John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum

Hello,

I've signed a contract to have a home built and I've taken 2 adjoining bedrooms on the 2nd floor and am having the wall removed, so my room space will be approximately 14'X22'. This will be a private project studio for my needs. Studio equipment will consist of a Pro Tools HD3/Mac G5 system with 2-192 I/Os, Digi PRE, Digi MIDI I/O, an SNS FibreDrive II, a Control 24 control surface and a producer's rack full of various analog and digital outboard gear. A vocal booth will be going in a corner at a later date and a V-Drum setup will go in another corner.

This is my current setup at home now. Unfortunately, I'm running in a smaller room with all the drawbacks of standard "house" A/C(surges, spikes, circuit overload(caused by microwave in Kitchen!!) and cabling(snakes, mic, midi, etc...) all over the floor.

I'd like to do it as right as I can this time since I'm building. I'll be talking to an audio/electric specialist later this week who is recommended by the builder. I think they do entertainment rooms(home theatre), network wiring and special electrical needs. I doubt these guys have any background in needs for a recording room but I don't think I would have the budget to bring in a pro and my main concern is with the A/C requirements and stowage of my various cabling needs.

What kind of A/C improvements can I have done so I'm not dealing with the rest of the home's A/C requirements? How much power should I be going for? I'd like to leave some room for growth.

I'd like to have 4 wallplates made for I/O needs. One for Pro Tools I/O and ethernet(from computer to wallplate behind Control24), the second for the I/O behind the Control24, the third for mic and cue sends for future Vocal booth install and the fourth for I/O for V-Drums(midi, stereo audio sends and cue sends).

I don't know if the company will be able to bury the cabling behind the walls or install special conduit for this purpose yet. I can do the soldering later if need be. Anything I need to check out here??

I'll have a better idea of what I can have done by this contractor this Friday.

Since, I don't have alot of knowledge on these subjects(especially the A/C stuff..) what is it I need to have done and what are the proper terms so I can explain myself to the contractor. I look forword to hearing back from you all. If you have any questions I may have been vague on(I'm sure I was....) please ask me. Thanks!!

Greetings and welcome to the site.

First off, if you could include in your profile where in the world are you? Europe, Australia, Egypt, or the USA. This is literally a world wide site, and the demographics are different as to what should be done and where.

Now, for starters, look here: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2206

This should give you some good info to start off with, and as you have more questions add them here.

Sorry, I'm in "sunny" Sarasota, Florida, USA.

OK, so I'm waiting to hear from the electrician. What I'm hearing is to have the sub-panel box put into my studio room(closet) and to run a 60A 220V circuit from the main "house" panel box to the sub-panel, minimizing the amount of cabling to just one from the main to sub-panel. This ok so far?

I'm also planning to have both 15A and 20A outlets in the room. Will the 60A give me more than enough power for my needs? How about lighting? Do I run the rooms lighting from the same sub-panel on it's own circuit or leave it powered from the main panel?

Finally, will there be good benefits in isolating the ground wires on the individual recepticles for the studio? What is it I'm trying to achieve here and how is this explained to the builder's exlectrician?

If I'm leaving out anything, please let me know. Also, if there are other steps to take, please let me know. Thanks in advance!