Help me achive a better sounding room :)

[Fingers mcginty]

Hi, Please see attached pic of my recording setup. My recordings sound like crap. I'm hoping it's the room. It's very echoey. I have covering the floor and it's helped somewhat. Would acoustic foam help me out?

Here is a pic of the room.

I also face the window when i record. Don't know if that's a bad thing also?

[Cranky Emu]

There is acoustic foam and there is acoustic foam. If you want good studio quality acoustic foam then expect to be forking out some serious dollars.

You can do other things that are somewhat cheaper to try first.

Get a heavy rug or drapes over the window when you are recording, and if you can scrouge up some heavy rugs somewhere, second-hand shop or something, try hanging them from the walls and see if it makes a difference. There is a lot of reflective surfaces in that room. On the upside I reckon you would get a good snare sound in it

[Fingers mcginty]

Originally Posted by Cranky Emu

There is acoustic foam and there is acoustic foam. If you want good studio quality acoustic foam then expect to be forking out some serious dollars.

You can do other things that are somewhat cheaper to try first.

Get a heavy rug or drapes over the window when you are recording, and if you can scrouge up some heavy rugs somewhere, second-hand shop or something, try hanging them from the walls and see if it makes a difference. There is a lot of reflective surfaces in that room. On the upside I reckon you would get a good snare sound in it

I'd only ever be recording acoustic guitars and vocals in the room.

[Cranky Emu]

Originally Posted by Fingers mcginty

I'd only ever be recording acoustic guitars and vocals in the room.

Either way, hanging up some thick rugs will help deaden the reflections and is one of your least expensive options.
I did my walls with acoustic foam it cost $600 for two walls (3m Sq) and the ceiling (3m Sq). I had to forgo corner bass traps as I just couldn't afford it.

[ivansc]

Mega cheap way to do it is to buy a large clothes rack & drape a duvet/comforter over it, behind you, then use either another one in front or if you want to splash out like I did, buy some sort of reflection filter.

I was lucky enough to be able to build my studio room as an extension to my house, so the walls ceiling and underfloor are very thoroughly damped, plus I put home-made fibreglass bass wedges floor to ceiling in the corners. That part was really cheap and cleaned the bass end up well. And on the one window I too drape some heavy curtains and when things are getting really loud and nasty, a thick blanket on top.

[foxAsteria]

Heavy stage curtain on two or more walls helps immensely (double the wall length so you get the "folds"). I'm able to record great sounding drums in small bedrooms like that and you can often get it quite cheap. Looks amazing as well.

But that's a very tiny space with an awkward arrangement (desk should be centered on the short wall and monitors should not be so close to the wall). Any acoustic treatment is going to take up some of that precious space. You might consider something like Kaotica Eyeball instead, to minimize the room sound when recording.

[G-Sun]

Originally Posted by Fingers mcginty

Hi, Please see attached pic of my recording setup. My recordings sound like crap. I'm hoping it's the room. It's very echoey. I have covering the floor and it's helped somewhat. Would acoustic foam help me out?

Here is a pic of the room.

I also face the window when i record. Don't know if that's a bad thing also?

#1 Center your listening-position on the wall, make a triangle monitors-ears
#2 Add medium absorption on 1st order reflection-points
#3 Add basstrapps in all 2- and 3-corners

To make yourself feel good: Measure room after step #1 and step #3
To make yourself feel bad: Measure room only after #3

Best

[Fingers mcginty]

Am I piss in against the wind with that window on my left ?