10 ft x 9 ft x 8 ft room. DIY absorbers, diffusers, and traps. Need placement advice.

diggy_dude

diggy_dude

Now 169% diggier!
I'm looking at making some 48" x 48" diffuser panels out of various lengths of 2" x 2" wood or styrofoam, as described here.

The absorbers will be 4" deep 24" x 48" panels similar to this design.

I have in mind to make a few of these cylindrical bass traps so I can experiment with placement.

The floor is hardwood. There is a window that covers roughly 1/3 out of the middle of one of the long walls. The walls are regular residential sheetrock, not sure about the thickness. As my speakers are purpose-designed bookshelf speakers, the manufacturer recommends placing them flat against a wall for best bass response. Obviously, I'll diverge somewhat by angling them towards the listening position, but they'll be close to one of the short walls and about 60" to 65" apart.

Given all the foregoing, can you guys give me a ballpark idea of how many of each unit (diffuser, absorber, and bass trap) to make, what sizes if different from above dimensions, and how to place them?
 
Here's a rough sketch of the floor plan and furnishings that may help make the foregoing a little more clear. :)

STUDIO.webp
 
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First - I am no expert. I've spent the last month reading up on this stuff for my own new room. I'm building frames now - the 703 arrives tomorrow.

Small rooms do not want diffusion. They want absorption and lots of it. Bass traps and broad band absorbers will be the order of the day in there. A cloud would be beneficial as well. If you manage to make it too dead (doubtful) you could place a diffuser on the back wall. Standard 2X4 panels will work for absorption. 2" for broadband and 4" for bass. Traps in the corners and front and back wall and cloud. Broadband on the side walls.

Have you checked out the other forums; John Sayers, Gearslutz and Studiotips? Lots more stuff there.


lou
 
Thanks, Lou. I was figuring I needed an absorber on the ceiling, didn't know it was called a "cloud" until now. Would a 6 ft. x 2 ft. one parallel to the short wall and hung over the sweet spot be sufficient?
 
A few things...
The diffusers are what would be referred to as a quadratic residue diffuser (google it). The heights of the blocks are NOT random as the how-to you linked to implied. There is some math involved- you'll want to do some more research on that before you waste time and money on something incorrectly executed. Also, since those are intended to be reflective, I doubt that foam is the best choice of materials- I'd definitely go for wood if you're gonna do it. As Lou alluded to above, absorption would definitely be step one for me, so I'd table this part of the project until you've got your absorption in.

The second link for the rockwool absorbers looks fine to me. The only thing I'd add is that you want to place those to get the most mileage out of them. Room corners and first reflection points between your ears and monitors would be the starting places. I see you have some doors in the corners- you can treat the corners where the walls and ceiling meet. Some good stuff here... RealTraps - How To Set Up a Room

About that last link- since those are really just circular rigid fiberglass, I'm sure they do something beneficial. At one point there was some odd cardboard cylinder design (like what they form concrete deck piers with) that someone had concocted- I believe the consensus was that that was crap.

If you're more of a visual learner, check out these...
YouTube - How to Set Up and Treat a Listening Room
YouTube - The Ultimate Home Studio

:)





(I'm also not an 'expert', but I've been following along for the past several year)
 
diggy_dude said:
Thanks, Lou. I was figuring I needed an absorber on the ceiling, didn't know it was called a "cloud" until now. Would a 6 ft. x 2 ft. one parallel to the short wall and hung over the sweet spot be sufficient?
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I can't authoritatively answer that but I do know it won't hurt. My cloud will be 6X4 (3 panels wide) 4" of 703 hung 6" off the ceiling. Exact front/rear placement should be the same as the first reflection points (I think).

