Gonna try and build some bass traps and treat my room as cheap as possible.

S

sausy1981

New member
Hey guys, I'm gonna try and build some bass traps myself as I cant afford to buy any of the professional acoustic solutions as we've recently had a baby, and as any other father knows, babies cost a lot of money.
Anyway, I was gonna build some wooden frames, fill them with some attic/loft insulation and wrap in bed sheet, and these would be my bass traps, Which I would hang in the corners and at the point were the wall meets the ceiling, would these be sufficent? or is loft insulation not useful for this?

Secondly I work as a mechanic for a bus company and we throw out foam filters all the time, I was gonna bring some of these foam filters home to use as dampeners, They are roughly 8 inches by 12 inches and about 2 inches thick, They wouldnt be as dense as acoustic foam. I was wondering if I got a sheet of 4 mm thick hard board approx. 3ft by 3ft, and glued these foam filters to it would it work, I would obviousy layer them so the 3ft by 3ft board would have 3 foam filters stacked on top? Would these stop early reflections.

I would really prefer to be able to go out and buy the proper professional acoustic solutions but unfortunately I just can't,
Am I pissin against the wind? and if so what are my options.
As always thanks for your help.
 
You want some of this:

Universal Slab (Rock)

RS45 at least 100mm thick for bass traps, 50mm thick for broadband absorbers. Make sure you can breathe through any fabric you wrap them in. I think the foam you mention will only be good for mid to high frequencies. Probably similar with the loft insulation rolls as its not as dense (unless you squash it into thick layers, perhaps?).

I am by no means an expert. Do research in this forum and check out articles posted by Ethan Winer.
 
Thanks dude,
yeah Ethan is the master when it comes to acoustics and I would love to be able to afford the solutions that he suggests, I was hoping for some cheap solution. obviously it wouldnt be as good but something is better than nothing.
 
Sausy, you don't need to spend a lot of money for the proper materials. I got a bag of 8 Roxul panels for $40. each. Wood was about $30, and the fabric was $3 a metre (a little more than a yard). All together it cost me less than $200, and the fabric was the most expensive thing, not the fibreglass.

Honestly, those foam things might be ok for a little bit of spot treatment, but only after you've taken care of the bass frequencies with the proper material. Aside from that, the foam is generally useless.

It comes down to this: 99% of the problem in 99% of rooms is the low end. In a small room, I'd say it's 99.9%. Foam does nothing for the low end. So, by putting up foam, all you're doing is killing the high's and mids, which now makes the bass 100% of your problem. At first, you THINK it sounds better because you clap your hands and don't hear an echo. But that's because the foam muffled the high end, but did nothing for the lows. Becuase of this, your mixes will sound good at home, but probably sound like crap everywhere else, since you didn't mix in an "honest" environment.

So, I'd say, don't throw out the foam. But don't put it up, either, until you're sure you need it, which can only be determined AFTER you've properly treated your room with the proper dense material (fibreglass or some other mineral-type material).
 
Cheers Rami, I'm gonna take a trip to my hardware store this weekend and get some dense fiberglass panels, I'm Irish so there builders materials everywhere here lol, I took your advice and removed a lot of my absorbtion, pics are in other forum. I'm gonna do my bass traps now before I do anything else, All projects are on hold until I get room room sorted once and for all.
 
I have decided on what way to build my bass traps but my issue now is that they will only have an 18 inch face as my room is so small? Is this an issue?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top