Building a Mixing & Mastering Studio - Part 2, Design Walkthrough

We’re building a new mixing and mastering studio and filming the process. This is video 2 in the series where I’ll walk you through our goals and the design of the room.

★ SKIP TO SOMETHIN’ ★

0:00 Intro
0:49 My previous 2018 studio
1:30 Acoustic testing from 2018 studio
1:42 Goals & priorities
2:08 Decay time for control rooms
3:00 Impact of bad room acoustics
3:50 Intro to the design
4:15 Isolation shell
4:45 Transmission loss
5:13 Acoustic treatment = isolation?
6:15 Room modes
7:00 Room dimensions: golden ratio?
7:34 Studio floating floor design
8:25 Front wall
8:46 Benefits of flush mounted monitors
10:33 SBIR - speaker boundary interference response
11:25 Baffle step
11:59 Frequency response of NS10 free-standing vs flush-mounted
13:09 Baffle step compensation with LF shelving filter
13:32 Ideal monitor-listening distance
14:42 Improving stereo imaging
15:22 Diffaction
16:45 Improving transient response
17:50 Spacial comfort / live surface
18:38 Acoustic treatment
19:35 Density vs depth for porous absorption
20:21 Air gap?
20:38 Rear wall design: Scattering slats
21:09 Outro

★ STAY IN TOUCH ★

★ ABOUT WARP ACADEMY ★

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[warpacademy]

Watch our other videos on acoustics & studio design:

[shh-rhqz]

I watched the entire video with joy. Then, I checked your channel out and, immediately, was shocked when I noticed your video from 11 years ago: "Mixing tutorial: How to test and analyze..." Had no idea this was you as I used to watch your video a lot when it just came out (Had just started with music, then) Good to see you're still up and running! 😉

[pbensonfran]

My mouth is open with all the knowledge needed to build a studio.

[dougleydorite]

Easily the best watch with most useful straightforward information

[VintiqueSound]

Damn, great video! Thanks for going over all the details, there's so much good information.

[gravityx]

even though ive got nothing to say and no thoughts on this topic and will most probably never build a studio myself, this was hands down very interesting and entertaining. well explained.

[VarunPratapSingh]

woahh! That is so much of quality info you cannot find anywhere else. I love this channel!

[kagaro]

Great stuff and awesome design!!! Thanks and congrats!!!

[dimigimusic]

what an informative and usefull video, dude, thanka a lot for the details, waiting for the next series with an detailed description of all steps regarding choosing material, why choosing exact these materials and so on.

[DerpySwag]

i deeply appreciate the information you're putting out there! this is going to be a series I will be keeping a close eye on, and am sure to learn a lot from!! my father built a room many years ago, in our basement. very low ceiling, a lot of these small "mistakes" and what not from being a hobbyist and an amateur. but! I'm grateful that I have this room and it's always been so much better than say, a bedroom.
looking forward to seeing more and seeing what knowledge I can apply to my own room! :)

[PetraKann]

The reason low frequency sound becomes more omni-directional is due to the higher wavelength.
A sound wave in Air having a frequency of 100 Hz has a wavelength of about 3.5m. Halve the frequency to 50 Hz and the wavelength doubles to about 7m.
In an average sized room the human ear generally can’t distinguish stereo imaging for low frequencies which is why only one sub woofer is needed and its position and direction in the room is less important.
Human hearing is well attenuated in the 2kHz to 4kHz range because the rustling of leaves and twigs snapping are important sounds to pick up when you’re a potential meal for a lurking predator.
Interestingly, human speech hovers around these mid frequencies so there could be an evolutionary and causal relationship driving this connection.

I gave up trying to acoustically treat my home studio a long time ago. I made and inserted corner bass traps, hanging acoustic panels from the ceiling and various floor and wall coverings.
For live microphone recordings these acoustic treatments help.
In the end I opted for detailed headphone based post production, mixing and mastering and used common sense and compensation depending on the type of music being recorded and dynamic range etc.
I would rather ask a drummer to set up their kit underneath a bridge or in a warehouse and use a few mics strategically positioned.
The one area of live recording that home studios usually have great success with is vocals and recording acoustic instruments like guitar.
A small room can work well in these circumstances.
Cheers

(The way you calculate the wavelength of a specific sound frequency traveling through air, divide the speed of sound in air (346 m/s) by the frequency (eg 100 Hz))

[ItsWesSmithYo]

Awesome…really interesting and confirms my acoustic decisions are spot on by leaving music making phases that require this level of sensitivity to the pros 🖤😎🙌

[surreal_youtube]

now this is totally my kinda video 💪😉👍

[Alyag]

Wait... y'mean that a pair of Mackie CR3s haphazardly strewn sideways asymmetrically atop a messy desk in the corner of a cluttered bachelor apartment in the middle of a noisy downtown core ISN'T an optimal monitoring environment?! What the hell, Drew!

Okay, okay... to their credit, the CR3s are somewhat passable speakers within the parameters of their price point. They are what they are. But I digress.

This 'ere vid is packed to the brim with all manners of incredibly deep, utterly fascinating, mind-tickling (and unabashedly melting) info. Acoustics are a helluva science unto themselves, and one that I've always been warily drawn toward, albeit very much intimidated by, not the least because of all the, ahem, maths involved... and "maths" is my arch-nemesis. Place any formula before mine derpy eyes, and watch them immediately and aggressively cross over as drool comes dribbling down my very confused chin (and for the record: yes, chins too can experience confusion... there've been documented studies, probably).

Super rad. Looking forward to part three. Thank you as always for the quality production, content, and doin' us the learns!

[dimigimusic]

And, please, could you explain in details tips and tricks regarding treatment of rear wall, which is, probably, the most important thing regarding low frequency absorbsion. Thanks in advance.

[SergeA-gx]

Hello, Great video and information !

Question, if you were to do this but add Drums to the Room. What Changes would you make, to make sure recording the drums and playback is IDEAL.

Thanks!

[RoyanLtdCompany]

Very well explained and detailed description! There are way too many conflicting information out there and every room is different so your use of the facts and examples makes this video much more valuable. Would you use the sonarworks software for any "fine tuning" after your build is complete? Do you think it would be necessary?

[jeffpapis]

I may have missed it, but further detail on the speakers’ wall could be provided. For instance how the speakers will be secured to the wall; if the gap behind the walls will be treated; how thick and what materials will be used to construct the wall. Regardless, very good and clear intro to the topic. 👌🏽

[lk]

I ’ve been working with Philip Newel itself for last few months and just finished my new studio according to his design. Sound image in the room is on another level. Im surprised why didn't you decide to build wide band absorber at the back ? And only fill space with rockwool ? Are you going to fix woodwool boards on walls ? What fabric are going to use to finish walls ?

[Le.One.Siverss]

What was that material you mentioned in one of your videos? It was the fact that minerale wool when applied thicker or more layers become more reflective. in one of your videos you showed another material that was less kg/m3 so it was better to create basstraps. hope you understand what i mean. thanks!