So you have purchased some gear and now you need to optimize your home recording studio setup.
Wait! Do you know how to set up you home studio efficiently? I’ve made this mistake before. Hopefully I can help you prevent making your own mistake.
Are you setting up in a small room on the first floor, upstairs, or in a basement?
4 things that you must do for your home recording studio setup are:
- Find the best sounding side of the room
- Set up your desk in the middle of parallel walls, not in the corner.
- Set up your speakers correctly in the monitoring position.
- Acoustically treat your walls
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FIND THE BEST SOUNDING SIDE OF THE ROOM
For me, I set up my home studio in the basement. The first thing I did was set it up where there was room to fit my desk. That ended up being a mistake because I realized that my basement sounded better on the other side of the room. So I rearranged it, and my studio sounded much better.
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SET UP YOUR DESK IN THE MIDDLE OF PARALLEL WALLS
The worst thing that you can do is set up your studio desk in a corner!! Bass frequencies are notorious for building up in corners and you will never get an accurate representation of what your mix is really sounding like. Try to stay out of the corners if you can.[/bullet_block]
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SET UP YOUR SPEAKERS CORRECTLY IN THE MONITORING POSITION
Your speakers should be the same distance from the side walls, the same distance apart from one another, and the distance apart from one another should be the same distance as where you are listening and sitting at the desk. Get a measuring tape out, get it right, and you will be pleased.[/bullet_block]
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ACOUSTICALLY TREAT YOUR WALLS
If you’re going to start anywhere, start with the area around your desk. You will want absorption behind the speakers, absorption at the first reflections of side walls, and bass traps in the corners. I am using 4 auralex bass traps in the corners of my studio, and I also built 4 panels with Owens Corning rigid fiberglass 703 for the side walls and behind the speakers. Don’t forget to also use some absorption under your speakers.[/bullet_block]
