Which one of these locations should I position my studio desk?

zalaroc

New member
I drew a basic layout of my bedroom in Paint. It's an oddly shaped room so I was wondering what the best location within the room is for my studio desk to be, for the most accurate sound for mixing. My current setup is the desk marked "1", and "2" and "3" are the other possibilities. If there's another option, please enlighten me! Thank you!
StudioLayout.jpg
 
None of them. Position 2 is the best of a bad selection. If you could move it back so that it is 1/3 of the length away from the window it would be better.
 
Certainly #2 would be best. I'm not quite sure why people have a conception of windows behind monitors being a bad thing. If anything, it could be possibly good for acoustics as some low end resonance could escape through there. Windows are a hard surface, so they certainly reflect. However, walls are also hard surfaces, and will reflect similarly. So whether you need to treat a window or a wall, you would treat it similarly..

You would definitely want to be positioned against the window in that room since your closet is on the opposing side as well as the entry way. This will give you the best symmetry possible in your room.

I would advise putting your monitors all the way against the wall, and pulling them out 6" at a time to find the best spot for them. The 38% rule, as stated above, can help in large rooms, but in most small rooms we've found that monitors all the way against the wall typically gives the best response. SBIR is the culprit that makes being some distance from boundaries a problem. In a large room, 38% is a good distance from any boundary but in a small room puts the listener at about 50% of the room length which is the worst spot you could possibly be in. Also, the farther the distance from a wall you are, the lower in frequency SBIR is. If you're a good 2-3 meters from the front wall, SBIR will likely be low enough in frequency that it won't cause any inherent problems. However, one or two feet away from the front wall can cause some major peaks and nulls due to SBIR. You can read more about positioning and SBIR on our Education section of our website here: gikacoustics.com/education.html
 
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The window is a high freq reflector and transparent to low freqs.

Having the window behind can help or hinder, most acousticians recommend against, unless they are trying to sell you a product that compensates for the problems it introduces. even with heavy curtains there are still issues to consider. I am concerned about the mirrored closet doors; but you have to work with what you've got, especially if you don't own the space.........

Without room dimensions of course, we are guessing as to the impact of the various walls, windows and furnishings; their impact on room reflectivity and absorption/diffusion/scatter.
 
Having the window behind can help or hinder, most acousticians recommend against, unless they are trying to sell you a product that compensates for the problems it introduces.

Sorry, I disagree! We sell acoustic treatment products, assume it to be a good spot, and don't usually initially recommend traps against the window unless its necessary. I've seen many designers situate people or recommend being in front of a window. Thomas of Northward Acoustics, who designs some beautiful rooms, actually has encased the entire front wall in glass in some of his designs. Windows are acoustically similar to walls on mids and upper frequencies. If your front wall needs trapping, it needs it whether a window is present or not.
 
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