How best to lay this out

[Bubba]

It's like carrier pigeons with extra Google. Me, bubba and Shan use it all the time

Is that what it's called, Google Hangout?

Greg, it's an instant chat window you can use if you both have a Gmail account. Very handy and I think it's great.

[Greg_L]

Well I got the googley mail.

[Bubba]

Well I got the googley mail.

If you sign into your google mail and look down to the bottom left, you'll see a person icon, a speech balloon and a telephone symbol.If you click on the first one it should bring up your name on a tab just below your folders list. There is a little plus symbol on that tab - if you click it you can add another gmail user's email address and add them to your hangouts. Then you start chatting.

[jonny deep]

Well I got the googley mail.

If you sign into your google mail and look down to the bottom left, you'll see a person icon, a speech balloon and a telephone symbol.If you click on the first one it should bring up your name on a tab just below your folders list. There is a little plus symbol on that tab - if you click it you can add another gmail user's email address and add them to your hangouts. Then you start chatting. try <redacted>

Don't leave your email address on here if you don't want spam.

[Bubba]

If you sign into your google mail and look down to the bottom left, you'll see a person icon, a speech balloon and a telephone symbol.If you click on the first one it should bring up your name on a tab just below your folders list. There is a little plus symbol on that tab - if you click it you can add another gmail user's email address and add them to your hangouts. Then you start chatting. try <redacted>

Don't leave your email address on here if you don't want spam.

Noted.

[JD01]

It's been agreed that I can use the length of the room with the desk under the window. Minor win.

So the plan is now to do that which leaves 35cm each side of the desk for me to build some plinths to put my monitors on - I under stand that the tweeters in the monitors need to be at approximately ear level don't they? and my head needs to form an equilateral triangle with them when I'm critically listening - is this correct?

[Greg_L]

It's been agreed that I can use the length of the room with the desk under the window. Minor win.

So the plan is now to do that which leaves 35cm each side of the desk for me to build some plinths to put my monitors on - I under stand that the tweeters in the monitors need to be at approximately ear level don't they? and my head needs to form an equilateral triangle with them when I'm critically listening - is this correct?

That would probably be best in your little room.

[JD01]

Cheers

[JD01]

Monitor heights. I'm going to stick my monitors either side of my desk. In my little room that'll mean they're going to be just under 2m (about 6') apart.
Is this a good distance?
Also, I'll have to build some plinths to stick them on so that the tweeters will be about ear level when I'm sitting in my office chair and there won't be room for them on the desk anyway.
Is there anything I should take into account when building these aside from making them solid and non-wobbley? Some people suggest covering my monitor stands in something soft like a layer of neoprene, some people suggest keeping them as a nice hard piece of bare wood and I've seen someone else use a ream of paper under each monitor.

[Tadpui]

6' apart should be fine, as long as you can sit far enough away to roughly keep the equilateral triangle thing somewhat intact. You might need to scoot them inwards a bit, no biggie.

What I noticed is that when I get the monitors placed right, I get this "phantom speaker" effect. Things that are panned center actually sound like they're eminating from an Iimaginary speaker right in front of me. Not sure if that's an actual thing, but that's what it sounds like to me.

[Greg_L]

What I noticed is that when I get the monitors placed right, I get this "phantom speaker" effect. Things that are panned center actually sound like they're eminating from an Iimaginary speaker right in front of me. Not sure if that's an actual thing, but that's what it sounds like to me.

Yup yup yup.

when I hear things centered in the stereo field, it sounds like it's coming from behind my monitor screen.

[JD01]

Yeah, I've already noticed that with my current setup... but I have to move the speakers and sit on the floor to achieve it!

[WhiskeyJack]

6' apart should be fine, as long as you can sit far enough away to roughly keep the equilateral triangle thing somewhat intact. You might need to scoot them inwards a bit, no biggie.

What I noticed is that when I get the monitors placed right, I get this "phantom speaker" effect. Things that are panned center actually sound like they're eminating from an Iimaginary speaker right in front of me. Not sure if that's an actual thing, but that's what it sounds like to me.

