Not that any of my previous rooms were particularly great but this one seems to give very odd reflections and boxiness/boominess. Looks like the VRM box I've been desperately trying to fit into my budget is going to have to come sooner than later and I'm definitely going to have to snag some monitor stands to at least get my monitors projecting closer to ear level which should help somewhat. I don't really mind mixing through headphones but it definitely is causing me more ear fatigue than I would get using the monitors.
 
For now I've draped a small fleece blanket on the wall behind the monitors and that seems to have helped cut down the "boxy" sound a bit but I think having them so close to the wall (my desk/table isn't very deep although I've got the Mackie recommended five inches away from the wall) and the fact I am so ridiculously tall that the monitors are basically pointing at my moobs (I don't actually have moobs (yet) but if I did that's where they'd be pointing). Even if I got some stands I think the bleedin' things would still only be pointing at around should height.
 
It's all very annoying but at least it seems when I close the door to that room not much noise escapes it the rest of the unit which is good because the sound proofing between units here is horrendous and I really don't like people listening to my squawking as I work out vocal parts and the like. This room is the only part of the apartment that doesn't share a wall with any neighbors... only the upstairs neighbor who doesn't seem to use that adjoining room at the times I do my work and perhaps whatever is downstairs but I think that actually is the outdoors walkup to the building and the floors are better insulated than the walls anyway.
 
This has nothing to do with nothing and probably has no place in this sub forum but I had a little rant to get out and this is where most of my buds are. Perhaps looking for diy and FREE possible solutions to minimize the crummy listening room blues... both inside and outside the box.
 
One thing I may try is tossing reference tracks into projects to get my ears used to the crummy room then compare my own mixes to that. Like let's say I'm doing a metal song and import a newer Slayer tune with all their sweet production values then kind of work around that.
 
Seriously though I gotta get that VRM box. It can no longer wait if this is how things are here... and no... unfortunately ARC is out of the question due to price and frankly I don't think even that piece of kit could get a room like this under control.
 
Anyway, soory for the rant, thanks for listening and now I'm off to get a snare under control... in my headphones of course. ;-p

Hey Beep,
Once you get your monitors at the right ear level...you might consider trying to tune your listening environment with an RTA (placed at ear position).....and a stereo 31 band EQ connected between your mains audio out and your speaker power amp (or speakers if they are self powered).
 

Teds_Studio
Hey Beep,
Once you get your monitors at the right ear level...you might consider trying to tune your listening environment with an RTA (placed at ear position).....and a stereo 31 band EQ connected between your mains audio out and your speaker power amp (or speakers if they are self powered).
 

Howdy. Thanks for the suggestions. I don't really know what you are talking about but with the terms used I could probably do the research.
 
I think if I can get the speakers of the desk at ear level that will make a huge difference but I'd still only use them as kind of an extra listening source instead of a proper monitoring set up. I have two full stereos, multiple sets of powered computer speakers, MANY sets of consumer grade and semi pro grade headphones on top of my studio grade Senn HD's and as I said I intend to get a VRM box to boot. So I've got tons of checking options but unfortunately I think I just have to resign myself to the fact that my Mackie's will have to just be my high quality set of speakers for mix checking as opposed to true reference monitors for mixing.
 
Perhaps overcoming obstacles like this at this phase in my "career" will help me become a better engineer. Then again it might "ruin" my ears for proper environments and I continue being a terrible hack. lol
 
Either way... gotta push on no matter what the barrier, eh? I'm certainly not the first guy to be in this position and refuse to let it stop me.
 
Cheers.

Beepster,

Can't you put something on your speaker stands to point the front of the speakers "up"? so they point at, or closer to your ears?

Do some googling on "room acoustics" - maybe you can make some acoustic tiles out of rockwool (or but some acoustic tiles and/or bass traps- to help?

I read "sound on sound" magazine here in the UK - and they're always talking about this kind of thing...
(I think you can search through some of their older articles without a subscription)

Good Luck! ;-)

Hey Beeps,
You may want to try building some broadband absorption panels. It'd be good for the listening environment and good for the neighbors. There are a lots of plans out there...google DIY bass trap, or just start here: http://www.radford.edu/~shelm/acoustics/bass-traps.html
 
Dean

Razorwit
Hey Beeps,
You may want to try building some broadband absorption panels. It'd be good for the listening environment and good for the neighbors. There are a lots of plans out there...google DIY bass trap, or just start here: http://www.radford.edu/~shelm/acoustics/bass-traps.html
 
Dean

Build them or buy them. They're the best way to neutralize the frequency response in a room.

you can make some pretty decent bass traps merely by wrapping some Owens-Corning 703 type material in some fabric like a thrift store sheet.  It's pretty sturdy as-is, without any frame whatsoever.
 
what shape and how big is your room?  If it's a 10 foot cube there's not a lot you can do to fix it, really.  You can start to understand what frequencies are off where you sit, and try to adjust accordingly. 

 
Just to add to what has been said about treatment...
 
You absolutely must go hang out a bit on this forum : Studio building / acoustics whose members, some of whom have commercial operations, are a great bunch much like here.
 
And its sub-forum :  Bass traps, acoustic panels, foam etc has an enormous amount of info on making the stuff you'll need.  Just the stickies at the top will give you a good idea of what you're facing.
 
If stands would be excessively high why not hang your monitors from the ceiling ?  You could throw together some contraption to hold your monitors without having to harm them. Having them sit on some sort of dense foam would limit the transmission to the floor above.  Just make sure you screw your hooks into something solid.

Thanks for all the resources guys. Won't be able to do much any time soon as far as constructing or buying anything like that but I definitely need to start getting my head moving in that direction. I think for now the best thing I could probably do is just try to deaden the room as much as possible so at least even if it's not "tuned" I'm taking a bunch of the reflections out the equation.
 
As far as getting these speaker up higher as an immediate solution I may just stack up a bunch of books and set them atop those. It's funny... today I tried squatting down so my ears were in the right spot and it was like night and day. I new these were nearfields but it's amazing HOW hyper directional they are.
 
And about hanging them from the ceiling you guys may get a kick out of this. I've often thought of getting my mom or aunt or someone to crochet me one of those knitted slings that people put potted plants in... but made just right for the speakers. lol
 
Not sure how I'd keep them from swinging around though so I just kind of put that into the quirky idea bin.

My VRM box is supossed to arrive on the porch on Tuesday, my room has a long way to go but hopefully over the winter...
 
Also have new pads coming for my phones. I may upgrade to some K-271s, not sure. I've been using K240s and they have gotten so that they just touch the cartilidge of my ears in a couple of places and quickly make my ears feel sore, am hoping the new pads fix it. If not I will be shopping for new phones too. (it is always something isn't it).
 
Good luck with your room. With the progress you have made with Sonar since yoy have been here, I have NO doubt that you will have your room sounding great in short order... but again, nothing is easy in recording, nothing..
 
J