2'x4' panels.. other sizes effective?

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ecstasteve

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Hi first post avid reader of the forums here.

I am getting ready to do some sound treatment to my small basement project studio and my question is ...

Is there a reason besides the fact that most of the available foam/rockwool absorption materials come in 24" widths to make the panels 24" wide?

I ask because one leg of my "L" shaped basement is fairly narrow (7ft or so) and the 24" wide panels eat up a lot of real estate when placed angled across the corners. At least on the end where my desk & monitors will be situated it would be nice to gain a little of the space back with maybe 12" wide panels across the corners. However if this significantly reduces the effectiveness of the bass traps I will deal with the cramped quarters!

I searched the forums and found a lot of information about density, placement and air gaps but nothing specifically about the actual dimensions of the panels and the effects of using something like a 12"x48" trap for instance.

Thanks for any input you guys may have!
 
Cut 'em to 12" and make them double thick. When you lose surface area, you lose some mid-high frequency absorption, but you want thicker panels for low frequency absorption anyway. If you need to get some HF absorption back, hang a thinner panel flat on the wall.
 
excellent & thanks for the info. now i get to go read up on superchunks hahaha.. I hope i remember how to play after spending all this time on the acoustics!
 
ecstasteve said:
the 24" wide panels eat up a lot of real estate when placed angled across the corners.
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I wouldn't cut them to be narrower. Better is to leave the full width, but adjust the angle so it's more parallel to one of the walls. Traps don't have to be at precisely 45 degrees to work well.

--Ethan
 
the guru has spoken! thanks! increasing the angle will work for my space.
 
Ethan Winer said:
I wouldn't cut them to be narrower. Better is to leave the full width, but adjust the angle so it's more parallel to one of the walls. Traps don't have to be at precisely 45 degrees to work well.

--Ethan
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This could open up some space options. Does this mean you can still have most (or part) of the benifit of being in the corner?

Wayne Smith
___________
Monitoring just fine at CathouseSound :cool: SP Tech Continuum AD
 
mixsit said:
This could open up some space options. Does this mean you can still have most (or part) of the benifit of being in the corner?
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Yeah it should still have almost the same benefit.

There are a few reasons, that i know of, why corners are good.
1. bass builds up between corners
2. the corner allows a large air-gap behind the panel(upto around 17" with a 2' panel)

So angling it differently it still helps with the bass building up between corners, and increases the air-gap on 1 side and decreases on the other.

Depending on what angle the sound hits(although it's generally omnidirectional, but for simplicity)the thickness of the absorption+air gap can be more than a stardard 45degree angle(on one side).

I'll show you what i mean.
 

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pandamonk said:
Yeah it should still have almost the same benefit.
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Exactly. Another option when straddling isn't practical is to use two panels in one corner. Both are flat on the walls, adjacent and touching at the corner. Too lazy to draw it up :D but hopefully you know what I mean.

--Ethan
 
Ethan Winer said:
Exactly. Another option when straddling isn't practical is to use two panels in one corner. Both are flat on the walls, adjacent and touching at the corner. Too lazy to draw it up :D but hopefully you know what I mean.

--Ethan
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I understand that this will help with the bass that builds up between corners, but it doesn't give the benifit of the airgap(1/4 wavelength is only 4").

Could you explain in detail why/how this works?
 

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Actually, i think i might've worked it out. It this diagram correct showing a wave reflecting in a corner? So any absorption(thick enough) would reduce the reflections(grey).

The lines are just the peaks, the nulls are exactly the same, with everything in-between, all reverbing, mixing and creating havoc :D!
 

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So with bass traps, it'd effectively be like this(obviously this is hugely simplistic)?
 

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pandamonk said:
I understand that this will help with the bass that builds up between corners, but it doesn't give the benifit of the airgap(1/4 wavelength is only 4").
Click to expand...

It works because it's absorbing material near the corner. :D

Also, I should have mentioned that with this approach, adding an air gap helps further. If you have room for a 4-inch gap on both panels, great. Otherwise, one panel with a gap is still better than no gap at all.

--Ethan
 
This is an attempt to delete because this stupid HR software wont let me. Look below.:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
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