diy sound diffusers made with plastic water bottles, would it work?

C

customdrum

New member
Been thinking about sound diffusers and have made some of the roxul 3" thick sound panels before and they work good.
had an idea to use plastic water bottles kinda like an egg crate look and wonder if anyone has used bottles for diffusion before?

i did some searching and found nothing online but wonder if it would work.
ill post a pic of the pattern i was thinking of in a few
cutting the bottles in half so theres a cup and a top. maybe if these were put on a piece of wood and then covered in burlap to hide the look make work may not any thoughts?
 

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dainbramage said:
[SUP][/SUP]I'm definitely no expert, but I think most diffusors are made with some mathematical proportions when it comes to how they are designed.

Check this out: PME Records QRD Diffusor Construction
Click to expand...


yeah i know most are mathmatically made to work the best for sure, got this idea from the wooden scrap diffusors i see and egg crates , since im just looking for something to kill the highs and not worried about corners or low end just high end noise on flat walls and the foam stuff is kinda expensive and esp auralex foam squares or foam by mail

thought of making those wooden scrap diffusors since i can get scrap wood free and not have to buy any 2x4 or anything but there really heavy and would cost more than the plastic bottles for sure and plastic is much lighter.
 
Diffusors do not absorb high frequencies - they are reflected in mathematically-random ways so that the waves are diffused.
 
dainbramage said:
What exactly is it that you're recording? A castrato choir?
Click to expand...

lol yeah a barber shop quartet of coarse

i have bass traps in corners and 3" panels on the walls just want something like the foam to knock down some of the highs on the flat surfaces. or should i say reflect the high freq sounds

im not looking to absorb the highs just help knock them down some
and thought of the plastic bottles being used like egg crates or the foam 12x12 panels but cheaper lighter and easier than the wood diffusers
 
i see people use those 1-2" foam bed covers that dont much of anything and figured the bottles would work better than those but im just guessing on the concept and looking for a cheap way of doing it
 
customdrum said:
im not looking to absorb the highs just help knock them down some
and thought of the plastic bottles being used like egg crates or the foam 12x12 panels but cheaper lighter and easier than the wood diffusers
Click to expand...
Egg crates don't do anything useful and the foam absorbs high end. Diffusers don't absorb anything, they reflect it. They just break it up in such a way that it isn't echo-y or slapback-y. You are barking up the wrong tree wanting diffusers AND the bottle thing won't work either way. It will probably just resonate at an annoying, plastic sounding frequency.
 
customdrum said:
ok thanks guess im making wood diffusers
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If you are trying to knock down the high end, diffusers aren't what you need to use. Do something that actually absorbs the high end. Make another couple of the roxul panels, they will absorb highs too.
 
yeah they will for sure but just looking for something cheaper than the panels, i can make 7 panels for 75.00 sure but need about 20 more as it stands to cover the wall

I like to recycle stuff so im thinking of cardboard diffusers the way the stepped wood panels or slat diffusers look
 
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customdrum said:
yeah they will for sure but just looking for something cheaper than the panels, i can make 7 panels for 75.00 sure but need about 20 more as it stands to cover the wall

I like to recycle stuff so im thinking of cardboard diffusers the way the stepped wood panels or slat diffusers look
Click to expand...

What size panels are you making? Standard bass trap size used by most is 2'x4'. Look at some of the pictures in the 'SHow Us Your Studio" thread to get an idea of how people have used them in their particular set ups.
 
Diffusers will make the high end smoother and less splattery. They will not absorb anything, that isn't their purpose. You will have just as much high end as you do now, jusy smoother. (assuming they get built properly)

If you are going with the cardboard idea, look at the auralex diffusers. The white plastic curved ones would probably be a better thing to do in cardboard than the skyline type.
 
customdrum said:
Been thinking about sound diffusers and have made some of the roxul 3" thick sound panels before and they work good.
had an idea to use plastic water bottles kinda like an egg crate look and wonder if anyone has used bottles for diffusion before?

i did some searching and found nothing online but wonder if it would work.
ill post a pic of the pattern i was thinking of in a few
cutting the bottles in half so theres a cup and a top. maybe if these were put on a piece of wood and then covered in burlap to hide the look make work may not any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Sure, go for it. Make sure the bottles are full of beer or wine before you put them up, though. That way they'll be useful. Otherwise, you're wasting your time - plastic bottles like that won't diffuse anything.

You know what works pretty well for diffusion? Bookcases (especially the open kind) full of books. Rather than line them up in neat little rows, arrange them on the shelf so they're staggered.
 
Don't be so quick to make diffusers based on what they "look" like. There are plenty of guides online to help you make a diffuser that actually works. Look them up.
Rod Norman
Engineer

customdrum said:
yeah they will for sure but just looking for something cheaper than the panels, i can make 7 panels for 75.00 sure but need about 20 more as it stands to cover the wall

I like to recycle stuff so im thinking of cardboard diffusers the way the stepped wood panels or slat diffusers look
Click to expand...
 
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