Home studio acoustics is not something you can fix by guesswork.

If Episode 1 was about choosing the right room, Episode 2 is about understanding what is actually happening inside your room — and for that we need measurements.

The tool I will be using throughout this entire series is REW (Room EQ Wizard).

It is free, incredibly powerful, and widely used by both home studio producers and professional acoustic engineers.

What is REW and Why It Matters

REW (Room EQ Wizard) is a measurement software that allows you to analyze how your speakers behave inside your room.

And this is an important distinction:

We are not measuring the speakers themselves —

we are measuring the speakers inside the acoustic environment of the room.

This includes:

• room modes

• reflections

• frequency response

• time behaviour of sound

Understanding this is the foundation of good home studio acoustics.

Measurement Basics

To measure your room with REW, you need:

• a measurement microphone (e.g. Earthworks, UMIK-1)

• a calibration file for the microphone

• your speakers

• your listening position

The basic process is simple:

REW sends a frequency sweep from around 20 Hz to 20 kHz through your speakers.

The microphone captures how that signal behaves inside your room.

From that, REW generates a frequency response curve.

What Are We Measuring?

There are two main types of measurements we are interested in.

1. Frequency Response

This shows how balanced your speakers sound in your room.

You will typically see:

• peaks (too loud frequencies)

• dips (missing frequencies)

Most of these issues come from room acoustics, not the speakers themselves.

2. SPL (Sound Pressure Level)

This measures loudness.

It helps you:

• calibrate your listening level

• ensure consistent monitoring conditions

Understanding a Measurement

In REW, you typically measure:

• left speaker

• right speaker

• both speakers together

This gives you a clear overview of how your system behaves.

For example:

• red curve → both speakers

• green → left speaker

• blue → right speaker

This allows you to identify imbalances between speakers and room interaction.

The Most Important Insight

One of the most important things I learned:

We are not fixing the entire frequency spectrum.

We focus mainly on:

20 Hz – 300 Hz

Why?

Because this is where:

• room modes exist

• the biggest problems occur

• acoustic treatment has the biggest impact

Everything above that is heavily influenced by:

• listening position

• reflections

• small movements

Trying to “EQ” the entire spectrum often leads to unnatural results.

Using REW’s EQ Feature

One of the most powerful features in REW is the EQ section.

After a measurement, REW can generate:

• a target curve

• suggested EQ filters

• a predicted corrected response

This allows you to linearize your system.

You can then export these EQ settings and use them in:

• DSP software

• monitor calibration tools

• TotalMix (RME)

Important: Don’t Over-Correct

This is where many people make mistakes.

REW might suggest very aggressive EQ moves, for example:

• -10 dB

• -15 dB

While mathematically correct, this can cause:

• phase issues

• unnatural sound

• overprocessed monitoring

In practice, I recommend:

Use about 60–70% of the suggested correction

Always trust your ears.

REW Room Simulator

In Episode 1 we used the Room Simulator.

This is another powerful feature inside REW.

You can enter:

• room dimensions

• speaker position

• listening position

REW then predicts:

• modal distribution

• frequency response

This helps you understand your room before even placing treatment.

Speaker & Listening Position

REW also helps visualize how positioning affects sound.

When you move:

• speakers

• listening position

You will notice:

• big changes in mid frequencies

• smaller changes in low frequencies

Important insight:

Room modes stay roughly the same

Position mainly affects how you experience them

Waterfall Diagram – Time Matters

One of the most important tools in REW is the waterfall diagram.

This shows not only frequency, but also time behaviour.

Sound is not just amplitude — it exists over time.

In the waterfall plot you can see:

• how long frequencies decay

• which frequencies “ring” in the room

Room modes are not only a frequency problem —

they are also a time problem

Low frequencies can:

• build up

• continue oscillating

• smear your perception of bass

This is why bass traps are essential.

Why REW is Essential

REW gives you something incredibly important:

clarity

Instead of guessing, you can:

• measure your room

• understand problems

• make informed decisions

This is the foundation of professional home studio acoustics.

What Comes Next – Episode 3

In the next episode we will go deeper into:

• microphone placement

• how to properly measure your room

• SPL calibration

• real-world measurement workflow

We will turn theory into practice.

