Anyone interested in my studio construction/renovation process?

[RobC]

Currently I'm renovating the walls, ceiling, and later the floor of this 'ideally-sized-for-vocals' ~ kind of vocal studio.

It's the kind of work, where not even half way through, you regret getting into it, but no way back now! : )

Anyway, it's a bit about DIY construction work, and then later, I gotta figure out how to place absorbing sponges; as well as maybe getting dedicated acoustic sponges.

The first attempt with generic sponges sounded nice and dry, but needed just a little more treatment. However, putting them in windows was a dumb idea. - You guessed it, it got all moldy! I realised when doing very amplified test recordings, and realised, I have a mild asthma doing its thing in my lungs.
So those sponges will need better placement; as well as sheets/leaning, so they look nicer, and don't dust/lint up the room.

So, let me know if you want to join this little adventure; and then I'll make at least pictures, if not videos.

It still will be mostly a vocal bedroom-type studio, with compact, but high-end devices. (That said, I couldn't believe how much shit I've bought, for a "mobile" studio... They take up more and more space!)

If you are interested, I'll make a proper thread. You can let me know what you're interested in meanwhile here ~

[selig]

Mold is one reason you see mineral wool as such a common studio treatment. Also, sponges are LITERALLY the best material ever, if you want to attract and hold moisture - so over time that’s exactly what they will tend to do. I would avoid at all costs! Plus all they are likely to do is affect frequencies above 1-2 kHz, basically putting a low pass filter on your space and drawing even more attention to any lower frequency resonances/modes that may be present.
You probably want more broad band absorption for your space, depending on what it currently looks like (waterfall response is super important in room acoustics IMO). You can get REW software for free,
https://www.roomeqwizard.com/
and the Behringer PCM8000 is the best $50 I ever spent on DIY room treatments!
UPDATE: DAMN, I Just checked and they now cost $35 USD. You can’t afford NOT to get this mic TODAY and start measuring your progress to make sure the treatments you spend your time and money on are actually doing what you think they are doing. In my opinion, of course!
https://www.sweetwater.com/c105--Conden ... lsrc=aw.ds

[crimsonwarlock]

I did mine, so show me yours

[RobC]

Mold is one reason you see mineral wool as such a common studio treatment. Also, sponges are LITERALLY the best material ever, if you want to attract and hold moisture - so over time that’s exactly what they will tend to do. I would avoid at all costs! Plus all they are likely to do is affect frequencies above 1-2 kHz, basically putting a low pass filter on your space and drawing even more attention to any lower frequency resonances/modes that may be present.
You probably want more broad band absorption for your space, depending on what it currently looks like (waterfall response is super important in room acoustics IMO). You can get REW software for free,
https://www.roomeqwizard.com/
and the Behringer PCM8000 is the best $50 I ever spent on DIY room treatments!
UPDATE: DAMN, I Just checked and they now cost $35 USD. You can’t afford NOT to get this mic TODAY and start measuring your progress to make sure the treatments you spend your time and money on are actually doing what you think they are doing. In my opinion, of course!
https://www.sweetwater.com/c105--Conden ... lsrc=aw.ds

It all depends on the costs. Remember, it will only be for vocals, and for that, the sponges and furniture improved at least the echoes and reverb.

But what you say is definitely worrying, cause so far most people went with acoustic foam. I didn't know it would do more harm than good.

I also have a sound shield for my microphone now, and admittedly, just talking towards the shield made me think "this barely does much and sounds like shit" x D - no test recordings yet though, so I can't judge fairly.

I checked for that microphone, but it wasn't available right away. Gotta keep looking...

But yeah, the space is a mess right now, but it's coming together.

To summarize: it's for vocal recording, and most important is taking care of echoing and reverb. Now how bad the frequency response is, is yet another worry.
I'm still an IEM user. If possible, I'd like to keep a bed, a wardrobe and of course the studio desk and 4k TV in there.

Edit: I found an ECM8000
But I think I'd also need a special speaker that creates the sine sweep.

Edit2: Ah, just gotta make DIY mineral wool panels. That would be perfect in front of the door and the windows. Only using them when needed. For starters.

[RobC]

I did mine, so show me yours

I'm taking pictures at least of the progresses. But it's just the boring construction work so far. It's both god awful and fun at the same time.

[Last Alternative]

When you say sponges do you mean acoustic foam, such as the Auralex square panels with wedge texture that everyone uses? If so, I have a bunch of that hanging around my home studio but never had any mold.. yet… however, I never considered it’s basically a low pass filler messing up the room’s frequency response. Let me know.

[selig]

When you say sponges do you mean acoustic foam, such as the Auralex square panels with wedge texture that everyone uses? If so, I have a bunch of that hanging around my home studio but never had any mold.. yet… however, I never considered it’s basically a low pass filler messing up the room’s frequency response. Let me know.

I found some material that indicates sponges are not even as effective as foam, which is at the bottom of choices for sound absorption IMO.

But there are also some other concerns, echoed here at one of the sites that discusses the matter:

https://soundproofgears.com/do-sponges-absorb-sound/

“Sponges Can Be Quite Flammable Unless They’re Treated With A Fire-Resistant Substance. They’re Also Not The Most Durable Material And Can Degrade Over Time. If Sponges Get Wet, They Can Grow Mould, Which Isn’t Good For Health Or Sound Absorption.”

[RobC]

When you say sponges do you mean acoustic foam, such as the Auralex square panels with wedge texture that everyone uses? If so, I have a bunch of that hanging around my home studio but never had any mold.. yet… however, I never considered it’s basically a low pass filler messing up the room’s frequency response. Let me know.

Nono, the only acoustic foam I have, is a microphone isolation shield that I bought last time.

These were just regular junk sponges for experimenting. An article said, they do even better than foam, buuut the fact that lower frequencies don't get properly absorbed, is worrying. So I will stick to building something from rockwool.
Also, the sponges were stuffed in to windows. Kept the heat in, but on the window side, mold started growing, and it was a little bit wet.

[Marco Raaphorst]

What I found about foam: if they catch sunlight they are going to pulverise. You will find dust one day. Maybe these micro fibers are also bad for your lungs.

Cork is cool and useful because it looks great and you can spike some stuff to it. I also love just have lots of books around me and this helps with the acoustics as well. I have not measured it, but my room feels just nice when you walk into it. It feels dampened, but not too much.

[RobC]

What I found about foam: if they catch sunlight they are going to pulverise. You will find dust one day. Maybe these micro fibers are also bad for your lungs.

Cork is cool and useful because it looks great and you can spike some stuff to it. I also love just have lots of books around me and this helps with the acoustics as well. I have not measured it, but my room feels just nice when you walk into it. It feels dampened, but not too much.

Thank god only a sound shield is all the professional foam I have.

I read that mineral wool and alike are the best, but it has to be heavy. I wanna build panels, at least for the windows, and door for starters. Something I easily can put on them and take off.