new home for my control room

[zimv20]

i thought it may be of interest to some people to see the steps i'm going through to relocate my control room from my very small spare bedroom to a rather small spare bedroom.

the project got underway a week ago, when the electricians first showed up, so i'll play a little catch-up.

as i mentioned, i'm placing the CR in a spare bedroom, plus i'm turning its closet into a machine room. the overall plan before moving in audio gear is:

1. new electrical
2. new voice and data
3. insulate outside wall
4. new window
5. cable run between CR and machine room
6. paint
7. hang/place traps from both RealTraps and GIK

here's the drawing i've done of the room:

(note: the room height is 9'5")


my sitting position will be facing south ("up" in the drawing) with the vent to my left. the monitors will be about 3' off the front (south) wall. racks will be to my right.

here's a pic of what will become the front wall, taken from the closet door:

from that front wall:

and from the door to the room, looking NW:

this was the start of the electrical work:

 

[zimv20]

the wall came down yesterday:

 

[zimv20]

and today this 100+ year old window:

... was replaced with this slightly larger and much more energy-efficient window:

amazingly, i got the new window for only $200; it was in the odd bin at a local lumber yard.

 

[zimv20]

tonight the electrician stopped by and did some work for the closet electrical, voice and data.

 

[kanker]

Man, I swear I've seen a thread just like this somewhere.

 

[zimv20]

Man, I swear I've seen a thread just like this somewhere.

my twin brother is doing a similar project

 

[OldCorpse]

my twin brother is doing a similar project

Yeah, they have these threads now and again on gearslutz for example. It's always interesting

One thing that kind of baffles me, is that you have windows at all in your CR. I understand that you're retrofitting from an existing living space (bedroom), but the usual idea is that you should have as much of your room with exactly the same acoustic properties as possible - and a window causes a giant "hole" in that integrity. Which is why folks often retrofit something like a basement, so they don't have to deal with windows. But if that's all that's available, it's better than nothing. I assume you're gonna do something with that window... or are you just gonna leave it be, and have an occasional buzzing from it when certain frequencies are hit

 

[zimv20]

I assume you're gonna do something with that window...

it'll get a heavy curtain on it, and then i might also hang one opposite it, across the doorway, for symmetry.

in addition, because of the layout, 1st reflection points will be about where the door and window are, so i'll be placing portable traps there when i mix.

if i stay in this house, i'll probably someday refurbish the basement and move the studio down there. then this room will be a guest room again. with a nice new window

 

[OldCorpse]

it'll get a heavy curtain on it, and then i might also hang one opposite it, across the doorway, for symmetry.

in addition, because of the layout, 1st reflection points will be about where the door and window are, so i'll be placing portable traps there when i mix.

if i stay in this house, i'll probably someday refurbish the basement and move the studio down there. then this room will be a guest room again. with a nice new window

Sounds like a plan... damn, one day I gotta build myself something like that... right now I have an editing room that sort of doubles for a studio but I know it's totally inadequate... one day, when I have a loose $1mil lying around

 

[ebook]

Pretty cool plans. It's nice to see a build thread somewhere else than just at Gearslutz! So, when you say control room are you saying that you have another room to do recording or that you don't do recording or that you are going to record in this room also? I was just wondering.

 

[OldCorpse]

Have you seen the window in post #2? The view - that snow... brrr!!! Chicago, yeah. I grew up with snowy winters. Hate it personally. Which is why I moved here to sunny Los Angeles Southern California, and I ain't movin' anytime soon... though San Francisco keeps tempting me... but Chicago style winter? No thank you! Still, it's lovely to see a studio built. Kudos zimv20!

 

[zimv20]

when you say control room are you saying that you have another room to do recording or that you don't do recording or that you are going to record in this room also?

i do overdubs and mixing, if we're recording drums we'll go to a studio. the room being remodeled is indeed just the control room. i've got another room i use as a live room and i'll run a snake when needed.

live room:

 

[zimv20]

Have you seen the window in post #2? The view - that snow... brrr!!!

it's been bitch ass cold the last week or so. normally that doesn't bug me, the single digit temps, but i was walking in the neighborhood on monday night -- layered all to hell and with a ski-mask -- but good GOD was it bad. the wind penetrated everywhere.

it was something like -5 w/ -25 windchill. this is the kind of weather in which i choose to replace a window

 

[zimv20]

today's progress:

1. external framing on window installed
2. most insulation done
3. most drywall put up
4. alarm guy re-wired window

 

[Mydriasis]

Oooooh, looks nice! I can't wait to see what it looks like when finished.

You said the monitors will be three feet from the south wall, where will you be sitting? How will they be mounted, or are they on stands? And what kind of monitors do you have, if I recall correctly some Adams, right?

 

[zimv20]

You said the monitors will be three feet from the south wall, where will you be sitting? How will they be mounted, or are they on stands? And what kind of monitors do you have, if I recall correctly some Adams, right?

adam a7's, yes. i'm going to buy some stands for them.

i'll be sitting facing the south wall (the top wall in the diagram) roughly 38% from the north (diagram bottom) wall. that puts me about even with the vent. once everything's in, i'll play w/ monitor placement, hence the "about" in "about 3 feet".

i'll have a desk, to my immediate right will be a rolling rack w/ the patchbays (right near the corner of the window), and then along the wall to my right (where the edge of the closet door swings open) i'll have my racks. in the photos, that's where the two new boxes are (one for power, one for voice/data).

i'm having two kinds of power coming into the room and closet. the "normal" one will be for the lights, printer, fax machine, etc.

the orange outlets are for the computer and all things audio. they'll be sharing the same isolated ground circuit. maybe someday when i have more money i'll install a pro power balancer on there. yeah, someday.

 

[Mydriasis]

Aww... I was hoping for more pictures or at least a progress update today.

Maybe I am just to early or maybe just maybe zimv20 has much more of a life than most of us here.

 

[zimv20]

Aww... I was hoping for more pictures or at least a progress update today.

nothing terribly exciting so far today, but the drywall is all up:

and i'll throw in a before/after picture of the exterior of the new window. yes, that is indeed the color of my house.

before:

after (i'll paint the frame in the spring):

 

[Cybix]

how are the acoustics in the live room? looks a bit reflective, much deadening in there?

 

[zimv20]

how are the acoustics in the live room? looks a bit reflective, much deadening in there?

i've got a couple bass traps in there, plus the carpet. the angled ceiling helps some, too.

but you're right, it's not great. when i rehabbed the space (attic), i wasn't even thinking about recording in there. i wish i hadn't been so short-sighted. there's actually a sweet spot in there for vox, which is the majority of what i've been recording lately.

 

[zimv20]

work re-commenced today, but nothing terribly exciting. sanding of drywall mud and more application, and picking up of supplies. but the room should be ready for trap placement by the weekend.

and good thing, the rest of my house is being overrun by traps...

 

[zimv20]

today:

window framed out:

walls sanded and cable hole made (left of closet door, above baseboard):

 

[zimv20]

and now the room is nice and toasty. a good 40% of my house remains uninsulated, with leaky single-pane windows. argh.

 

[Killyp]

lol just you wait till you get those G5s working, that'll heat the room up

What are you planning on using for monitoring, and what about patch bays?

 

[zimv20]

the g5 is going into the uninsulated / leaky window closet. monitors are adam a7's (i ordered the stands for them just today).

my patchbays are all 1/4" longframe. some are punchdown, some are soldered to snakes (the rosetta 800 and folcrom hook up to these, plus a breakout snake i have). most of them are ADC, if not all.

i am worried about having time to get all the wiring done...