Most Important Acoustic Element

[Kasey]

I'm a student with a limited budget, and a 19' by 12' project studio. I'm just now starting to get into how i should equip the room acoustically. Ideally, I think i'd want:
2" pyramid foam covering the entire wall behind my monitors, and the door(on the same wall).

two 2' long bass traps in each corner of the room.

twenty four 1 sqft acoustic wedges in spaced patterns on each side of the wall until about 5' behind my listening position.

some of those wedges on the ceiling

four metrofussors on the back wall, two on each side of the back side walls, and four on the ceiling.

now.... unfortunately i don't have the cash for all of these. the room is unfinished and thus has all sorts of weird oddities in the shapes on the walls - one side wall has the upper part just insulation, and the bottom half concrete. the other side wall and most of the back wall have that thin ply wood with all the little holes in it to put tool racks in. the wall behind my monitors is the inside of the wall without drywall. just two by fours and the dry wall from the other side. oh, and the ceiling is a super irregular array of vents and pipes, and the floor is concrete, except for two big rugs that i set the drumset and amps on.

which of these acoustic elements is most important?? my guess is either the absorption or bass traps, but i really want diffusors too because i want a really live sound. can anyone help me out? eventually i plan to get all of it - but most important things first.

[mshilarious]

I would pass on the diffusors for now. Getting a good mix is more important than a good live sound, which is gonna require lots of absorption in your space anyway.

[Diffusion]

Go with the bass traps, because bass traps absorb well at all freq's -low, mid, and high-, but 2" foam will do close to nothing for bass freq's...

[apl]

Read www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

There are cheap ways to make panels for the walls that work better than foam. Stacking fiberglass in the corners is very cost effective for bass absorption.

[Kasey]

thanks guys, i was thinking that would probably be the answer. Oh by the way, does anyone know if theres really so much different between the metrofusors and the t'fusors that you have to pay $200 for 4 t'fusors and $170 for 12 metrofusors???

[Diffusion]

man, if I were you, I would build my own diffusers... those auralex diffusers are extremely overpriced, and you can build a diffuser with just about anything...

[drummerdude666]

apl gave a bad link.

Here's the one that works http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

[apl]

Originally Posted by drummerdude666

apl gave a bad link.

Here's the one that works http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

Oops, thanks.

[lomky]

hmmm, it seems Ethan's site is down.

[Ethan Winer]

> it seems Ethan's site is down. <

It should be back up Real Soon Now...