Bass Trap/OC 703 questions

[Reed Robins]

Hi Everyone,

I'm a new member, although I've been reading a lot of the posts about the building of bass traps. I'm currently renovating my studio, and I want to get the bass a little more under control.

The room is on the smallish side about 8.5' x 15' with 12' ceilings. The console is positioned widthways in the studio, which isn't ideal, but that's the way it is. The whole design goes around that. There's only one way to fit the stuff in the room.

There is a window which is behind the console (you face it when in the "sweet spot"). Also not ideal, but I do have curtains on the windows which I recently put there, and they seemed to help the stereo imaging a lot. There is a lot of sonex on the walls, which makes it a teenie bit dead, but the floors are hard wood, and there are hard surfaces in a couple of other spots in the room which I've included to liven up the sound to an acceptable amount.

here's a picture of the room: http://www.macintyremusic.com/pix/studio1.jpg. This is before I renovated. The argosy is still there, but the windows, as said, have curtains. The place is totally beautiful now, with kind of a "meditative" vibe, and I spray painted the sonex, but I still want to hear better bass.

That blue cabinet is gone, as is some of the sonex in the spot you see.

One thing I did long ago, which really helped the room immensely was to hang a splay in front of the console, so that the ceiling is not at a right angle at the front of the console. I goes from about 9' height to 12' in a gradual curve. That is plywood with sonex lining it. unfortunately, you can't see the splay in the photo.

Now most of what I'm hearing is great, with the exception that: the bass in the lower octaves is much greater in level when out of the listening position. I have a subwoofer that can't be heard too well until you slip to the side, and then the sound gets mighty sweet!

I'm assuming I'm getting standing waves which are colliding in the listening position.

So what I'm planning to do as per the discussion is get some 703. and hang it on the corners of the ceiling and the room corners to eliminate some of the standing waves. Even after reading a lot of the discussion, I have a couple of questions which I'd appreciate your help on, if you can spare the time. My apologies for any repetition in the conversation.

1) I can't find a picture of this stuff anywhere on the internet. Can you prime and paint it? I'd love to know what it looks like. Anyone know of a link? I can't even find it on the owens corning website. I hear everybody talking here about covering it with fabric...

2) I know this has probably been covered, but if I hang it at a 45 degree angle from the wall/ceiling, it's OK to hang it without sealing it against the wall? That's the impression I'm getting, and would be easier from my perspective.

3) Is anyone aware of a place in New York City where it can be gotten/ordered from? I'm coming up empty so far...

Thanks a million,

-Reed

[HangDawg]

Here's a picture although kind of small http://www.apidistribution.com/produ...erglass_db.php

It looks like compressed fiberglas cause that's kind of what it is what it is. This stuff has the foil backing on it which can be easily removed.


Leaving an air space is recommended so placing it across the corners is good. That's what I've done to all vertical corners in my studio. Next step is to get the horizontal corners at the ceiling.


Not sure where you can find it. Look for Duct board. Seems to be a more common name in the northeast.

[joshj]

First off... welcome I'm a newbie here as well and have been doing a ton of research on this site and others and I can help you out a little...

1. Ugly yellow. It's plain and not that purty and that's why everyone covers it with a cloth like muslin or something very loose and porous. I would guess if if you would paint it, it would affect the the acoustic properties of the fiberglass. I have seen nothing about people painting the 703.

2. Do you mean, "Do both sides (one wall and one ceiling) have to be touching the surface?" There is no "sealing" when talking about this type of bass trap. A membrane trap involves air tight seals...

3. They might deliver. Merry Christmas here ya go...

Albany, NY 518-438-5502
518-438-6721 info@spi-co.com

Rochester, NY 716-328-2590
716-328-2641 rochester@spi-co.com

Syracuse, NY -- Richlar Industries 315-463-5144
315-463-0362 richlar@spi-co.com

Syracuse, NY 315-474-5190
315-474-7319 syracuse@spi-co.com

[KevinDrummer]

Originally Posted by Reed Robins

Hi Everyone,


1) I can't find a picture of this stuff anywhere on the internet. Can you prime and paint it? I'd love to know what it looks like. Anyone know of a link? I can't even find it on the owens corning website. I hear everybody talking here about covering it with fabric...

2) I know this has probably been covered, but if I hang it at a 45 degree angle from the wall/ceiling, it's OK to hang it without sealing it against the wall? That's the impression I'm getting, and would be easier from my perspective.

3) Is anyone aware of a place in New York City where it can be gotten/ordered from? I'm coming up empty so far...

