Thread: Got some Auralex! Any opinions on layout or application?

Hello! Fist time poster. I just discovered this forum and thought I'd see if anybody had any comment on my studio layout or the application of Auralex. Here's a diagram:



I recently bought one of those $300 Auralex kits with 4 bass traps, a stack of panels, some diffusers, and a few other odds and ends. I've put most of it up around the room with pins temporarily until I could figure out the best setup. Anyway, the space isn't ideal, but it's all I have for now. I don't know the dimensions exactly, but I've drawn it pretty much to scale as best I could. I chose to block off the fireplace with the studio desk because that area was the most symmetrical (I have a couple of Auralex panels behind the mixing desk - hanging from the fireplace mantle). The left monitor is pointing directly at the back wall and the right monitor is pointing directly into the bathroom. The monitors are pretty close to the wall (4-6 inches)...don't know where else to put them.

I can hear some things a lot better with this current layouts and the treatments, but the low end seems to disappear. Consequently, I'm overcompensating with extra kick and bass volume in my mixes.

I should add what we do in this room: record keyboards direct, record electric guitar through a processor (no mics), record acoustic and vocals with a large-diaphragm condenser mic, mix (and sometimes master).

Any and all comments or suggestions are welcome!

Thanks,
Bill

Thanks for the reply Seedlings...that got me thinking. I bought the kit originally because my mixes never transferred correctly. I *though* (maybe incorrectly) that my room was a mess. I may very well have overtreated it. Two of the four bass traps are exactly where you suggest (lamp & bookcase corners). However, I have done a lot of random stuff with the pads (mostly behind the monitors and around the walls at monitor level).

I did the treatments in two stages. I rearranged the room like it is in the diagram and put up the bass traps and a little foam behind the monitors. I worked like that for a few days and could suddenly hear things I never heard before (subtle differences in compression, etc). I did one mix that way but it had too much bottom end. I then went hogwild and used up the rest of the pads (but none of the deflectors...still haven't gone there).

Your assessment of the sound of my room now is dead on. The room sounds quieter but it sounds muffled! I bought a new Martin D-16 on Saturday and was all excited about doing some recording with it. After about 8 hours of tweaking, I could never get the guitar to sound right...it disappears in the mix and pops out once in a while in an unpleasant way.

I measured the room this morning and am going to fax the dimensions to Auralex. Thanks for your input. Any further suggestions are always welcome.

Bill