Watch the Episode

https://www.youtube.com/@phable

Key Takeaways

• REW is an essential tool for home studio acoustics

• Always measure speakers inside the room

• Focus on 20–300 Hz for acoustic problems

• Avoid over-correcting with EQ

• Room modes affect both frequency and time

• Use measurements to guide treatment decisions

Frequently Asked Questions

What is REW used for?

REW is used to measure and analyze room acoustics, including frequency response, room modes, and decay behaviour.

Do I need a measurement microphone?

Yes. A calibrated measurement microphone ensures accurate results.

Should I EQ my entire frequency response?

No. Focus mainly on low frequencies (20–300 Hz). Over-correction can harm sound quality.

What is a waterfall diagram?

It is a 3D visualization showing how frequencies decay over time, helping identify ringing and modal issues.

If you prefer watching instead of reading, you can watch the full episode here:

Choosing the Right Room for Your Studio

Before buying monitors, acoustic panels, or expensive gear, the most important decision for any home studio happens long before the first piece of equipment enters the room.

It’s the room itself.

Room dimensions determine how sound behaves, how bass builds up, and ultimately how reliable your monitoring environment will be.

In this first episode of the Home Studio Acoustics Guide, I want to demonstrate how dramatically room proportions influence acoustics by comparing two example rooms using REW (Room EQ Wizard) modal simulations.

Both rooms have roughly the same volume — yet their acoustic behaviour is very different.

Key Takeaways

If you’re setting up a home studio, remember these key points:

• The room itself is the most important part of your studio

• Room dimensions determine how bass behaves

• Poor room proportions create strong resonances

• Even modal distribution leads to better monitoring accuracy

• Acoustic treatment works best when the room proportions are reasonable

• Measurement tools like REW help you understand and improve your room

Why This Series Exists

Another important reason I started this series is the reality many musicians and producers face today.

Studio space is becoming increasingly scarce.

Rental prices in many cities are rising dramatically, and dedicated studio spaces are often simply not affordable anymore. Many producers are forced to work from:

• bedrooms

• small apartments

• shared living spaces

• improvised home studios

Because of this, the home studio has become the new standard.

And that’s exactly why I wanted to create this guide.

My goal is to help producers understand how to get the best possible sound out of imperfect rooms. Even small or acoustically challenging spaces can be transformed into reliable mixing environments when approached with the right knowledge and tools.

You don’t need a million-dollar studio to make professional sounding music — but you do need to understand how your room behaves.

This series is meant to guide you through that process step by step.

The Physics Behind Room Acoustics

When sound waves travel through a room, they reflect off boundaries:

• walls

• floor

• ceiling

At low frequencies these reflections create standing waves, also called room modes.

Room modes occur when the wavelength of a sound matches the distance between two surfaces. When this happens, reflections reinforce each other and create resonances.

These resonances cause:

• peaks (frequencies that become too loud)

• nulls (frequencies that cancel out)

This is the main reason why untreated rooms often have very inaccurate bass reproduction.

Types of Room Modes

Room modes are generally divided into three categories.

Axial Modes

These occur between two parallel surfaces.

Examples include:

• front wall back wall

• left wall right wall

• floor ceiling

Axial modes are the strongest and most dominant modes in any room.

Tangential Modes

Tangential modes involve four surfaces.

They are weaker than axial modes but still contribute to the modal response of the room.

Oblique Modes

Oblique modes involve all six surfaces of the room.

They are the weakest modes but still influence the overall acoustic behaviour.

Why Room Proportions Matter

The goal of a good room is not to eliminate room modes — that is physically impossible.

The goal is to spread modal frequencies evenly across the spectrum.

When several room modes occur at the same frequency, they stack, creating large resonant peaks that are very difficult to control.

Well-proportioned rooms distribute modal frequencies more evenly, which results in:

• smoother bass response

• easier acoustic treatment

• more reliable monitoring

Simulation Setup (REW)

To demonstrate this, I used the Room Simulator inside REW (Room EQ Wizard).

The simulation calculates:

• axial modes

• tangential modes

• oblique modes

• frequency response at the listening position

The speakers are placed along the short wall, which is standard practice in small studios.

The listening position follows the 38% rule, placing the listening position roughly 38% into the room length — a common starting point that often avoids strong modal pressure zones.

