Building a Recording Control room

We build a dedicated control room at D.W. Fearn. Watch the process from design through construction to the first session. Acoustic principles and design suggestions are included.

[@ruby2thursday]

Hot damn! you got a vintage Neve broadcast board. The only model Neve I ever got to work on. Nifty! oh, good vid too.

[@DWFearn]

Thanks! I have replaced the little Neve board with a different mixer with more inputs. I don't want to part with the Neve, which I bought new in the 1980s, but it should go to someone who will use it. So perhaps I will sell it at some point.

[@carlosgueddes729]

Hello from New York I have to tell you that this video was very informative your calmness and intent delivered intellect truly shows through the work that you do I learned from you every time I hear you and when I do finally get to build my own space it'll be from this video I hope one day I get a chance to meet you and thank you for all that you've given audio recording engineering sincerely Carlito

[@tadasis1237]

Nice video,nice work,nice studio and nice gear!Thank you and keep up the good work!

[@AmielRocker]

DW Gear,, is my dream for years...one day..... beautiful video!

[@blackdog.6398]

Nice 👍 thank you always getting ideas,,,,definitely well done 👍....🙏🕊

[@TheAuralAffinity]

By far the most inspiring thing I will see on KZbin for a long time. What an excellent presentation. I also use the iZ Radar 24, I just don't have an isolated studio. The rack gear looks amazing.

[@laurabrown7675]

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[@Artusionstudios]

Thank you for the long and instructional tour, learned a lot :)

[@ddubbwhite]

Artusion Studios watch it sped up lol

[@laurabrown7675]

One of the Best Ideas of SoundProofing is "SoundProof Curtains" it actually Block outside Noise coming from Windows. Check Here: livesoundproof.com/best-soundproof-curtains/

[@accordingtohonda4308]

This is super similar to my old studio your custom equipment is really rad

[@cannonasia]

is information is highly valued. Thank you!

[@willthrill1320]

Nice video... Thank You. Exactly the kind of info I need.

[@cornbobrimlove7892]

what a great video my friend! please update in the future. love to see some hands on use of your beautiful new facility that is presented in the same depth that this wonderful video has shown. thanks for your time. we love to watch it!!!! :-)

[@phathandyman4537]

thank you so much for sharing your experience and knowledge... :P cheers!

[@KoolKatRecordingStudios]

Very Thorough. :)

[@yashsondhi149]

Thank you for sharing had no idea of such hard work😍😍

[@JRandallS]

The immediate problem I see is that the mixing position is too close to the center bass null . The mix engineer should be about 37% from either the front or back wall. Anyone sitting in that position is going to mix too much bass in around 80hz to compensate for the null he is sitting in. Also the room ratio's are screwed. As a retrofit, it might be possible to put a sub-woofer in each corner (or wall center) and eliminate the center null zone. (Check out the REW tool). Rooms that have dimensions that are multiples of each other is a mixing nightmare. They will actually ring to the key frequency. There are a couple of optimum ratios to use when calculating these distances. I prefer 1.618 to 1, as it is the ratio found in natural Fibonacci sequences, such as conch shells. 1.26 also works. So if you make your shortest distance (height) "one", then the next (width) will be height times 1.62, and the next (length) will be height times 2.62 (or width times 1.62 which is the same thing) . Or if you are using the 1.26 ratio, then height is "one", width is 1.26 x height, and length is 1.59 x height. This will help reduce frequency response modes to a manageable level. With this room you might have to use 1.26 due to the limited space. For example; using the 1.26 ratio, call the ceiling 108", then the width is 136" and the length is 172". The support post is just inside one corner, but make that the back of the room and it will be buried in the bass traps that you put at the back of the space. (Or you could use 120, 151, 191 if you have the space.) Have the mix engineer turn left 90 degrees. Shoot the speakers down the length of the room. Put his head and the speakers in a equilateral triangle. This room might be just under the edge of being too small. There is some law, I don't remember, about the required cubic volume. GIve $1000 (probably less for this size room) to John Brandt and let him design it for you. You will not be disappointed. John Brandt also has free tools to download that can get you started. You can thank me later.

[@123454d]

hella strong too!

[@weneedtermlimits]

Wow, just found this, that little Neve mixer is way cool. I have one very similar. It was made as a portable unit to broadcast live from soccer and cricket matches in South Africa. They have a 24vdc battery pack and will run on 220 or 115vac. It also has something really unique, a telephone interface. This one appears to be a studio version, would love to see more about it!!!

[@TehSyneS]

amazing, do you still have it in South Africa?

