Control room ceiling

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dmp

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 28, 2009
Messages
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Location
Madison, WI
I'm setting up a control room in a rented warehouse space (60'x60'). It is put together with modular sound proof room panels made by Wenger that I stumbled into (a local college was getting rid of them). Now the room is set up (10' by 15') with glass doors. It's pretty nice and the panels have very good isolation specs.
But I need to make up a ceiling. My ideas are either a drop in ceiling with acoustic tiles, then a layer of either fiberglass insulation or mineral wool batts.
Or a drywall ceiling with 2x4s for support, filled with insulation, and then another layer of drywall.
Either of these will be around $200 and I'd like to stay in that price range. Other ideas?

I want to have good acoustic properties facing into the control room, with very good blocking of sound from the outside room.
What's likely to work the best?

 
For the insulation, wight, no other options, more weight more insulation, how much, 12dB each time you double the weight. Other options may exist (air chamber) but not for DIY easily and require some math and proper application to get it working and avoid resonance. For absorption any wool is ok, I would go for the one that likes less the fire and/or cheaper, between glass and mineral you should take the cheaper. Probably glass, but take care, it likes to get inside lungs and destroy stuff, use mask and get them inside of some fabric that keeps it inside.

JS
 
OK, probably starting with a drop in ceiling that can't bear much weight isn't a good choice.
From what I've read, drywall is a better option - the more layers the better.
 
I recommended for a grinder a cabinet with Fibreboard and steel sticked together with tar, it worked more than well, you couldn't speak by the phone even 20m away, now you can do it standing right next to it. But there were a heavy still plates in the plant laying around so they used them, I wouldn't buy something like this, it was for using what was around. The point here is that the glue should be 'plastic', flexible and take some space, if you are doing multilayer insulation, so they are some how insulated from each other.

If you need really good insulation and you are doing a structure to mount something do it prepared to add some more weight on it without having to change the structure, then you can add more weight when you feel it necessary and you can afford it.

JS
 
OK, the control room is nearly ready. We built a drywall ceiling - two layers sandwiched on 2"x6" with foam tape between the wood and drywall.
The isolation is pretty good, but there are still a lot of little gaps to plug. We are optimistic it will be workable!
 

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Nice! how are you going to close all the gaps then? and how are you going to condition the inside of it? are those panels on the outside for this? try to use some kind of diffusion to make it hear bigger, maybe some easy 1D QRD in the back wall and some smaller 2D PRD in the ceiling where the reflection from speakers goes to listener is a good idea. For the back wall 4 modules would be optimal so you can make a nice barker sequence, while using big panels for good bandwidth, so you have 10', to use 4 panels you need 30" panels. So for example N23 QRD is the optimal choice, for 30" period and 1" well with, that leaves 7" for fins (1/4' fin is ok) you have scattering from 240Hz and Cutoff at 6600Hz, pretty nice! but hart to build, the easier to build are the N7 but you need fractal design for a good bandwidth which is again a PIA. In this web is a calculator for QRD 1D and 2D (QRDude, you may know it already) http://www.subwoofer-builder.com
For PRD there are other options online, but here is one http://www.oliverprime.com/prd/?show=calculator

JS
 
Small gaps - we'll just have to fill one at a time. The panels lined up pretty well, but any air space will let sound creep in. And the upper edge where the drywall sits at the walls I was thinking of filling a sock with sand and laying it along the joint.
The outside panels are extra pieces from the Wenger room. We'll probably use those for isolating the drums outside the control room.
As to the inner conditioning - I want to get things setup and then listen. But we picked up a bunch of acoustic foam panels if we want to quickly try to deaden the room (especially on the drywall ceiling, I suspect), and then we can look into a diffuser.
 
 
dmp said:
As to the inner conditioning - I want to get things setup and then listen. But we picked up a bunch of acoustic foam panels if we want to quickly try to deaden the room (especially on the drywall ceiling, I suspect), and then we can look into a diffuser.
It's too late now but ...

The best way to diffuse the sound is to have your walls & ceilings not quite parallel.  Just 2 degrees is enough to make a HUGE difference.  If your surfaces are exactly parallel, you have to use so much diffusion to get rid of flutter echoes that the room becomes too dead.
 
Well... it's never too late, but we wanted to get something working soon instead of waiting longer for something perfect.

We were worried that changing the shape to a trapazoid would have made the modular panels not seal properly, and isolation from outside is very important to us.
but it is good to know that a very small angle is sufficient. I measured out a really nice sounding control room at a local studio and it was 10-15 deg, if I recall correctly.
 
When I read the word "condition" I thought of A/C, not acoustics. What are you planning to do about cooling/fresh air?
Looks like a nice space - have fun!
 
When I read the word "condition" I thought of A/C, not acoustics. What are you planning to do about cooling/fresh air?
The walls are these modular panels made by Wenger, and there are 'venting' panels. There are two intakes on one side and two panels with blowers to pull air through on the other. We'll run a flexible duct from the building hvac to the intake so we can get AC / heat in.

 

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