[iAteBillyMays]

Hello, Head-Fi!  So I am stuck in a bit of a dilemma.  I recently moved out of my folks place for college and am now living in a 400 square foot studio apartment.  I produce electronic music and I own a pair of KRK Rokit 8's, along with a pair of Sony MDR-XB700's for referencing.  Living in such a confined space with other people means I am unable to use the Rokit's without the neighbors complaining, so my parents offered to let me set up a studio in their basement room whenever i needed to use it.  The problem is this basement room is somewhat unfinished.  The walls in some areas is made of drywall and in others concrete, the floor is concrete and is uncarpeted, the ceiling isn't ventilated and the wall dimensions are 15'x15'.  My budget is no more than $1000 at the VERY most.

1.  Is it worth the money to room treat this work space?  If so, what will I need and how much will it cost?

2.  Would it be better to invest money into a pair of headphones?  If so what would give me the flattest response for studio quality production?

3.  Would room treatment even be necessary if I were to place the monitors no more than a foot or two from my head?

3.  Would I be better off renting a rectangular storage space and treating that instead?  If so, what would I need to treat it?  Keep in mind the walls would be made of tin so sound resonance would be a big issue.

Thanks in advance!

 

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

Hello, Head-Fi!  So I am stuck in a bit of a dilemma.  I recently moved out of my folks place for college and am now living in a 400 square foot studio apartment.  I produce electronic music and I own a pair of KRK Rokit 8's, along with a pair of Sony MDR-XB700's for referencing.  Living in such a confined space with other people means I am unable to use the Rokit's without the neighbors complaining, so my parents offered to let me set up a studio in their basement room whenever i needed to use it.  The problem is this basement room is somewhat unfinished.  The walls in some areas is made of drywall and in others concrete, the floor is concrete and is uncarpeted, the ceiling isn't ventilated and the wall dimensions are 15'x15'.  My budget is no more than $1000 at the VERY most.

1.  Is it worth the money to room treat this work space?  If so, what will I need and how much will it cost?

2.  Would it be better to invest money into a pair of headphones?  If so what would give me the flattest response for studio quality production?

3.  Would room treatment even be necessary if I were to place the monitors no more than a foot or two from my head?

3.  Would I be better off renting a rectangular storage space and treating that instead?  If so, what would I need to treat it?  Keep in mind the walls would be made of tin so sound resonance would be a big issue.

Thanks in advance!

 

 
Heya,
 
You could attempt to just use throw carpets on the walls and floor and get some foam around the speakers, could probably do it for under $1000. But then again, you could get a pair of KRK KNS6400's for less than $100 and do the same job. Room treatment with speakers would be important if you're truly referencing and mastering in that room. Even at low volume and near your head. You'll get the dynamics off at that level. It may end up thin sounding, or something funky boosted when it doesn't need to be, or weak, because of the room acoustics. Room's and speakers are very, very related.
 
Unless you have the capital to invest in a full time studio room, and you're ready to throw a few thousand into it, I would suggest you do everything you need to do with a simple, quality, pair of headphones.
 
Very best,

 

[TMRaven]

I think you should take half of that money and get a new pair of speakers.  KRK Rokits aren't exactly uncolored.
 
You can DIY treat 2-4 corners with basstraps and your 2-4 first reflection points for under 2-300 easily.  
 
Even the most neutral headphones will still sound different than a pair of speakers, because the speakers just have so much air to work with, sound tends to project way differently.  So keep that in mind if you're ultimately mixing for speaker system playback.

 

[iAteBillyMays]

Quote:

I think you should take half of that money and get a new pair of speakers.  KRK Rokits aren't exactly uncolored.
 
You can DIY treat 2-4 corners with basstraps and your 2-4 first reflection points for under 2-300 easily.  
 
Even the most neutral headphones will still sound different than a pair of speakers, because the speakers just have so much air to work with, sound tends to project way differently.  So keep that in mind if you're ultimately mixing for speaker system playback.

Yea, I'm not a big fan of the Rokit series.  I'm looking into Yamaha HS80's which are running for 250 a pair now.  Thoughts on that?

What's the best way to calculate where I should place the reflection points if I were to set my monitors at a 45 degree angle?

 

[TMRaven]

It's as simple as getting a person with a mirror to walk around the room while you're in the listening position, and tell them where you see the cones of the speakers.  A standard 2x4 foot panel should suffice.