[@DoctorMcFarlandStudios]

I am building a new studio and this video gave me a few ideas. Your gear looks great but slightly out of my price range by a few thousand dollars :) I encourage your to try out Harrison Mixbus32c to use instead of your Pro Tools rig. All the best

[@DWFearn]

I'm glad you found the video useful. You should checkout the products made by Hazelrigg Industries. They are my designs, built in the same facility as the D.W. Fearn products. They might fit your budget better. www.dwfearn.com For the last three years, I have used Pyramix as my main DAW, with Merging Technologies converters. When I need MIDI tracks, I have been using Reaper. Not even set up for PT anymore in my studio. I've heard good things about Mixbus.

[@amdenis]

I am so happy for you- well thought out, nicely done. Do you still think your original control room ‘s room acoustics were good, now that you have your new, conditioned room?

[@DWFearn]

The old "control room" was bigger, so the bass was a bit more accurate. But otherwise the new CR is better in every respect.

[@marsen822]

Beautiful studio mr trump

[@DWFearn]

The 1176 clone was built by one of my assemblers for his own use. He brought it in to test and calibrate it with our test equipment.

[@laurabrown7675]

One of the Best Ideas of SoundProofing is "SoundProof Curtains" it actually Block outside Noise coming from Windows. Check Here: livesoundproof.com/best-soundproof-curtains/

[@JohnJohn1982]

Just an Carpenter Apprentice question. Lol Would Rockwool work better instead of the insulation you used?

[@wbuttry1]

going on 5 yrs later how is the room doing yeah still doing recording or whats going on

[@onellluke2755]

Did u make a ventilator or did you just use an aircon for the studio?

[@mesalesme7501]

inspiring

But how do you manage air recirculation? The split only cools or warms the air, but were the fresh air came from?

[@DWFearn]

That's an excellent point. All the studios I have designed in the past had 10% fresh air into the HVAC system. This control room does not, and I wish it did, but most of the time the door is open to the much larger space around the control room so it does get some fresh air circulation. Not ideal, and perhaps at some point I will add heat exchangers to provide some outside air. So far it has not been a major problem since most of my sessions are only 3-4 hours long. (The original plan had the control room tied into the building system HVAC, which does have fresh air, but the complexity of sound isolation, cost, and lack of space made it impractical.)

[@westrig180]

While i understand the 'low budget ' aspects of this construction style, and some things were done correctly such as metal studs, the right angles ( 90 degs no less) of the room will be a concern as treatments are needed. The small sq ft also restricts the sound from 'airing out' and instead bounces around sharply via severe reflections. You will not achieve decent tracking or mixes because of this. Akin to mixing in a closet. If you are using it to dry run the gear you build you'll get false results due to all of the above.

[@dis1here2001]

whats up with the blue stripe 1176 on the floor?

[@johnbecker334]

Regarding your 1/2" glass layer being made of two 1/4" layers, did you just lay them side by side and install, or did you have put a small layer of something between them to prevent vibration? I have access to affordable 1/4" laminate glass and wish to do the same (single 1/4" on one side of window opening, dual-1/4" on the other), but I'd like to get it right.

[@DWFearn]

I specified 1/2" glass but the contractor could not obtain it in time. He proposed two 1/4" pieces. I was skeptical, but it worked. Nothing in between. Just very carefully cleaned. When the two pieces contact, they sort of weld together. I don't think you could get them apart. After more than 10 years in service, the window continues to work well. I'm not sure about laminate glass, but it's worth a try.

[@ramonfelizjr]

Great video , I see they using radar 24 in conjunction with Lynx Aurora and Pro tools . So my question is when they use the radar and when they use the Lynx ? And how to use it together?

[@DWFearn]

Thanks for watching. When this video was made 9 years ago, I was using the Radar 24 system for recording. But Radar is simply a recorder. It is not a DAW and has no mixing capability. The Radar files were exported to a computer running ProTools for mixing.

[@ramonfelizjr]

@@DWFearn thx , and now what are you using ? Radar has a new converter with Dante connection , there is few tops converters now Prism release ADA 128 . That radar 24 sounds great , feels real analog . I understand if you using something different has to be better . I will like to know , thx

[@DWFearn]

@@ramonfelizjr The Radar converters are excellent. But much of the recording I do now is in the DSD format. About 5 years ago I switched to Merging Technologies Hapi converters.

[@AntBlanco]

Was MLV (Mass Loaded Vinyl) ever considered in the design? Cost? Efficiency? Thanks for sharing.

[@DWFearn]

MLV is an excellent solution in many situations. In this case, the weak links made it money wasted. Thanks for the question.

[@USMCHOG]

Hi Doug What brand do you recommend to build the XLR patchbays? I was about to buy AUdio accessories Mimi shorty trs to db25 bays until I heard your comments on TRS on this video. So let me know the best way if you can. I'll try you on FB as well incase you don't monitor these comments Thanks!