Thats exactly what it sounds like ot me as well. Brilliant description.

[JD01]

20180506_110634.jpg

Time to start this room then

[SweetDan]

Time to start this room then

Hopefully, the following isn't the scene just around the corner and out of sight:

hitchhikersguide018.jpg

[JD01]

haha, I think I might take a few videos as I go along and then edit them all together when I move in there and record my first tones.

Will be a few weeks yet 'cos we've got to get the carpet fitter and stuff.

Actually, Tad (and anyone else who's done this), you used to have a really well treated room, what did you use for the door to make it quieter in the test of the house? I was thinking of just putting a layer of foam over the back of the door. Any other bright ideas?

[JD01]

Corner treatment.

Gonna build some corner traps over the next couple of weekends - 3 questions.
1. Is there some sort of ratio of how wide they need to be in comparison to the length of the room/or width of the back wall of the room?
I was going to make them about 30cm/1'
2. They were going to be in the back corners of the room (one of which will have to be attached the back of a door - oh well). Should I also have a pair in the front corners of the room, in front of me behind my monitors?
3. Its no hassle for me to build a frame out of some lightweight balsawood or something and cover it in fabric - what should I fill them with? Packing foam? Memoryfoam mattress stuff?

Just realised - trying to describe a room to someone like this is fucking pointless.
This is my current layout plan.

Office Layout 2.JPG

[Greg_L]

Corner treatment.

Gonna build some corner traps over the next couple of weekends - 3 questions.
1. Is there some sort of ratio of how wide they need to be in comparison to the length of the room/or width of the back wall of the room?
I was going to make them about 30cm/1'
2. They were going to be in the back corners of the room (one of which will have to be attached the back of a door - oh well). Should I also have a pair in the front corners of the room, in front of me behind my monitors?
3. Its no hassle for me to build a frame out of some lightweight balsawood or something and cover it in fabric - what should I fill them with? Packing foam? Memoryfoam mattress stuff?

1) There probably is, but in your tiny closet room, don't worry about it. Just make them thick.
2) Ideally all corners will be trapped, but if you're only going to do do two, I'd say do the two behind you.
3) Rockwool. Order some. If you want actual bass trapping, you can't just stick anything in there.

[JD01]

1) There probably is, but in your tiny closet room, don't worry about it. Just make them thick.
2) Ideally all corners will be trapped, but if you're only going to do do two, I'd say do the two behind you.
3) Rockwool. Order some. If you want actual bass trapping, you can't just stick anything in there.

Cheers mate - wouldn't have thought of Rockwool.
I'll make a triangular frame, stuff it with rockwool, cover it in a tidy looking fabric and staple it in place nice and tightly.
You think may traps should go floor to ceiling or do you think I could get away with having them just on the top half of the room?
Obviously they can't go floor to ceiling behind my monitors, but on the side where the door is the door only misses the radiator by about 15cm/6" so I wouldn't be able to stick one below the door handle here easily anyway.

[Greg_L]

Cheers mate - wouldn't have thought of Rockwool.
I'll make a triangular frame, stuff it with rockwool, cover it in a tidy looking fabric and staple it in place nice and tightly.
You think may traps should go floor to ceiling or do you think I could get away with having them just on the top half of the room?
Obviously they can't go floor to ceiling behind my monitors, but on the side where the door is the door only misses the radiator by about 15cm/6" so I wouldn't be able to stick one below the door handle here easily anyway.

Traps really just need to go about halfway - right in the middle. Ideally they'd go floor to ceiling and be really thick in the ceiling/floor corners, but if you cover the middle 50% of the corner you'll be fine.

So if you have say 8ft ceiling, just go 2ft up - 4ft trap - 2ft to ceiling.

Instead of trapping behind the monitors, trapping the ceiling/wall corner right above your listening position might be better.

So trap the corners behind you, trap the ceiling above you, and get your side-to-side first reflection points.