Inside the Studio – Acoustic Panels – The Treatment is Only as Good as the Room

As a professional studio designer, I get this question all the time: “I’ve got a studio. Where should I put the acoustic panels?”

It seems like a simple question, and sometimes it is. We can look at the room, take measurements, identify reflection points and recommend treatment that will improve its sound and make monitoring more reliable.

But sometimes that question comes much too late in the process.

The walls are already built. The ceiling height is what it is. The doors and windows are wherever somebody decided to put them. The HVAC runs overhead. The speakers have been pushed against the wall because that’s where they fit, and the mix position is wherever there was enough room left for a desk.

At that point, asking where to put the acoustic panels is a little like building a house and then asking the architect where the staircase should go.

We can help, but our options are now limited.

That’s probably the biggest misconception about acoustic treatment: People tend to think of acoustics as something you address after a room has been built. Build the studio, install the equipment and then hang some panels on the walls to make it sound good.

That isn’t really how good rooms are designed.

The acoustics start with the room itself.

Room dimensions, volume, geometry, symmetry, ceiling height, loudspeaker placement and listening position all have an enormous impact on what you ultimately hear. So do details beyond acoustic panels—wall and ceiling construction, doors, windows, mechanical systems, ductwork, electrical penetrations and the relationship between one space and another.

Get those things right, and acoustic treatment becomes an incredibly powerful tool.

Get them wrong, and there are limits to what any panel can accomplish.