The Rock Room

The Rock Room is the fifth evolution of owner and producer/engineer David Carey’s Southern California workspace, transforming a former residential garage into a dedicated stereo and immersive-audio studio. Haverstick Designs developed the sound-isolation strategy, acoustical treatment, monitoring geometry, construction documents, and 3D renderings for a current 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos system with provisions for expansion to 9.1.4. The garage was stripped to the studs and concrete subfloor, then rebuilt with an isolated framed floor on rubber supports, floating walls and ceiling, two layers of drywall, and a dedicated mini-split system. Inside, continuous perimeter and vertical bass trapping, front-wall treatment, front and rear ceiling clouds, and a Vicoustic Multifuser array create an accurate but natural listening environment for stereo, surround, and Atmos mixing, as well as editing, vocal overdubs, and guitar reamping.


Much of the project was completed remotely, with Haverstick Designs developing multiple ceiling-cloud and room-rendering iterations to coordinate Dolby-compliant overhead-speaker placement with the existing ceiling structure. David performed much of the demolition, construction, acoustical fabrication, stretch-fabric installation, cable routing, and equipment integration himself using Haverstick Designs’ plans. FabricWall of St. Louis supplied the stretch-fabric track system and provided installation guidance, while Space Lab Systems supplied the retractable mechanism that lowers the center speaker beneath the workstation display. Trinnov remotely completed the final room-correction and time-alignment tuning, and equipment support was provided by Vintage King and Sweetwater. David’s wife, Tiffany selected the furnishings, lamps, and seating that balance the studio’s black-and-red technical aesthetic with a comfortable residential atmosphere.