How to make absorption panel

Burlap is fine. I tend to use felt. You want something that will let the air through it and into the fiberglass.
 
moelar2 said:
:eek:

That's what the folks at ATS Acoustics use...

http://www.atsacoustics.com/item--ATS-Acoustic-Absorption-Panel-24x24x2--1000.html

look in the specs section...
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ooookay. that stuff isn't what I first think of when I think of "burlap". I think of that stuff we used in arts and crafts when we were little kids. the stuff that is a really thick weave and has a wax coating on it. what is shown in the picture looks more like a fabric (which is what you want). I think muslin (like bed sheets) is what is usually suggested. if your "burlap" is a fabric then you will be fine. if it is wax coated you might not be letting the sound through. if it is a very thick weave you also might not be keeping the fibers in (which is important - you don't want the fiberglasss to be exposed to the air that you are breathing). good luck.
 
I got some door blanks, cut the semi-rigid to size and stapled hessian over it. Some I've used thick cardboard as a backing - this is just so I can move them around easy - they have hooks on the back hanging them off the picture rails.
 
It is very interesting to note that if you want some real cheap ass panels (what I used when I was 16 years old but worked great..) is to get some 4x2 panels of any kind of decent semi rigid or rigid fiber (I got some roxul safe n sound, cost 30$ canadian per pack of 8) and you simpli but them in 2 garbage bags (regular size black garbage bags fit perfectly).

You now have a non flamable, easy to clean and safe for your health panel.

To hang them, simply put a few layers of duck tape on the top end of your panel (On top of the garbage bag) and nail it to the drywall.

Voila, and this will not cost you a lot of money but will look pretty ugly but if you are out of $$$, this is the cheapest thing to do.

For those septical about the fact that air doesn't go through the garbage bag, well just try putting a garbage bag on top of a speaker and see if the sound is BLOCKED by the bag... The bag will even reflect a little high frequency, which is great since high's are usually too absorbed in a room.

This design is poor, basic and cheap, but was approoved by John Sayers (you can check my post as TENKAS on that forum if you want) and I hope this will help anyone who wants some good cheap acoustic treatment!

Here is a link to my 2 years and a half post... when I was 15-16 years old and decided to get into studio stuff!
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1030&highlight=
 
I posted some pics of my construction; maybe this will help in giving suggestions as to how I should arrange my sound treatment.

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=187880

i'm expecting a box of 9 2x4 703 rigid fiber glass that i intend on turning into sound panels.

I plan on putting tthree above the console in control room; 2 on one side of my live room, two on an adjacent wall, two in the corner adjoining two live room walls...

suggestion??
 
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$13 a board for 2" 703 is a bit steep and $50 for shipping is outrageous. The MOST I've ever had to pay to ship materials to a customer in the continental US is $36 via FedEx Home Delivery (Ground).
 
Garbage bags???

Plastic (as in garbage bags suggested above) is flammable. Seems to me that fire retardant-sprayed muslin or felt or burlap makeds the most sense.
 
tenkas said:
It is very interesting to note that if you want some real cheap ass panels (what I used when I was 16 years old but worked great..) is to get some 4x2 panels of any kind of decent semi rigid or rigid fiber (I got some roxul safe n sound, cost 30$ canadian per pack of 8) and you simpli but them in 2 garbage bags (regular size black garbage bags fit perfectly).
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I bought a pack of Safe-n-Sound from Home Depot because A) it was cheap and B) it was available. It worked OK, but the specs are not so good in the low end.

Anyway

I went to a comercial/industrial insulation place yesterday and they flooded me w/ info. I found them online and they had RHL-40 in stock. I bought 2 cases of 10 pieces of 2". So I will be doubling them up to make 4". It specs out very nice accross the board. The two bundles cost me $140. I'm in the process of wrapping them in breathable fabric from Wallmart cheapo bin ($1.97/meter). I'm using an iron on glue and no wood frame. If some of my pieces do need a frame I will build it out of light weight aluminum accoustic tile wall mould and rivit it together.

I will tell you that the RHL-40 is WAAAAY more rigid and easy to work with compared to the safe and sound. My advice is to find an industrial/comercial supplier and explain what you are trying to do, I'm sure they will be happy to help you.

Plus they got a huge laugh when I proceeded to pack the two large bundles into my Toyota Echo Hatchback!!
 
bfoundation81 said:
im kinda confused how you do this without a wood frame??
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Dense fiberglass and rockwool is stiff like an over starched shirt. It doesn't need any support to stand straight up like regular old limp insulation does.
 
To be honest, even Safe & Sound has enough rigidity to stand on it's own in the corners. But the RHL-40 is Very stiff. You need to be careful w/ it though 'cause it will dent and fray.

Isn't there someone on the net or on this forum that sells rigid insulation "bags" that can go over the insulation? Essentially I build mine the same way. I can post pics later if it would help.
 
I wasn't able to find anything. But, I wasn't able to find any Owens Corning stuff here, but Roxul was available.

Safe n sound specs as:

125 Hz 250 Hz 500 Hz 1000 Hz 2000 Hz 4000 Hz NRC
Safe‘n’Sound 0.52 0.96 1.18 1.07 1.05 1.05 1.05

While RHF (by the way it looks like I said RXL in other posts, but it should be RHL, sorry about that) specs out:

125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 NRC
4.0” 1.07 1.01 1.07 1.06 1.07 1.06 1.05

1 is fully absorbed and 0 is fully reflective

*edit* hmmm, those tables didn'y work did they? hope they make sense
 
lomky said:
Plus they got a huge laugh when I proceeded to pack the two large bundles into my Toyota Echo Hatchback!!
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Haha, I jammed 3 bundles of 2" mineral wool in my Tempo one hot summer day. Sucked!
I ordered 5 bundles total from SPI a while back. They shipped it on a truck to my city (200 miles away) and I had to pick it up from the freight carrier. Pretty economical way to do it, if not a pain making 2 trips across town with it in my car.
 
Here is a link to plans:

http://www.ethanwiner.com/BTPlans.gif

Note that if you do more searches on posts from Ethan Winer you will find that there is a reason his original traps not only had frames, but also had wood fronts and backs.

I am only pointing out that absorption and bass trapping are different. If you want to deaden your room, absorption is fine. If you want to accurately control bass frequencies, you are talking about building real traps, not just wrapping material around 703.

I am far from an expert, but I traded a lot of emails with Ethan when I was prepping my control/tracking room and he was firm on CLOSED TRAPS for bass control.

If you are serious, scour all of the recording forums for all posts by Ethan. He has shared more information here than you could believe.

Do yourself a favor, and read all of this: http://www.ethanwiner.com/basstrap.html

It details everything you need to know about controlling the sound (hi and lo frequencies) in your room.
 
you only made 2" panels i'm guessing?

i coulda swore ethan said that 2" really wasnt much, and 4" is ideal for it to actually make a difference.

so that box of 6 becomes 3 panels :/

i really really need to get my act together and buy some 703 already. i still have carpet up which is next to useless...
 
TragikRemix said:
i coulda swore ethan said that 2" really wasnt much, and 4" is ideal for it to actually make a difference.
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Just to clarify, the wood panel traps in my plans work on a very different principle than traps made from rigid fiberglass only. Wood panels traps use 1 inch thick fiberglass, but the plywood is doing most of the work.

--Ethan
 
i see.

now time to figure out if it's cheaper to buy the plywood or cheaper to get the thicker 703...
 
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