Computer acoustic room modelling - How much would you pay??

[Soundman Jman]

I'm looking at getting my room acoustically modelled professionally to get the best sound out of my room. My acoustics are all over the place and i can't it right, I've spent thousands and thousands on equipment to get the best sound.....but stupidly i've totally negleted my room acoustics, which turns out to be just as or if not more important than the equipment.

What do people think is a resonable price to pay for someone to analyse my setup on acoustic software and then suggesting improvements??
Your thoughts would be much appreciated,

[ferguson66]

I am in the same boat Jman. I am just finishing my studio and am still racking my brain as to how I really want to have it acoustically treated. I had thought about having it professionally done but haven't asked anyone for a price yet.

I may ask someone I recently met to give me a price to do it. If I do I will post what I discover.

[brandondrury]

I'm looking at getting my room acoustically modelled professionally to get the best sound out of my room.

What's the "modelling" for? I'm assuming you mean you want a professional acoustical engineer to analyze, tweak, and build changes to you construction, bass traps, etc.

stupidly i've totally negleted my room acoustics

This is very common. I think we all do this once. The greatest preamp in the world is useless without a great room and an accurate studio monitoring system.

What do people think is a resonable price to pay for someone to analyse my setup on acoustic software and then suggesting improvements??

I wouldn't have a clue. There are idiots who will come down with a test mic and print you off a copy of your room's frequency response and make suggestions for a few hundred bucks. Then again, there are guys who REALLY build the plans for your absorbers and do the whole thing. I'd assume these guys would charge drastically more.

In the end, I guess it depends on your budget and how serious you are about this. I'm of the opinion that you can eventually get a control room to sound pretty accurate on your own if you work at it. If you don't have the time, hiring a professional is a great choice.

The problem with this question is it is more of a "business plan" kind of question. If you are charging $400 per day for your studio and have it rented out 5 days a week, it may not be a big deal to dump $10-20k into your control room. Then again, if your only recording yourself, it may be ridiculous to dump $20k into a control room.

The obvious choice is to call a few acoustical engineers and see what they have to say.

Brandon

[Soundman Jman]

Thanks Ferguson66, that would be great if you could let me know what people are charging. Hopefully its in the hundred's and not thousands!!

[Soundman Jman]

Thanks for the info Brandon, I appreciate your thoughts, i think you are right on track.

[brandondrury]

its in the hundred's and not thousands!!

Well, don't hold your breath. I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable dealing with someone in the hundreds. If I'm that tight of budget for the most important part of the chain (besides the song / musician) I would just do it myself.

Our local music store used to have a guy that would come out and do analysis for local churches. He's use a Scheops mic, run it through RTA software (may have been SmaartLive) and then tell them really basic advice. Of course, the church people were always very impressed, but that's only because they didn't realize just how very little he had done.

If a guy like that came to my place and wanted money, I'd punch him and keep the Schoeps mic for wasting my time. Just keep that in mind.

Before you deal with an acoustics dude, ask him his thoughts on Helmholtz Resonators. Also ask him how many times he resorts to EQ on the studio monitors. If he doesn't know what a Helmholtz Resonator is don't hire him. If he always uses EQ on his studio monitors, he gets an automatic D- unless he convince you otherwise.

Brandon

[ferguson66]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

If a guy like that came to my place and wanted money, I'd punch him and keep the Schoeps mic for wasting my time.

Sounds like a great way to get some new equipment, I just hope they are small wimpy guys that show up.

[brandondrury]

Sounds like a great way to get some new equipment

Yeah, I never really considered the idea of armed robbery. Maybe I should look into that.

[ferguson66]

Except then you have to bury the guy in the backyard so he can't go rat you out and it becomes murder one. Might be easier to shakedown some gradeschool kids for their milk money or start some Internet scams over in Nigeria and buy the Schoeps with cash.

[zildjohn01]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

There are idiots who will come down with a test mic and print you off a copy of your room's frequency response and make suggestions for a few hundred bucks.

Where can I get a gig doing this?