Room A – Long and Narrow

Dimensions:

Length: 4.50 m

Width: 2.75 m

Height: 2.72 m

The simulation shows a strong resonance around 38 Hz.

This corresponds to the axial length mode of the room.

We can calculate it:

Speed of sound ≈ 343 m/s

Fundamental mode:

f = c / (2L)

f = 343 / (2 × 4.50)

f ≈ 38 Hz

This matches the simulation almost perfectly.

What This Means in Practice

A strong resonance like this causes several issues.

Bass around 38 Hz becomes exaggerated, which can lead to incorrect mix decisions.

Additionally, the narrow width (2.75 m) causes modal clustering in the 60–120 Hz region.

This range is extremely important for music production because it contains:

• kick drum fundamentals

• bass instruments

• low synth frequencies

If a room exaggerates or cancels frequencies in this range, it becomes difficult to judge the balance of the low end.

Room B – More Balanced Geometry

Dimensions:

Length: 3.60 m

Width: 3.50 m

Height: 2.75 m

Even though this room is slightly smaller, the proportions are much better balanced.

The modal frequencies are distributed more evenly across the spectrum.

Instead of large isolated peaks, we see a smoother modal distribution, which is exactly what we want in a studio environment.

Why Even Modal Distribution Is Better

When modal frequencies are evenly distributed:

• no single frequency dominates the response

• acoustic treatment works more effectively

• bass trapping becomes easier

Bass traps absorb energy across a range of frequencies. If a room has very strong modal peaks, those peaks require much deeper and more aggressive treatment.

Even modal distribution makes the room much easier to control acoustically.

Why I Ultimately Chose Room A

Despite the better acoustic behaviour of Room B, I still decided to use Room A for my studio.

And the reason is something many home studio owners will immediately understand:

Neighbours.

In an apartment building, acoustics is only one side of the equation. The other is sound transmission through the building structure.

Low frequencies travel extremely well through:

• walls

• floors

• ceilings

• structural elements of the building

Even moderate listening levels can become audible in neighbouring apartments.

Because of the layout of my apartment, Room A allows me to place the speakers against a wall that does not directly share structure with neighbouring apartments.

Instead, most of the acoustic energy is directed toward:

• exterior walls

• hallways

• or rooms within my own apartment

This reduces the risk of disturbing neighbours, especially when working with bass-heavy music.

In other words, the decision was a compromise between:

• acoustic performance

• practical living conditions

• building layout

And this is a reality many home studio producers face.

The room that measures best acoustically is not always the room that works best in everyday life.

Ideal Home Studio Room Dimensions

There are several classic room ratios used in studio design.

Examples include:

Bolt Area

1 : 1.4 : 1.9

Sepmeyer Ratio

1 : 1.6 : 2.33

These ratios aim to distribute room modes evenly across the frequency spectrum.

In practice, however, most home studios cannot follow these ratios exactly because we are working with existing apartments or rooms.

This is why measurement and acoustic treatment are essential.

Why Small Rooms Are Challenging

Home studios are typically between 10 and 20 square meters, which places them in the most problematic acoustic range.

Low frequencies have very large wavelengths.

Examples:

40 Hz → ~8.6 m wavelength

60 Hz → ~5.7 m wavelength

80 Hz → ~4.3 m wavelength

These wavelengths are often larger than the room itself, which explains why bass behaves so unpredictably in small spaces.

The Role of Acoustic Treatment

Even imperfect rooms can be improved significantly.

Typical treatment strategies include:

Bass traps

Placed in corners where low-frequency pressure builds up.

Broadband absorbers

Placed at first reflection points to improve clarity and stereo imaging.

Ceiling clouds

Used to control vertical reflections between speakers and listening position.

Treatment cannot completely fix bad room proportions, but it can dramatically improve the listening environment.

What Comes Next – Episode 2

In the next episode we will look at one of the most important tools for understanding room acoustics:

REW (Room EQ Wizard).

REW is a powerful and free acoustic measurement software that allows us to:

• measure frequency response

• analyze room modes

• visualize reflections

• evaluate acoustic treatment

• optimize speaker placement

Throughout this entire series I will use REW as the main analysis tool, because it allows us to make decisions based on real measurements instead of guesswork.

In Episode 2 I will show:

• why REW is essential for studio acoustics

• how the software works

• how to measure your room

• and how we will use it throughout the entire process.

