Flooring for home studio, what to use ?

[jeffh]

I am having a room built in my basement, double walls, ceiling and using Quiet Rock for sound absorption. The guys today said it would be done by April 28, can't wait. Been a long time wish of mine.

Any ideas on what to use for flooring ? I have heard cork is good, but it might be a little bright, any particular carpets to use or not use ?

[Luke]

Do you want reflection, then hard wood.

Want absorption, then carpeting.

Does it get wet down there?

[jeffh]

No problems with moisture at all.

The room is 15x12. I am thinking the reflection might be problem, but the best sounding stage I ever played on was hardwood with low ceilings. It was very alive, not sure how that would work in a closed room ?

[fullerplast]

IMHO, go with hardwood and add carpets as needed. You can always deaden a room easier than liven a room......

[dimperdoo]

...the best sounding stage I ever played on was hardwood with low ceilings. It was very alive, not sure how that would work in a closed room ?

as a thought - perhaps one end wall could be comprised of traps? Essentially, set your sound stage up as you envision - then try to mimic "off into the abyss" on one end.


IMHO, go with hardwood and add carpets as needed. You can always deaden a room easier than liven a room......

Not only that... make as much of your sound reinforcement mobile and temporary as you can. The more you learn about it - the more you may find what you have set up is the opposite of what you actually want. -maybe?

[JCM 800]

The floor should be wood.

[Autopilot Slim]

how about cork?

[Luke]

No problems with moisture at all.

The room is 15x12. I am thinking the reflection might be problem, but the best sounding stage I ever played on was hardwood with low ceilings. It was very alive, not sure how that would work in a closed room ?

I'd go carpet then.

[Bryan T]

How high are the ceilings?

[jeffh]

The ceilings are 8 ft

[Glide]

Acid stained and etched concrete.

[dimperdoo]

I'd go carpet then.

I agree - the OP will want carpet. But, the flexibility of being able to choose different materials is important too.

On another note...

What's the purpose of the room? i.e. will it just be you in a project studio? a jam room? will there be a drumset?

[Glide]

I absolutely would not put carpet on that floor.

If it is concrete leave it concrete and cover it with a rug. Which is really good when you want a live floor, you can remove the rug.

If you put carpet in, you are tied to it. And it is about 1000 times harder to maintain than acid stained concrete.

Here is mine with a rug and without.

http://www.prsregistry.com/micropro.jpg

http://www.prsregistry.com/withrug.jpg

I also would not use Quiet Rock.

Go with a Double layer of 5/8" sheetrock with green glue between.

I would also recommend a double solid door assembly. It will help tremendously.

http://www.prsregistry.com/doubledoor.jpg

Also, quiet rock is not Sound Absorption Jeff. It is Sound Proofing. And double 5/8" drywall with green glue will give you a lower vibration response and it is less expensive and easier to work with than quiet rock.

For sound absorption you want 703 after the room is built. www.atsacoustics.com (http://www.atsacoustics.com)

You can get them in cases of 6 and cover them yourself.

Here is my front wall - still a work in progress. The corner black bass traps are doubled 703 panels (4 inches thick) that I covered myself.
There are 24 panels in just this photo.

http://www.prsregistry.com/frontwall.jpg

There is also a 703 cloud above that I covered with white muslin. You want a live floor - dead ceiling.
You can also see some of the panels that I still have left to cover around the walls.

http://www.prsregistry.com/longview.jpg

I crank the 68 plexi at midnight and don't bother anyone in the house sleeping.

Good luck with your project.

[dimperdoo]

Not only that... make as much of your sound reinforcement mobile and temporary as you can. The more you learn about it - the more you may find what you have set up is the opposite of what you actually want. -maybe?

I guess I never stipulated - YES hard floor (wood/concrete/?)

KEEP YOUR OPTIONS OPEN

if you throw a rug down for a session (or a few months/years) you can always pick it up when you want a more "live" room.

[alschnier]

I have a sim. room in my basement that doubles as control room/overdub space. it's also big enough to rehearse in (console @ one end, drums at other, amps, keys, outboard along the walls).

I went w. double sheetrock & pine plank floors. the room was very much alive when I 1st moved in (even w. all of the gear in there). you'd be surprise what some strategically placed acoustic tiles will do. took care of the corners, sections on either side of console, behind the desk, rear walls, etc. & it sounds great in there now.

very glad I went w. wood. a carpeted room would've been dead & never would've recovered. also went w. an eco-friendly water based seal on the pine & it's nice & 'reliced' now. floor looks great.

[JCM 800]

Glide nailed it. Live floor, dead ceiling. That's what I have in my studio.

[gixxerrock]

I went to my flooring shop and asked to see what they had in odd lots in the back room. Picked up 3/4" solid oak for $1.60 sq ft in an ugly color they had left over from the 90s in just enough to do 1 room. I have always found rooms with wood floors seem to sound much better to me.

[Structo]

I noticed in a house that I had that wall hangings such as framed prints and things like that really help kill the bounce of sounds.

While I was in the process of moving, I had taken the wall hangings down but still had my gear set up.

I was playing my guitar through the amp and couldn't believe the difference without the wall hangings in place. Very echoey. (if that's a word)

So I don't think you need to spend a lot of money on traps and standing wave corner thingies.

An area rug is good to have in the playing area.

But sometimes on recordings you want to capture some of the room in the mix.

[jeffh]

What's the purpose of the room? i.e. will it just be you in a project studio? a jam room? will there be a drumset?

Mostly a hobby studio, just me. Might use it for rehearsal occasionally ( have space elsewhere) and there will be a drum set.

[jeffh]

I absolutely would not put carpet on that floor.

If it is concrete leave it concrete and cover it with a rug. Which is really good when you want a live floor, you can remove the rug.

If you put carpet in, you are tied to it. And it is about 1000 times harder to maintain than acid stained concrete.

Here is mine with a rug and without.

http://www.prsregistry.com/micropro.jpg

http://www.prsregistry.com/withrug.jpg

I also would not use Quiet Rock.

Go with a Double layer of 5/8" sheetrock with green glue between.

I would also recommend a double solid door assembly. It will help tremendously.

http://www.prsregistry.com/doubledoor.jpg

Also, quiet rock is not Sound Absorption Jeff. It is Sound Proofing. And double 5/8" drywall with green glue will give you a lower vibration response and it is less expensive and easier to work with than quiet rock.

For sound absorption you want 703 after the room is built. www.atsacoustics.com (http://www.atsacoustics.com)

You can get them in cases of 6 and cover them yourself.

Here is my front wall - still a work in progress. The corner black bass traps are doubled 703 panels (4 inches thick) that I covered myself.
There are 24 panels in just this photo.

http://www.prsregistry.com/frontwall.jpg

There is also a 703 cloud above that I covered with white muslin. You want a live floor - dead ceiling.
You can also see some of the panels that I still have left to cover around the walls.

http://www.prsregistry.com/longview.jpg

I crank the 68 plexi at midnight and don't bother anyone in the house sleeping.

Good luck with your project.

Wow... great looking room and great advice.