The one thing I've learned in this exercise is not to get too anal about the "science". Nothing you will do by way of absorption will make things worse so throw some shit up and rock out.


lou
 
I'll figure out the placements. The bass trap design is portable, so they will be easy to move around until I get it right. It's a bit of a relief knowing I don't need diffusers. Cutting all those 2"x2" skyline pieces looks tedious, not to mention there's not really a way to make them look pretty. :laughings:
 
From reading some DIY sites, it seems one man's bass trap is another man's broadband absorber. Will the 2" x 24" x 48" panels do for both?
 
diggy_dude said:
I'll figure out the placements. The bass trap design is portable, so they will be easy to move around until I get it right. It's a bit of a relief knowing I don't need diffusers. Cutting all those 2"x2" skyline pieces looks tedious, not to mention there's not really a way to make them look pretty. :laughings:
Click to expand...

I disagree! I think they can look quite attractive! :D



Also, for the cloud placement- I'd think the same 'first reflection points' principals would apply to the ceiling as to the side walls. :)
 
I think for a "broadband" absorber to be considered a bass trap you need 4" panels. A lot of guys suggest getting the 703 with the foil/paper facing to kick some of the highs and mids back out. Or plastic sheeting. Have you looked at "Superchunks" yet?


lou
 
As far as doing for both 4" is better because LF is the biggest problem. If you absorb too much of the mids and highs you can open up (leave untreated) some flat wall area to get it back.


lou
 
Sorry, Lou, I meant 4", not 2". I'm still digging through a ton of links on the subject.

Incidentally, my neighbor said he's getting a CNC machine next year, and I told him he could make a fortune cutting diffuser panels. :laughings:

The random pattern on most skylines I've seen don't do it for me. I'd prefer to look at something that has at least some symmetry.
 
You know, your room is almost the same size as mine. I used 2" panels most everywhere and doubled up to 4" on the cloud, back wall and back corners. My philosphy is because it is such a small room, I won't be too loud and I believe I don't need as much absorption as a regular size studio. I think it works well. I believe I'm getting good mixes and commercial releases sound really nice.

Also, I read somewhere that those random skyline diffusers aren't really random, there's some formula to follow when building them. Go figure. Probably better off making them random than to pound through a huge math equation. :(
 
I don't intend to completely cover the walls. Mostly the corners, cloud and side panels in the early reflection zone, behind the speakers (which would be about the same as two corners), and one on the back wall.

Chili said:
Also, I read somewhere that those random skyline diffusers aren't really random, there's some formula to follow when building them. Go figure. Probably better off making them random than to pound through a huge math equation. :(
Click to expand...

I've seen the charts for placing the various pieces. I've also read that regular multi-faceted patterns work as well. So yeah, random would probably be as good as any.
 
Chili said:
My philosphy is because it is such a small room, I won't be too loud and I believe I don't need as much absorption as a regular size studio. I think it works well. I believe I'm getting good mixes and commercial releases sound really nice.
Click to expand...
A perfect illustration of the point of not getting too anal about it. Anything is better than nothing and even if you totally hose the science and fancy equations it's still gonna sound better than before.

Having said that I'm trying to at least understand the parts I'm ignoring. ;)


lou
 
I don't think the room is large enough to benefit from diffusers. I'd be looking at lots and lots of broadband absorption.
 
Unless I miss my guess, the reflections from tabletops in the "red zone" below will be the biggest problem area. The "blue zone" should cover the rest.

STUDIO2.webp
 
diggy_dude said:
Unless I miss my guess, the reflections from tabletops in the "red zone" below will be the biggest problem area. The "blue zone" should cover the rest.

View attachment 63938
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The room is small enough that reflections from the rear could also pose a problem. I'd plan on treating it as well as your side reflection points and overhead mixing position. The plywood desk you're sitting in front of is a reflective surface, too.
 
That's why the cloud is over the desk.

Do I need to fully cover the rear wall?

I should also mention that the drawings are totally not to scale. The expanses of untreated area in back won't be as large as they appear.
 
diggy_dude said:
Do I need to fully cover the rear wall?
.
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On the back wall, I have two 2'x4' panels, one over the other, both in 'landscape' orientation. There's a little bit of wall space exposed between them and the corner panels. I don't think you need to cover the entire wall, just the zones where the speakers are firing into and reflecting back towards the speakers.

hth,
 
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