Frequently Asked Questions About Home Studio Acoustics

What are room modes?

Room modes are resonances created when sound waves reflect between parallel surfaces. These resonances cause certain frequencies to become louder while others cancel out.

Why are small rooms difficult for mixing?

Small rooms are often similar in size to the wavelength of bass frequencies, which causes strong resonances and uneven bass response.

Should studio monitors be placed on the short wall?

Yes. In most small studios, placing the monitors on the short wall allows sound to travel along the longest dimension of the room and improves stereo imaging.

What is REW used for?

REW (Room EQ Wizard) is a measurement tool used to analyze room acoustics and optimize speaker placement and acoustic treatment.

We often focus on synthesizers, compressors, converters or plug-ins, but the physical layout of a studio has a massive influence on creativity and productivity. If your studio is cluttered or poorly organized, you tend to spend less time making music. The workflow becomes frustrating instead of inspiring.

Over the years I realized that studio ergonomics are not a luxury — they are essential.

One of the pieces of equipment that improved my workflow significantly is something that might sound surprisingly simple: a keyboard stand.

More specifically, the K&M Spider Pro.

The Importance of Studio Ergonomics

Many home studios operate in limited spaces. Apartments rarely offer large dedicated studio rooms, so producers need to stack gear vertically and organize equipment intelligently.

Poor ergonomics can create several problems:

• difficult access to synth parameters
• uncomfortable playing positions
• cluttered studio desks
• reduced creative flow

The goal is simple: your instruments should feel immediately accessible and inviting.

If playing or adjusting a synth requires too much effort, chances are you will use it less often.

Why I Chose the K&M Spider Pro

The K&M Spider Pro is a keyboard stand that is widely used both in studios and on live stages.

At first glance it may look minimalistic or even slightly unstable, but in reality it is extremely sturdy and well engineered.

What makes it particularly interesting is its modular design.

The Spider Pro allows you to configure multiple tiers with different types of arms. This means you can adjust the ergonomics depending on the instruments you are using.

Some synthesizers require a flat playing position, while others benefit from an angled setup that improves visibility of displays and controls.

Modular Design and Flexibility

One of the most underrated features of the Spider Pro is the possibility to expand the stand.

You can add:

• additional arms for more synthesizers
• angled arms for better visibility
• accessory plates for laptops, controllers or smaller devices

These accessory plates are especially useful in compact studios where desk space is limited.

Instead of placing controllers or laptops on the main desk, you can position them directly within reach on the stand.

My Current Setup

In my studio I use the Spider Pro to organize some of my favorite synthesizers.

On the upper level I keep my Minimoog, which allows easy access to all controls while standing or sitting.

On the lower tier I placed an Ensoniq ESQ-1, which benefits from the angled arms because the display and parameters are easier to see and adjust.

This layout allows me to quickly switch between instruments without interrupting the creative process.

The stand also offers small details that make a difference, such as integrated cable management, which helps keep the setup tidy.

Studio Workflow Matters

Small improvements in studio organization can have a surprisingly large impact.

When your instruments are positioned correctly and easily accessible, you naturally spend more time experimenting and playing.

The result is simple: better workflow leads to more creativity.

For me, the Spider Pro has become one of those studio essentials that quietly improve the daily experience of making music.

Final Thoughts

Not every studio upgrade needs to be an expensive piece of outboard gear.

Sometimes the most valuable improvements come from optimizing the way you interact with your instruments.

A good keyboard stand might not be the most exciting purchase at first, but it can dramatically improve the ergonomics and usability of your studio.

And ultimately, that’s what really matters: creating an environment where making music feels effortless and inspiring.

If you are interested in more studio gear, workflow tips and production tools, feel free to explore the Studio Essentials series on my YouTube channel.

I’m back after a while. Recently I realized that my website had gone down, which made me rethink a few things.

After more than 14 years of using phablemusic.com, I suddenly had the unique opportunity to secure phable.de. Of course I took it immediately, and I’m really happy to finally have my project on this domain.

Over the next weeks I will gradually rebuild and expand this website. I plan to add several new sections covering my music, studio work, videos, and other projects I’m involved in.

This site will become a central place where I can share updates, thoughts, and insights from my journey as a producer, DJ, and audio enthusiast.

Thanks for being here and following along.

More soon.

— Phable