What Is The Ideal Home Recording Studio Room Size?

home recording studio philip newell recording studio design room ratios room size sepmeyer Jul 29, 2024

You may have spent several hours playing with room ratios and left defeated, or maybe you have a smaller space and don't want to give up valuable real estate to a big double wall isolation system. What is the ideal home recording studio size then? In this article I will give you my wisdom from designing over 30 studios on what size is best for your specific studio needs.

1) The Room Ratio Paradox

If you have spent any time researching ideal recording studio room sizes you most likely have come across room ratios. The idea behind room ratios is that if you build a room to an acoustically sound room ratio then the modal issues in your room will be less noticeable and manageable.

Now the problem or "paradox" you encounter is that to get a great room ratio you most likely need a higher ceiling height. Let's say you have a basement studio with 8ft ceilings. If you type in 8ft ceilings into the Sepmeyer room ratio calculator here is what you get:

Now Type A is considered the best option and type C the least desirable. However, if you look at Type A your room would be 9x11 which is only 99 square feet. How in the world are you supposed to create music in such a tiny room. On top of that small rooms tend to sound worse because you don't have enough space for the bass frequencies to fully form before hitting a wall, ceiling or floor. All of this is to say, that unless you have a very high ceiling height most of these room ratios are likely to drive you mad.

2) Focus On Which Room Ratios To Avoid

Rather than focus on the perfect room ratio, instead focus on the absolute room ratios you should avoid. The worst possible room you can have is a cube. So if you had a room that was 10 feet wide, long and tall you would have awful acoustics. I would not build a studio in this room.

In addition to avoiding cubed rooms (where all dimensions are equal), you should also avoid rooms with dimensions that are even multiples of each other. This is because such dimensions can create standing waves and resonance issues, which negatively affect the acoustics of the room. Here are some general guidelines on room ratios to avoid:

Cubed Rooms: Avoid rooms where the length, width, and height are the same. This creates a perfect cube, which is the worst-case scenario for acoustics.
Even Multiples: Avoid dimensions where one or two dimensions are exact multiples of the other. For example, a room with dimensions of 10 feet x 20 feet x 30 feet will have poor acoustics because the length is twice the width and three times the height.
Simple Ratios: Avoid simple ratios like 1:2, 1:3, 2:3, etc. These ratios can create strong modes and standing waves, which are detrimental to the sound quality.

3) Double Check Your Design In AMROC

AMROC is a free room ratio calculator that can help you predict the modal distribution of your room. I have a great video going in depth about room ratios and AMROC here: https://www.soundproofyourstudio.com/blog/why-room-ratios-don-t-work-most-of-the-time

When you plug in your room ratios into AMROC you can play with slight variations that could help you decide to move a wall a few inches one way or another to improve the acoustics. This is a good tool but it doesn't give you the whole picture.

4) Don't Rely Heavily On Room Ratios Alone

Philip Newell, in his book Recording Studio Design (4th Edition), discusses his skepticism about the practical benefits of adhering strictly to room ratios. He explains that while theoretically useful, room ratios alone cannot guarantee good acoustics due to the many variables involved in studio design. Newell emphasizes that achieving optimal acoustics requires a more holistic approach, taking into account factors like room shape, construction materials, and treatment, rather than relying solely on specific ratios.

Newell points out that rigid adherence to room ratios can lead to unrealistic expectations and oversimplified solutions to complex acoustic problems. He argues that room ratios are just one of many tools that should be used in conjunction with other design principles to achieve the best acoustic results (O'Reilly Media) (Perlego).

Conclusion:

Don't get obsessed with room ratios. If this is your first studio build than room ratio planning can become a strange form of procrastination or a way to ease the fear of endeavouring on such a big project. Rather than focusing on a specific room ratio I encourage you to focus on the utility of the room and what would make a comfortable space to create music. This will pay back in way bigger dividends rather than sacrificing utility for room ratios.

However, with this said, make sure to avoid cubes, rooms where one or two dimensions are exact multiples of the other, and rooms with simple ratios of each other like 1:2 or 2:3.

Lastly, you can use a calculator like AMROC to take you beyond the common room ratios, but recognize it's limitations as Newell states in his book and online articles.

Work Cited:

Newell, Philip. Recording Studio Design. 4th ed., Routledge, 2017.
Newell, Philip. Recording Studio Design. 4th ed., O'Reilly Media, www.oreilly.com/library/view/recording-studio-design/9781138936072/. Accessed 26 July 2024.
Newell, Philip. Recording Studio Design. 4th ed., VitalSource, www.vitalsource.com/products/recording-studio-design-philip-newell-v9781317381945. Accessed 26 July 2024.
Newell, Philip. Recording Studio Design. 4th ed., Perlego, www.perlego.com/book/1560575/recording-studio-design-pdf. Accessed 26 July 2024.

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