So we're moving into a house in May, and I'm starting to plan ahead even though I still haven't got a clue as to the room dimensions and all - but considering the houses we've checked, I'm expecting a relatively normal, less than ideal spare bedroom. Typically, there's no basements in houses around here it seems, so I'll settle on a regular room.

I'm also expecting that the home-made acoustic treatment will be done over a period of time. I just don't have the budget to do the whole thing at once.

So I thought the first thing I'd want to do is focus on bass traps for corners, probably 4 of them for starters. I'm assuming that that's a minimum given, no matter the shape and size of the room, and that this would be top priority. Right?

I've been checking out Owens Corning 703, and from what I gather, I'd want at 4 inches thick for each trap, correct? ATS Acoustics has them at 3 2" thick boards for $79. Does anyone have different suggestions for that stuff?

Typically, what else would you put the priority on, in which order, if you had to do a room treatment in phases.

All suggestions are welcome.

dupe

Second in priority to corner traps would be absorption at the first-reflection points. That'll be on either side of your desk and on the ceiling. These are panels placed in the path sound would take for a single bounce off the walls/ceiling to reach your ears.

Third priority would be absorption on the back wall behind you.

I'd shop around for the 703. IIRC, I paid about $130 for 20 1" sheets. But I did not buy them at a Home Depot type retail store, but rather from an insulation contractor where my son happened to work. 

Also check out 703 alternatives such as ATS Rigid Fiberglass. The specs look almost identical to 703 but it's a little cheaper. I had found an online source for it but neglected to bookmark it...I'll see if I can find it. Another alternative is Roxul Rockboard, slightly more expensive but twice as dense so you need half the thickness of 703/ATS. 

Even cheaper is Roxul Safe 'n Sound batts, which at 2.5 lb/cu ft is less dense than 703 (3lb) but significantly less expensive. While I was poking around I found an 8-pack at Lowes for $46 or a 5-pack at ATS for $36. 

EDIT: Here ya go...http://www.acoustimac.com/mineral-wool-1261/   
They've got 6lb Roxul 1" sheets 6 for $45 (a 1" sheet of this stuff is comparable to a 2" sheet of 703). Bear in mind that it's the shipping that'll getcha. You might pay $40 to ship a $45 box of absorbers. These folks must be out west somewhere because they quoted me $26 shipping.

Hi Rain-

I agree with you and Dave. Bass traps are a great place to start. Remember that bass traps will absorb higher frequencies in addition to lower ones, so you'll gain quite a bit by starting with them.

A really solid investment is Rod Gervais' book: Home Recording Studio: Build it Like the Pros . It super detailed, and you may not find all of it useful, but there are some great pointers in the book. It made a huge difference for me.


Something else that I found helpful was drawing out my room using Google Sketchup and posting the ideas on GearSlutz in the "Studio Building/Acoustics" forum. I got some feedback from people that was helpful. It also allowed me to pre-think the space before I got started.


Last, even though there are many places that sell the pre-assembled panels, etc. they all tend to be over-priced IMHO. You're on the right track looking for the raw materials and doing it yourself. You'll save a ton and get results that are tailored to your room.


Depending on how much effort you want to put into the room, there are free applications that will assist you with calculating the materials you'll need for your space. Real Traps (realtraps.com) has some free downloads that can assist. Also, I grabbed an awesome set of tools for an iPhone that give you a SPL meter, tone generator, RTA  and other utilities. Audio Tools


Last, Dave (bitflipper) and others have posted a lot of useful stuff on this forum about room treatment. We used to have a lot more folks asking about gear and stuff, and Dave used to tell people to start by treating their rooms. He was soooo correct. It's probably the single best thing to spend money on that makes a noticeable difference.


Good Luck!


Oh...and last, I bought a bunch of mineral wool (Roxul) for a good price from: 

Superior Plus Contruction Products Corp.
International Technifab - SPI
801.974.7684 

A big +1 for Rod Gervais' book. Scan the acoustics sub-forum on Gearslutz for anything he's posted; he's very generous with his knowledge. Rod also has a background in construction, so he knows not only what's theoretically desirable but also what's practical.

I have to also plug the single most must-have reference, which the Master Handbook of Acoustics by F. Alton Everest. Should be on everyone's bookshelf.

Wow, thanks a bunch guys. Those 1" Roxul sheet got me interested - I get a $45 estimate for shipping, but if 1 x 1" is comparable to 1 x 2" of 703, this means I'd get enough to build 6 traps, for under $150. 

Both books are available for kindle, that's great. Thanks again.

And after you're done with all of the above....make sure you do something to eq your monitors. The best treated room in the world won't make a bit of difference if your monitors are not eq'd for flat response. Whether you hire someone to come in and do it, use ARC, or some other form of monitor correction, to me, it's just as important as room issues.

I've been able to mix in a room that's sort of jacked up as long as the monitors are giving me the right sound at close range and aren't up against a wall. Of course this depends on how jacked the room is, but I've been in some real holes in my time....having the monitors tuned was enough for me but it won't be the case for everyone. Good luck Rain.

-Danny

Thanks Danny. That's also part of the plan (ARC). After those 2 years in hotel rooms and such, anything will be an improvement but I plan on doing all I can to make my listening/mixing environment as good as I can. 

Rain


Thanks Danny. That's also part of the plan (ARC). After those 2 years in hotel rooms and such, anything will be an improvement but I plan on doing all I can to make my listening/mixing environment as good as I can. 

Totally agree...that's defintiely the smartest way to go about it. Take care of things as much as you can to be as accurate as possible. Sometimes you get lucky like in my case. My little man cave at home is so loaded up with stuff, it looks like a little music store in one room. It's dead from all the stuff being in the room, so something like ARC is all I need there. But in my real studio, we have the traps and everything else.
 
The one thing (in your case due to you working on the room as well) with ARC, the worst case scenario, it will flatten your monitors. In situations where a room may not be a concern, the flattening it does is super important. So you should be in good shape with all you're planning to do. Just make sure you get a sub, Rain. I sincerely feel it's important though there will be a few guys that will fight me to the death on that. Even if your room doesn't need much sub, it gives you low end that most near-fields are not going to get on their own even if they appear to be a little bassy. Put it this way, with the right sub used in moderation, bass won't be something you ever second guess again....and to me, that was always the thing I struggled with. :)
 
-Danny

I made my own panels with Roxul (Rockwool). I started off with a 2'x4' - 2" thick - ceiling panel over my normal listening/recording area and it made a huge difference. I know have treatments (ceiling/wall and bass traps) in the entire room.