Thanks a million,

-Reed

1) I've seen and touched this stuff on ductwork, which is what it was really designed for. You can get it faced and unfaced (foil or kraft paper, I think). The stuff on the ducts is often painted, but it's not regular paint. Some kind of thick epoxy paint or coating. You'd probably be better of with a fabric covering.

2) From what I've read, this sounds close to ideal, although I am no expert.

3) I got a quote from SPI in Raleigh. I looked and it looks like the closest to you is Elizabeth, NJ

http://www.spi-co.com/servicecenterd...y.mv?detail=42

[HangDawg]

Knauf seems to be easier to find.


http://www.knauffiberglass.com/index...odDetail&ID=12

[KevinDrummer]

Owens Corning certainly doesn't seem to want your business. You can't find anything on their website (without a lot of work), and when I called them to find a distributer, they flat out refused, saying these products need to be integrated into an engineered design.

I did find a spec sheet after extensive seaching on the website.

Here you go....

http://secure.owenscorning.net/Porta...19/14775-J.pdf

[Reed Robins]

Thanks to everyone who posted! I really appreciate your help.

-Reed

[Innovations]

Originally Posted by KevinDrummer

Owens Corning certainly doesn't seem to want your business. You can't find anything on their website (without a lot of work), and when I called them to find a distributer, they flat out refused, saying these products need to be integrated into an engineered design.

I did find a spec sheet after extensive seaching on the website.

Here you go....

http://secure.owenscorning.net/Porta...19/14775-J.pdf

Owens Corning just doesn't want to appear to give preference to one distributor over another. If you look around you will likely find a supplier selling directly to roofers or Heating/AC contractors. Owens Corning also has an all-black product intended for exposed contitions in theatres and such. Not as readily available as 703

[Todzilla]

Also, keep in mind that the insulation is usually sold to mega-contractors who use it to insulate the ceilings of warehouses. They have several truckloads show up at a new Wal-Mart distribution center. The fact that some smelly hippy musician wants 20 sheets for his hookah den and listening area, holds little relevance to an industry catered to completely different distribution channels.

I got a distributor to pity my situation and deliver some, but there was really nothing in it for him.

[HangDawg]

Originally Posted by Todzilla

Also, keep in mind that the insulation is usually sold to mega-contractors who use it to insulate the ceilings of warehouses. They have several truckloads show up at a new Wal-Mart distribution center. The fact that some smelly hippy musician wants 20 sheets for his hookah den and listening area, holds little relevance to an industry catered to completely different distribution channels.

I got a distributor to pity my situation and deliver some, but there was really nothing in it for him.

You are probably right. It just depends on how much you need. I ended up spending over $1200 on the stuff. They had no problem delivering it to me.

[KevinDrummer]

Originally Posted by Todzilla

Also, keep in mind that the insulation is usually sold to mega-contractors who use it to insulate the ceilings of warehouses. They have several truckloads show up at a new Wal-Mart distribution center. The fact that some smelly hippy musician wants 20 sheets for his hookah den and listening area, holds little relevance to an industry catered to completely different distribution channels.

I got a distributor to pity my situation and deliver some, but there was really nothing in it for him.

Yeah. I understand what you're saying. But I didn't really explain my need to them.

Also, I've seen this in my line of work. Even though about 50% of the revenue comes from many small customers, we tend to ignore them in our customer service efforts.

[Rod Gervais]

Originally Posted by KevinDrummer

Owens Corning certainly doesn't seem to want your business. You can't find anything on their website (without a lot of work), and when I called them to find a distributer, they flat out refused, saying these products need to be integrated into an engineered design.

John Manville produces boards that are very comprable in acoustic value to the O.C. boards - and they will help anyone to get their product.

Just figure out what you want and call their corporate office.

Rod

[zbert]

3) I got a quote from SPI in Raleigh. I looked and it looks like the closest to you is Elizabeth, NJ

http://www.spi-co.com/servicecenterd...y.mv?detail=42[/QUOTE]

I called these people today. Got a nice guy on the phone. He has 2" 2x4 panels. You need to buy a full package which is 12 pieces. The total cost is about $85. I'm going to try to get there before Christmas.

[Innovations]

Sounds like a good deal. Yes most companies that sell this stuff do sell truckloads of it to construction sites. However if the one near where I live is any indication they will sell an ordinary person a bale (2 foot by 2 foot by 4 foot) at a good price but they will ONLY sell whole bales (once you see how it is packaged this makes obvious sense) and WONT bother with arranging shipping or billing for such a small order...cash and carry only.