[@RKKRT]

+Terry Patterson Neutrik is what you want

[@DWFearnMusic]

+Terry Patterson -- We use Neutrik gold-plated contact connectors in all our products and that's what I used for the patchbay.

[@armansrsa]

@ around 6min when the man is erecting the vertical studs, what is the man fastening the steel studs to above? Looks they fasten to the existing ceiling which is wrong! You have to decouple the walls from the original structure else you create flanking paths for sound to travel!

[@DWFearn]

The ceiling of the control room is made from two layers of drywall, which are both decoupled from the structure by resilient hangers. The design requires a compromise between the achievable isolation and the loss of ceiling height. The isolation is pretty impressive, with the door being the weak link. I've worked in world-class studios with less isolation.

[@armansrsa]

Resilient hangers will not provide the isolation of a completely decoupled ceiling but yes they save vertical space for sure. I just didn't hear anything in the video regarding this. Thanks for sharing!

[@Ace_of_DiscaL]

Why do opinions differ when it comes to setting up a recording/control room by length as opposed to width?

[@tristafravel4735]

they shouldn't differ - you want your room wider than it is long otherwise you'll get frequency amplifications or cancellations depending on your listening position. Remember, not only is sound about frequencies but it's about time and how long it takes for a given frequency to travel a distance before it attenuates. (or bounce off an object and hit your ears again)

[@jalithic]

Dude for your health replace those rockwool absorbers. Fine particles go through the burlap with any air movement. Rockwool is manufactured to be sealed, you do not want to breathe it in. It's similar to asbestos in the way that the little fibers can lodge themselves in your lungs.

[@DWFearn]

You are right to be concerned. The particle size of fiberglass and rockwool are comparable to asbestos. What do you suggest as a replacement? That said, I do not know of anyone in our profession who has developed any lung problems as a consequence. Good air circulation and proper filtering probably helps keep us safe. Still, the risk is not zero.

[@jalithic]

Hi @@DWFearn I don't have a recommendation, I don't know the nodes or nulls specific to your studio (every studio is different). I made the exact same thing put it in my studio and it wasn't till years that I realized it's hazards. Your not going to notice it right away, it's the slow build up in your lungs over the long haul that you have to worry about. When I lay flat on my back I start coughing, I thought it was bizarre til I put two and two together. I was trying to use them as bass traps but gave up on that since it really didn't treat those frequencies, so they were more or less just slap back and reverb nullifiers.

[@jalithic]

@@DWFearn The forced air circulation is what blows on it and causes it to become airborne. It's released into the air, some will be caught by your filter (assuming it is able to catch these fine particles) and some you will breathe in. 😐

[@jalithic]

@@DWFearn When I gave up on trying to tame the 40Hz room resonance specific to my studio I pinned up inexpensive studio foam (the Amazon kind) in key spots to reduce slap back, standing waves, and room reverberation and deaden it some. My studio is a less than ideal size to do anything meaningful and have lately done my mixes on a pair of high end open back reference headphones. Some physics are impossible to compensate for in a room as small as mine. I've used studio monitors for decades and interestingly found I like the open back headphones better, it's seriously like having two studio monitors strapped to your head. ✌🏻

[@jalithic]

If I happen to come across something inexpensive and that performs the same as the rockwool in the burlap I'll pass it along to you. --Jason ✌🏻&❤️

[@RussellSclafani]

Kennett square, hello neighbor, I'm in king of prussia

[@garantiertproberaum9883]

Hey! Voll gut! Und wie Ihr easy und günstig im eigenen Keller einen Proberaum/Aufnahmeraum baut findet Ihr hier! @​

[@DWFearn]

Danke!

[@garantiertproberaum9883]

@@DWFearn 😎👍👌

[@pomietlo24]

why did you sound proof the studio...think you d build a room for artists and sound proof that...hmmm?

[@DWFearnMusic]

+pomietlo24 Soundproofing the "studio" area was not really necessary. It's mostly below ground level and we are at least a half mile from any source of potentially interfering sound.

[@bnjmnwst]

You sell single space ventilated rack panels for $200 & you can't afford to add onto the building? Come on, man.

[@DWFearn]

I considered expanding the building to allow a larger control room, but that would have meant large steel beams to support the three floors above. That would further reduce the ceiling height. The cost could not be justified for the benefit. The vented rack panels came about because our customers asked for them. A $30 perforated panel would work just as well. Creating a panel that matched our products required the same machining of quarter-inch thick aluminum as our front panels. There is also the cost of finishing the panels, which requires many different coatings and hand work.

[@pomietlo24]

Does nt make sense....sorry