RE: Acoustic Treatment
September 18, 06 11:17 PM
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I wouldn't use foam. It just soaks up your highs, and does nothing about the low end (which is the real problem in rooms like yours). For my 14'X10'X8' room, I bought (1) box of 705FSK (one side foil) rigid fiberglass, (3) boxes of 703 (no foil). Made Bass corner traps (1) 705FSK (foil side out), with (3) 703's backing, and wrapped them in burlap. I think Owens Corning calls thier foil board product 705FRK, but I used a different brand (forget the name). Anyway, after I built enough 4" traps, I just built the rest out as a few 2" absorbers: (1) 705 paired with (1) 703 wrapped in burlap, put them at monitor reflection points, and wrapped the rest as singles in burlap for use as ceiling tiles. I'm sure I could have got way more scientific about it, but as it is, my room is way better. I put the corner traps foil side out, mounted a few reflection point ones foil side to the wall, ceiling tiles were all soft side out, and the remainder were used as moveable recording helpers (absorbing hard drive noise, AC vent noise, etc).
In hindsight, I should have designed tube traps instead, and focused on eliminating specific room modes, but I didn't want to get into that level of science.
My only complaint is that my room is a bit too dead now. I am currently working on adding some diffusors in the ceiling, and where I have some reflection absorbers at the back of the room. Hopefully that will liven thing up a bit more. Either way, my room is way better than before. Hope this helps.
Do a google search on "real traps". Ethan Winer has been more than generous with his information. Also, do a search on "tube traps". There are some DIY versions of those that make a lot of sense.
I found out that room acoustics is very involved, and you can easily end up with a room that is worse than before. Check out Ethan Winer's site. He has a gob of free info there.
Hurray for Ethan !