My New Studio Build (perhaps overly detailed)

[silky smoove]

It's difficult to evaluate the noise specs of mini-splits. They can get creative when evaluating their products.

I'm finding that most units will give you a db measurement without specifying the weighting, or if that's the system's best noise spec (i.e. when running on the lowest setting), or its peak noise spec (i.e. when running on the highest setting). Sometimes they'll list one noise spec for the interior unit and the AHU. Certainly the condenser in the AHU is going to be noisier than anything inside (I've seen some spec around 70db!), so I have to assume anything in the sub-30db range is not the AHU.

A very good studio HVAC system will be around 10dBA but I doubt that you can find a mini-split that can come close to that.

Absolutely. A mini split isn't going to touch a high end central system where every component of it can be treated for sound concerns.

220VAC vs 120VAC is another consideration.

I was planning on 220 since I'll be bringing in all new electrical as opposed to retrofitting into an existing system. The only concern is the capacity of my house's electric panel, and how much I can tap off of it to run the studio's sub-panel. Speaking of which, time to hit up the electrician again, or decide to bring someone else in to do the job.

 

[silky smoove]

Electrician scheduled for Sunday at 1pm. Let's see if he makes it this time.

 

[Luke19Boarder]

Fingers crossed!

 

[beans-on-toast]

It will be interesting to see what they recommend. Surveying the 220VAC mini splits will help in estimating what the amp service requirements will be. On the plus side, many are energy efficient. Add to that a number of 15A circuits.

Metal tubing for the wire runs helps keep noise down. Junction boxes can be a source of noise if not done right.

One way to check out wiring is to use a radio as an RF detector. Find a portable AM radio with manual tuning. Tune between stations and turn the volume up. Move the radio around the room, near the breaker panel, at junctions, light fixtures, where wires are routed. If RFI is being emitted, you'll hear it through the radio. This can also be used to check out lighting power supplies, some can splatter the high frequency bands with noise.

 

[silky smoove]

Quick update:

My building guy has been incommunicado since getting back from his vacation on 6/28. I think that since all of my costs to him have been paid he's not exactly motivated to help me get through the final permitting hurdles. I'm going to keep pushing and get a response so I can wrap up the final site inspection. There's a line item on the permit for an insulation permit review which I'm hoping we don't have to do. I won't be insulating until after I have the electrical installed and get the HVAC installed, both of which can't happen until I construct the entryway/vestibule framing. Essentially the permit will be going on a lot longer if they want to inspect the insulation. More to come on that as things develop.

My electrician came out and gave me some great ideas. He also pointed out a couple of code issues that I hadn't considered that constituted a slight rearrangement of the entryway/vestibule. No biggie. He's preparing a quote for budgeting purposes right now.

On the conditioned side of the HVAC system (the H_AC side) I've got the mini split system narrowed down to two models. On the fresh air side of the HVAC system (the _V__ side) I've determined that an ERV won't be needed as the relative humidity levels here in Seattle are too low to bother. I'll be using an HRV instead, which will help me to recovery lost energy when ventilating, and will have a lower upfront cost than an ERV of comparable size. I'm still a little confused on the sizing of an HRV as some of the literature seems to suggest that the conditioned air side of the HVAC system (the mini split in my case) will provide 65% of the air, and the fresh air side only needs to account for 35% of it. That's contrary to some literature I've read which talks about the conditioned and the fresh sides as completely separate systems that need to be sized independently of one another. Sorting this out will equate to the difference between a 60cfm (35% of 4 room changes per hour) and a 250cfm (100% of 6 room changes per hour) HRV unit. The cost difference is pretty great, so it's something I definitely want to get right, but is also something I'm happy to spend the money on since we're talking about indoor air quality, which is nothing to sneeze at... I couldn't resist throwing in a pun

 

[beans-on-toast]

I've been in studios that didn't smell offensive but the air wasn't nice and fresh. You'd notice this even when you entered in the morning. I always thought that this was due to off gassing of synthetic materials in the room, vinyl and plastic, chairs (BTW Herman Miller chairs that are often used in studios are very ergonomic and comfortable: Aeron - Office Chair - Herman Miller), tables, electronics, building materials, etc. A stand alone air filter helps supplement, both in terms of circulating and scrubbing the air. You can turn it off when it isn't needed. Some have ozone generators which helps freshen the air.

Everything's a tradeoff. Changing the air more often can increase the noise level, an over specified HVAC system can cycle more often increasing noise. Some cars air conditioners draw either 100% fresh air or recirculate the cabin air. In recirculate mode it gets cooler faster but after a while the air can get noticeably stale and humid. Being able to mix fresh and recirculated is a nice option. If the room stays cooler, the AC will cycle less.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Useful tips from Simon Phillips, a drummer who owns a studio.




phantom

 

[silky smoove]

I'll check this out when I get home.

