DIY low cost broadband traps

Thought I'd share this in case you're on the fence about building these yourself. (like I was)
Simple as pie....If you have half a brain...I just barely made it.
I used THIS as a guide.
I made 4 4x24x48 broadband corner style traps and 1 2x48x48 "cloud" for overhead at the mixing spot for *about* $150.
I say about as I already had most of the items except the rigid fiberglass ($100) and wood for the frames (<$10)
Here are a few finished pics but if anyone needs details just ask.

Well done! I still havent made mine yet. Im going to be making at least 15 of them for my room-

Those are Behringer Truths aren't they? How do they sound? I have never listened critically to them. I remember I went to a bar once and they had about 10 truths all wired up about the place. Turned out the owner was an audio guy and got them all cheap so set up the club with them!

bitflipper


Those look very nice!

Since you're snapping photos, I suspect many readers would be interested to see how you hung them, especially the clouds.

Thanks!
Yeah...hanging them was interesting, especially since I was by myself.
I deviated from the standard way I believe...
Started with cup hooks and picture wire.



Then I used 18Lb. springs and nylon ties.



Hang the nylon tie from a hook sunk in the center of the corner...
and snug up the tie till its where you want it.



That was for the vertical corners...horizontal was similar except the picture wire was centered.



Then hang and snug.



The spring tensions allows some movement and works pretty well.



The cloud used ties but no springs. (no pictures)
I hung it from the center point, hook to hook, then ties between two ceiling hooks and cups hooks.
I put in some spacers to get it off the ceiling, then snugged up the ties and it pulled up nice and tight.

Very cool... and brilliant using the springs.... and  nylon zip ties... aka as handcuffs to the law breakers......


I'm thinking the springs allow for a more elastic absorbtion .....as the heavy freqs hit the cloud... the spring gives slightly and the result is a smoother absorbtion, as opposed to a non-movable hard absorbtion......... yes? ..... no?     

mattplaysguitar


They look great! I'd love to see a before and after room response measurement if you did one? If not, what are your ears telling you? I plan to make a bunch of these in a few months when I get some time and money. Did you use 703 or 705?

Sorry Matt, I forgot...I didn't use 703 or 705.
I used  the product from Knauf which is basically identical to 703...3pcf (3lbs per cubic foot) rigid fiberglass.
I got 10 2x24x48 panels for $100 from http://www.spi-co.com/ which is just down the street from me so no shipping charges.
Notice the Mongoose IPA above the bale...helps with the construction.

I am building a room full of these for myself.  Thanks for the details on the hanging method.  I will be using Roxul Rockboard 60 at 4" thick.  I hope it solves a lot of issues in my room.  Found some great material at a fabric store.  Its jersey material that has some stretch and  tiny holes.  Should work great and was cheap.  Thanks for your post.

Hey Bret...hey Dave.
Yeah these things are real easy to make...and all look alike!
I'm glad I didn't make the heavy duty frames for mine.
I ended up taking mine down and letting them air out on my sundeck since we had a stretch of nice weather.
I just couldn't get over the feeling that I was having an allergic reaction after being in the room for a few hours at a time.
I don't know if it was all in my head or what, but I haven't been sick or had a cold in years, and I was just not feeling right, so out they went.
I don't detect any odor any more so I'm gonna put them up again tomorrow.
Since I made the light weight frames I could hold them with one arm while I cut the nylon tie and had no problems getting them down.

Hope you guys don't have any similar issues.

acoustic foam doesn't do anything, except suck up some high end.

that's not a real sound trap.

Thought I'd share some pics of mine too.  A slightly different construction method and I used 703.  These cost me about $30/each.  They're 4" thick, 2'x4':

Ok Im getting ready to do my traps this week. Im gonna do some 1 layer traps for higher and miod frequencies and lots of double layer traps using owens corning 703 for all of it-

I had an iadea. Instead of making wood frames, Im thinking of covering the owens corning with cloth I can blow through and then wrapping them in a fairly thick chicken wire or maybe higher grade wire.

I will paint the wire layer a nice shiny silver to give the sutdio a bit of moadern industrial feel plus the wire surface will hold the fabric on the panels- Also I will sew the fabric and tie down the chicken wire or higher in similar material behind. I can then use the wire in mounting plan too.

I was inspired by a friends studio because her walls have insulation and a cool metal square wiring holds the insulation in.

My question is, is the wood frame around the panels part of the sound treatment?

Im assuming it isnt as bass should go right tyhrough the frames(especially the bass) and also I can mount the panels a little away from the wall as suggested for a behind the panel air gap.

Approval please! Bitflipper I bet you can chime in here :)

My question is

My question is, is the wood frame around the panels part of the sound treatment?

not in itself, no.  in fact you'll absorb better if you don't have a frame and just have the traps suspended away from the wall.

there are some plans on the DIY recording website where one guy routs out large holes in the sides of the wooden frames so that the air can move that direction as well.

I think your idea will work fine - just make sure there is a gap between them and the wall - at least 2", but more is better (up to a point).

Lanceindastudio


lol the foam is acting in placopf the material for him, just keeping the insulation in- This isnt a bad idea I would think if you need reverb control as well-

Exactly - I managed to get a cheap deal on acoustic foam tiles that I used to cover the front of the absorber rather than wrapping the whole frame with cloth.
 
I posted a thread about this a while ago if anyone wants to see pictures.

WTF?
Can't seem to post the message I composed.
Never mind...what is up with this forum software?

I see this has been resurrected, so a few things I've learned.
703(3lbs. per cubic ft.) vs. 705(6lbs. per cubic ft.) 705 performs somewhat better but not enough to justify the added cost, unless cost is no object.
Similar to how super chunks work better than corner straddling panels, but not that much better and use 3 times the material.

My last couple posts in this thread mentioned an allergic reaction that led me to take my traps down and air them out for a few days.
After putting them back up the same symptoms appeared.
Lots of research led me to numerous people who have had similar reactions to fiberglass panels.
But, since my panels are Knauf Ecose, which is identical to OC 703 except no formaldehyde or other harsh chemicals are used,
I was ruling out the binder chemicals as being the irritant.

I decided to take my traps apart and wrap the panels in plastic.
I noticed when disassembling, a micro fine dust was present.
Too fine a dust to be held in by a breathable fabric.
One of my panels was a cloud suspended over my head. Hmmm....

So after taking them apart and airing the uncovered panels again just to be sure,
I got my Costco size roll of plastic wrap and wrapped all my panels.
The 4" panels were wrapped as one and the 2" separately.



After reapplying the new fabric and putting them back up I can say the allergic reactions have ceased and the room still sounds great.

Now you may be wondering what effect plastic has on these panels.
Interestingly it seems plastic is used in studio design all the time.
It has the benefit or reflecting back some high frequencies which will keep a room for sounding too dead.
From John Sayers http://www.johnlsayers.com/
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5457&hilit=plastic+wrap
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13596&p=93844&hilit=plastic+wrap#p93844

But in my case, plastic film less than 1 mil thick is acoustically transparent, so it would seem to have no effect.

In fact John Sayers recommends wrapping overhead panels in plastic to keep the dust from settling on you or your gear.
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13211&p=91008&hilit=plastic+wrap#p91008
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1742&p=78286&hilit=plastic+wrap#p78286
 
So, I would say after purchasing your fiberglass panels, air them out for a few days prior to assembly.
They do have an odor which in a small room can be a bit overwhelming.
If you are placing panels up over you or any sensitive gear, wrap them in plastic before covering in fabric.