Hi guys - long time reader, recent contributor (lol)
So basically i just recently a few months back invested in a pair of KRK rokit 8's (the g2's)..
and basically the room im recording and mixing in is less than perfect, im looking into treating the room with some sort of homemade bass trap (i saw a great 'how-to' on here) or i was gonna buy some primacoustic or pro-coustix panels and slap em in the corners/bass pools that i can hear when i walk around different spots in my room..

ive been looking specifically at these primacoustic recoil stabilizers (as you can see in my display pic my monitors are on milk crates as a kind of diy vibration/diffusion solution..) but ive been reading reviews and people are saying that having my monitors sitting on theserecoil stabilizer things will apparently make a big difference?

theyre about $90 each and two of them is cheaper than buying the rockwool/other materials for a homemade bass trap and the store bought studio foam panels (id need a few at least) are also the more expensive option... im looking into a focusrite VRM box (vrm stand for virtual room monitoring) so i can work mostly around headphone mixing and monitoring via their digtal studio studio application thing that comes with it.. (check it out its CRAZY) but thats $100 for the mini interface and the two stabilizers will be about $180 and then the costs go up from there for materials to build with or to buy purpose built equipment..

please help, what should i do?
no i have sapmson speaker stands but i have no desk and my apartment is tiny, theres nowhere for my gear except my room and theres no way im movig all my stuff off premises, i wouldnt have anywhere to put it... i cant fit a desk in my house, and i cant afford to move... so im kinda stuck with trying to treat this room to the best of my ability (which i figure would be a good learning experience anyway) and i was hoping some of you could help...

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www.soundcloud.com/skerrick

Decouplers don't do the same things bass traps do, and vice versa. You need both, or at least some work arounds.

I can't see your photograph clearly, but the first thing to do would be to get your setup out of the corner, particularly when there's only one speaker in it. But you probably knew that. If possible, try some different room positions for your gear.

Since money is an issue, perhaps you can DIY a decoupler. PW reviewed a commercial desktop solution a month ago (it may work on a stand, too), which offers somewhat greater flexibility and significantly lower cost that the recoil device. I'm not sure I understand your use or nonuse of your stands. Sorry if I misunderstand, but if you are really working on the floor, speaker stands would still be useful, especially if they are not very tall.

For bass traps, you can DIY, or go an easier route (temporarily or not) and roll off the lower end as needed, and judge the lower end with headphones. (If your node problems are relatively simple, and you have an EQ lying around, it might help if used very judiciously in tandem with a roll off. Not to suggest you should purchase one to solve room problems.) You could install an improvised diffuser or absorber at mirror points if wanted for HF treatment.

I'm less enthusiastic about VRM than others are. You can judge imaging with your monitors and the lower end with headphones.

All of this is offered with the idea of conserving financial resources and getting up and going quickly.

Quote Jeraldo:

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Decouplers don't do the same things bass traps do, and vice versa. You need both, or at least some work arounds.

I can't see your photograph clearly, but the first thing to do would be to get your setup out of the corner, particularly when there's only one speaker in it. But you probably knew that. If possible, try some different room positions for your gear.

Since money is an issue, perhaps you can DIY a decoupler. PW reviewed a commercial desktop solution a month ago (it may work on a stand, too), which offers somewhat greater flexibility and significantly lower cost that the recoil device. I'm not sure I understand your use or nonuse of your stands. Sorry if I misunderstand, but if you are really working on the floor, speaker stands would still be useful, especially if they are not very tall.

For bass traps, you can DIY, or go an easier route (temporarily or not) and roll off the lower end as needed, and judge the lower end with headphones. (If your node problems are relatively simple, and you have an EQ lying around, it might help if used very judiciously in tandem with a roll off. Not to suggest you should purchase one to solve room problems.) You could install an improvised diffuser or absorber at mirror points if wanted for HF treatment.

I'm less enthusiastic about VRM than others are. You can judge imaging with your monitors and the lower end with headphones.

All of this is offered with the idea of conserving financial resources and getting up and going quickly.

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yeah unfortunately theres no space anywhere in my house or my room to put my gear - thats the only spot i have.
and yeah i have 2 speakers?
the only reason i dont use the speaker stands is because they dont go low enough, when im on the floor theyre above my head.. and yeah i cant fit a desk into my room. i hate my apartment, the space is SO limiting!
ive never had this problem before, ive never lived in a house where my pc doesnt sit on a desk and ive never had such a small dense room. when i clap, the twangy echo lasts nearly 2 seconds.
i do most of my mixdown on my monitors and then polish it off as best i can with headphones... but yeah man the bass trap seems like a necessity.. the only thing is that from what ive been reading, it could be one of at least 3 issues i need to address, all of which are costly..
i was gonna say, if i have to pick on thing to work on in regards to getting started on my room, what should it be?
i dont have a separate EQ so id have to do it all (rolling off the bottom end) with the parametric EQ in my DAW but that affects the mix too much for my liking (i have tried it) and i end up wasting heaps of time re-doing the levels when i wanna start on my final mix..

i think i need more of a physical room treatment type of fix..

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www.soundcloud.com/skerrick

If you must be in the corner go "across" the corner. That way you don't have a wall reflecting sound at you. Then try and get some bass trap sorted for that corner. It won't be perfect but it'll be a start.

cheers man... if anyone has any good bass trap construction videos/tutorials id be greatly appreciative, otherwise i guess imma use the tutorial i found on one of the threads on here..
i cant fit my system across the corner unfortunately...
i tried to set my sh!t up every which way and this was the only way itd fit.. so irritating. i had to move house at the last minute due to some unforseen circumstances... i wish id looked a little harder/considered other places.. cest la vie.

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www.soundcloud.com/skerrick

ahhh i see what you mean, i thought you said i only have one speaker as in i was only mixing on one. my bad i misread it..
but yeah like i said, i have nowhere for my setup, so its in the corner... but the design of KRK's is with a front facing bass vent, so theres no sound escaping out the back of the unit at least which definitely helps.
i daresay if the monitors had rear facing bass vents (as most do) i would have given up monitoring altogether by now..

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www.soundcloud.com/skerrick

Quote Skerrick:

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...when i clap, the twangy echo lasts nearly 2 seconds.

...i think i need more of a physical room treatment type of fix..

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Ouch!

I think you're right. Recoil stabilisers would be nice but small paving slabs sat on second hand Auralex MoPads would free up some money for some swanky pillow cases to cover some R/W panels. Set them up when you need them.

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Ohm's Law states, "Your PA isn't as powerful as you think it is".

yeah cheers man. paving slabe eh? ill have a little geez at some garden beds on the way home hahah
r/w panels? rear wall? soz im self taught so im not down with ALL the lingo.. haha :P

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www.soundcloud.com/skerrick

Actually that wasn't lingo, that was just laziness on my part. It was meant to be Rockwool but I think I like your idea better .

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Ohm's Law states, "Your PA isn't as powerful as you think it is".

ahhh haha! yeah that stuff is semi expensive, ill have a geeze and see what i can find. cheers mang

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www.soundcloud.com/skerrick