Simon is featured heavily in the Alan Parsons series "The Art and Science of Sound Recording." He's a sharp guy with some cool approaches to recording as well as being one heck of a player.

 

[beans-on-toast]

There's a lot of neat stuff in the video.

He gets good results with some rather modest mics. Making the room sound good first by setting the EQ with mic placement and playing technique is how it was mostly done in the past. A high pass filter is used to remove footfall and other background noise and minimal EQ is a good way to go. It sounds very good. In the early days, we used to record everything with a single mic. Proximity was used to get the instrument and amp placement right and you moved further or closer to the mic to mix vocals. Same as what he is doing.

That Neve sidecar is all about tone. What AMS-Neve is currently selling as the BCM-10/2 MK2.

I like the paint can in the bass drum. It serves as a base and reduces the internal volume. Something that I'd like to try.

 

[ofajen]

I enjoyed the video. Lots of overlap with my approach on recording, though obviously I don't work at his level or at his level of complexity.

Random thoughts:

Bass track was tape track 1 due to possible loss of HF performance on outer tracks.

Now I remember why I wanted an SPL Transient Designer, but never got around to making the purchase. Maybe look into it again.

My fave mikes on electric guitar are Beyer ribbon and old Shure Unidyne III SM 57 and sometimes I use both together and mix (to one track).

I like to print a good sound (to tape!) and be done.

I like to mike drums with one omni above and one out front, but I love the idea of trying out a speaker in front of the kick instead of a mike.

Never used a paint can in a kick drum, but I have used dumbells.

Don't use eq or compressor all that much.

Cool stuff!

Otto

 

[beans-on-toast]

I too have weights. I have a stack of 5lb flat weights that come in handy for all kinds of things.

I think that the high frequency loss on the outer tracks occurs more with the early multitrack tape machines. Motown people talk of this. Still it never hurts to be cautious.

I have an old Shure Unidyne 556 from the 1950's. It's a model 55 (some call it the Elvis mic) but the broadcast version, it has an internal suspension. These mics were common in radio stations back then. Fun to pull out from time to time, mostly for the look.

 

[silky smoove]

I had the updated Super55 that I bought as a stage mic to hang off of a gooseneck while drumming and singing backups. I used for one rehearsal and one video shoot before selling it. The new ones are the same capsule as a 57/58, but with the big Elvis cage around it.

 

[EastCoastThump]

I think that the high frequency loss on the outer tracks occurs more with the early multitrack tape machines. Motown people talk of this. Still it never hurts to be cautious.

Yeah, that's an issue when recording to tape, but not in a DAW. As the tape sheds oxide, you loose some high end.

Tape flex is greater at the edges, so oxide loss is quicker there than on the inside tracks. But those inside tracks also shed oxide each time they're run over the playback heads. There are horror stories from the days when reel-to-reel met the new zillion-takes studio perfectionism of artists and producers realizing deep into a big budget project that they'd listened so compulsively to their tapes that they'd incrementally shed off a bunch of the high end of all the tracks. (IIRC, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours sessions had this problem, and I think Steely Dan ran into it as well.)

 

[beans-on-toast]

Oxide shedding is always a problem. Tape machines require frequent cleaning to remove oxide deposits from rollers, heads, and tensioners. If you run a tape through often enough, it gets thinner. Some tapes are better than others.

Tape heads wear down, sometimes unevenly. A service center that I like is JRF Magnetics (http://www.jrfmagnetics.com/JRF_relapping.html). They are set up to do it right. They have some good information on their site describing how an unevenly worn head affects performance.

The problem is, lapping takes time to send the heads in to get serviced so some studios like to do it themselves. A granite block that is machined flat and diamond pastes are used to lap heads. Ideally you want to check the head alignment and bias often with the aid of a test tape. As the performance decreases, at some point you have to re-lap to bring the head back to spec. Some places to this daily, others will only do this when they open a new case of tape because they are too busy to deal with downtime. Standards vary.

 

[markjazzbassist]

Oxide shedding is always a problem. Tape machines require frequent cleaning to remove oxide deposits from rollers, heads, and tensioners. If you run a tape through often enough, it gets thinner. Some tapes are better than others.

Tape heads wear down, sometimes unevenly. A service center that I like is JRF Magnetics (http://www.jrfmagnetics.com/JRF_relapping.html). They are set up to do it right. They have some good information on their site describing how an unevenly worn head affects performance.

