas (Just FYI)

You're lucky to be starting with an unfinished basement and exposed rafters!

Yes, absolutely use all the space you can, the more volume the better. I recently moved from a 1600 cu ft space to a 4200 cu ft space and the difference is amazing. 

I would probably not put in a raised floor, which can cause new acoustical problems if it isn't ultra-solid, plus subtracts height from your already too-low ceiling. Put in a carpet instead to get your equipment out of physical contact with the floor.

Don't put in a drop ceiling. Just fill the space between the floor joists with insulation and cover with conventional sheetrock. Be sure to leave removable panels anywhere you have electrical junction boxes or drain cleanouts.

A big + to previous comments regarding grounding. Install a single dedicated circuit to power your gear. Wire it all the way back to the service entrance - don't tap off an existing upstairs circuit. You can put your lights on a separate circuit, but you want all your audio gear plugged into the same circuit and sharing a common ground. 

Note that the National Electric Code is concerned entirely about safety. When it comes to grounding, all they care about is that the breaker activate fast enough if there's a short. I have gone round and round with more than one electrician thumping the NEC book like a fire-and-brimstone preacher and his bible. Truth is, the NEC just doesn't address grounding issues as they pertain to computer and audio equipment functioning properly.

The easiest plan is to run a single circuit down to the basement, wired directly back to the service panel, the ground and neutral wires touching nowhere except at the neutral-ground bond in the service panel itself. Then plug all your equipment into that outlet. It's OK to add a power distribution box (fancy extension cord) from the outlet to your rack, just makes sure to plug everything into that box.

Your biggest issue in the basement will be bass trapping. I assume the walls are concrete as well as the floor. Poured concrete doesn't absorb much sound! Bass frequencies will continue to bounce around in there for a looong time. Fortunately, you have a lot of space. Get some rolls of regular fiberglass insulation and stack them in the corners. You don't even need to take them out of their plastic bags, just stack 'em up. You can cover them for appearance's sake if you like.

Then all you need are some absorbers along the walls and you should be able to create a very nice recording space.

One more thing: before you do anything, spend 25 bucks on Rod Gervais' book "Home Recording Studio: Build it Like the Pros". Rod isn't just an expert on acoustics, he's also a builder with lots of practical experience in construction.

@digi2ns & Starise:

You're right ... it's been so long since I wired a 30amp circuit that I was getting confused between the 20 and 30. I used to wire 30amp circuits for high volume copiers. It took a special plug and heavier wire.

Glad I started this thread, I was thinking of way too much overkill. I'm a little paranoid because in my old studio, I had everything except one small light, on a single 15amp line. I used to get random line noise and the lights would dim sometimes.

There is no water problem down there in the new house, but I've always been paranoid of that kind of thing.

The basement is poured concrete, not block. There is only 1 crack and it's hairline. I imagine if that's all there is after 23 years of settling, it's probably never going to get worse. The inspector said it looked like it had been there a long time and had not gotten worse.

It has a 3 flue real masonry fireplace and it hasn't moved an inch, so whoever did it all did a good job. There's a fireplace upstairs, downstairs, and the 3rd flue is the vent for the gas furnace. IOW ... that chimney literally weighs tons and it hasn't budged at all.

I think we got the electrical squared away. Now I'm completely lost on what shape and size to make the room. According to the manual for my HS-80's, the optimum spacing is 5feet away from walls on all sides.

Any thoughts on size and shape of the room?

Bitflipper, we were typing at the same time ... thanks for the input!

Yes, the basement is poured and they polished the floor. It's got a glossy finish on it.

I will definitely check that book out.

I have to run now. I'll check back later, and thanks everyone for all the input!

Bub.

One thing that might help is what all is going in the room.

Approx size of desk, guitar cabs, speakers, amount of guitars, drums, furniture, etc...

Just a thought

I would grab all the space you can get cause its never enough when you start bringing gear in.  I wouldn't design a perfect square room.  It doesn't make a very acoustic friendly space.  Like BITFLIPPER says your ceiling is low.  I also have 8' tall ceilings.  I did the insulation and drywall to keep from losing any ceiling height.  WARNING . . . Make sure you put some kind of buffer between the floor joist and the drywall ceiling.  I didn't so all the sound proofing was lost due to stud vibration.  In a perfect world you should build a room inside of a room.  

Here are some pics of the wrong way!     













 


GOOD LUCK, Bud
Kev

Bub,

I'd go for making it as big as possible and then use gobos for angling the corners off when needed. I did that in my room which is 14x14. I made floor to ceiling bass traps that are 4" thick and 4' wide. If I have somebody over to jam I can move them around as needed, or put 2 in the middle for use as a vocal booth, or lay them on the sides and use them as a guitar amp iso. On a concrete floor with rugs, you could build them with wheels and move around as needed.

Randy