Studio in Garage

[Chili]

I found some information that said that anything touching the wall will not "trap" bass.

I don't think this is entirely true. The physics behind bass trapping is having the right density of material to slow the movement of air in a target frequency range. The airgap behind a trap will certainly help a lot because whatever waves pass through the trap will reflect off the wall and back into the trap again; basically doubling the thickness of the trap. And, I believe an airgap is more effective for waves hitting the trap from the sides or at oblique angles.

Still, any absorbing material will have bass trapping properties. It's not like it magically goes away because it is touching the wall. Maybe not as good if there is no airgap, but still works well.

 

[mjbphotos]

I don't think this is entirely true. The physics behind bass trapping is having the right density of material to slow the movement of air in a target frequency range. The airgap behind a trap will certainly help a lot because whatever waves pass through the trap will reflect off the wall and back into the trap again; basically doubling the thickness of the trap. And, I believe an airgap is more effective for waves hitting the trap from the sides or at oblique angles.

Still, any absorbing material will have bass trapping properties. It's not like it magically goes away because it is touching the wall. Maybe not as good if there is no airgap, but still works well.

Exactly right! And also, the gap thing only applies if you have not added a hard non-porous surface (ie backing board) to the back of the trap.