The problem is, lapping takes time to send the heads in to get serviced so some studios like to do it themselves. A granite block that is machined flat and diamond pastes are used to lap heads. Ideally you want to check the head alignment and bias often with the aid of a test tape. As the performance decreases, at some point you have to re-lap to bring the head back to spec. Some places to this daily, others will only do this when they open a new case of tape because they are too busy to deal with downtime. Standards vary.

my service guy in LA included a head relap in a standard servicing. he was really great. it definately helps, i love analog tape though, the compression and saturation is just lovely.

 

[silky smoove]

Permitting woes have once again reared their ugly head

I don't want to be hyperbolic, so I'll preface this by saying that this won't affect the overall timeline of the project or any costs, but it's yet another annoyance.

Somehow the city caught wind that this will be a heated structure as opposed to just a shed. As such they've revised my permitting schedule to include an insulation inspection. What this means is that I have to get the insulation inspected before they'll come out to do the final inspection. I can't get the insulation inspected until it's installed. I can't install the insulation until I get the electrical installed. I can't install the electrical until the HVAC is in-place and I have an electrical permit. I can't get an electrical permit myself because the city requires the contractor doing the installation to obtain the permit.

A parallel complication is that I can't install the landscaping in front of the structure until I get the trench for the electrical conduit dug and the conduit itself installed. I have to leave the trench open so the inspector can verify the bury depth, size of the conduit and pipe bedding material prior to closing up the trench. I wanted to do that this weekend (I was planning on going backpacking, but that trip got cancelled), but now it looks like I can't because I don't want an open trench next to my house for an indeterminate amount of time.

Here's how I envision the next few steps going:

1. Electrician obtains electrical permit
2. I cut trench, add pipe zone bedding and install 1-1/4" electrical conduit
3. City inspector signs off on electrical conduit and trench
4. I install mini split system
   
5. I frame entryway/vestibule wall
   
6. I install HRV
   
7. Electrician runs all building electrical (interior and exterior) including HVAC connections
8. City inspector signs off on electrical permit
9. I install insulation
10. City inspector signs off on insulation
11. City inspector conducts final inspection and hopefully signs off on that as well
12. I can be done with permitting efforts and just build as I see fit

The part of this that stinks is that I wanted to put in and wire the ceiling lights, insulate the vaulted ceiling space, install the drywall and the wooden (probably cedar) ceiling underlayment prior to constructing the entryway/vestibule wall so that I could work with zero obstructions inside of the space that might get in the way of the drywall hoist.

Not the end of the world, but definitely a moment.

 

[silky smoove]

Actually... Here's a revision to the order of operations:

1. I frame entryway/vestibule wall
2. I install mini split system (minus electrical hookup)
3. I install HRV (minus electrical hookup)
   
4. Electrician obtains electrical permit
5. I cut trench, add pipe zone bedding and install 1-1/4" electrical conduit
6. City inspector signs off on electrical conduit and trench
7. Electrician runs all building electrical (interior and exterior) including HVAC connections
8. City inspector signs off on electrical permit
9. I install insulation
10. City inspector signs off on insulation
11. City inspector conducts final inspection and hopefully signs off on that as well
12. I can be done with permitting efforts and just build as I see fit

I can construct the exterior landscaping (it's all hardscaping and a few plants) at any point after step 6, but will probably wait until after step 7 to keep the work zone clear for my electricians convenience.

 

[Fat Freddy]

Actually... Here's a revision to the order of operations:

1. I frame entryway/vestibule wall
2. I install mini split system (minus electrical hookup)
3. I install HRV (minus electrical hookup)
   
4. Electrician obtains electrical permit
5. I cut trench, add pipe zone bedding and install 1-1/4" electrical conduit
6. City inspector signs off on electrical conduit and trench
7. Electrician runs all building electrical (interior and exterior) including HVAC connections
8. City inspector signs off on electrical permit
9. I install insulation
10. City inspector signs off on insulation
11. City inspector conducts final inspection and hopefully signs off on that as well
12. I can be done with permitting efforts and just build as I see fit

I can construct the exterior landscaping (it's all hardscaping and a few plants) at any point after step 6, but will probably wait until after step 7 to keep the work zone clear for my electricians convenience.

Me?.....I'd have sunken into a alcohol soaked state of total rage by now.....You sir are a better man than I and have the patience of a Saint..........Good luck!!!

 

[silky smoove]

Thanks!

This isn't so much a setback as it is a reconfiguration of my construction sequence. The only hangup is having about 4' of interference across the length of the structure when I bring in a drywall hoist to finish the lid. I was hoping to be able to do that by myself, which would allow me to do it at my leisure in the evenings after work. All this means is that the southernmost portion of the room will have to be done with the help of a buddy. I can arrange that just fine, so ultimately it's not a huge deal.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Hang in there. Talk about over the top city intervention. At least they don't want to inspect your lawn before you cut it for fear that you might trim a protected indigenous weed.