Acousitc Panels or tiles for a bedroom studio

[carsoste]

Hi:
I thought that I started this thread yesterday, but since I can't find it on here I'm guessing that it wasn't published. Regardless, I'm asking these questions for a friend of mine who's looking to do some recording from his bedroom. (For some reason he's fearful about asking this question himself.) The bedroom has four walls (Which are large and wide) and a high ceiling with a ceiling fan. He wants to put acoustic tiles on the walls of the room and maybe on the ceiling in the hopes that they will deaden the sound of the room. So, the question that I have are: 1. Are acoustic tiles effective at deadening the sound in a room? 2. Do they reduce the low end in a room and allow someone to make professional sounding recordings when they are assembled? 3. Has anyone out there used them for recording purposes and if so, were the recordings that you made good? 4. If the acoustic tiles work well for the walls should he put them on the ceiling as well? If not, is there something else that he can purchase that will help in reducing any unwanted sound that the ceiling might give off? 5. Do acoustic tiles serve the same purpose as bass traps and absorbers or reflectors?
If the acoustic tiles don't work are acoustic panels an option for him? 1. Are they effective at deadening the sound of a room? 2. Do they reduce the low end in a room and allow someone to make professional sounding recordings once they are assembled? 3. Has anyone out there recorded using acoustic panels and were the recordings that you made professional sounding and good? 4. If the acoustic panels work well on the walls should be put them on the ceiling or is there something the he can purchase that would help in reducing any unwanted sound that may emanate from it? 5. Do acoustic panels serve the same function as bass traps and absorbers or reflectors?
I'm sorry if these questions sound repetitive, but I couldn't answer them for himself myself since I have not used acoustic tiles or acoustic panels before and he's pretty intent on using them. ( I've been using bass traps and packing blankets myself.)
If someone out there could answer my questions and give me some good advice( As many of you have in the past about other topics.) that I could pass onto him I would appreciate it.
Thanks.
carsoste

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

1. Are acoustic tiles effective at deadening the sound in a room?

I assume you;re referring to drop-ceiling-style acoustic tiles? If so, they're a little better than flat drywall or plaster, but not by a whole lot. You need something that'll either diffuse or absorb mid-high frequencies and a hard, flat surface with a few tiny worm holes in it just doesn't fit that bill very well.

2. Do they reduce the low end in a room and allow someone to make professional sounding recordings when they are assembled?

That's two different questions. For the first, no they will do absolutely nothing for your room's bass response. For the second, while room acoustics are extremely important, it takes a quality act and a quality engineer to make professional-quality recordings. OTOH, so much "profession-quality" stuff these days is professional in name only, that anything goes. But acoustic tiles won't get you there either way.

4. If the acoustic tiles work well for the walls should he put them on the ceiling as well? If not, is there something else that he can purchase that will help in reducing any unwanted sound that the ceiling might give off?

Check out the Studio building forum on this BBS for all sorts of tips on acoustic treatment

5. Do acoustic tiles serve the same purpose as bass traps and absorbers or reflectors?

Acoustic tiles actually do very little acoustically. They may play with the high end a little but - but not much - and will have absolutely no effect on the low end of the audio spectrum.

G.

 

[Ethan Winer]

He wants to put acoustic tiles on the walls of the room and maybe on the ceiling in the hopes that they will deaden the sound of the room.

Send this link to your friend:

Acoustic Basics

--Ethan

 

[carsoste]

Thanks

Hi Guys:
Thanks for your input and suggestions. I'll let him know and I'll send that link to him.
All the best,
carsoste

 

[Todzilla]

I concur with Glen.

A great alternative to dubiously named "Acoustic Tiles" is to replace them with fabric shrouded OC703 (a type of Owens Corning high density fiberglass). They ship in 2' X 4' X2" sizes, so they should plop right into a typical aluminum grid system for drop ceilings.

And those will absorb high to mid-range very well. When it comes to bass absorption, that's a different story. There are several approaches to take, but Ethan's link is a great starting point.

I put double layers of OC703 traversing the diagonal of the corners of my room, then filled the void with all the insultation scraps generated in the construction process. On top of that, I made a bunch of resonant panel absorbers, like Ethan features on his DIY bass trap page. That bass trapping, in addition to many panels of OC703, shrouded in fabric and installed on the walls (offset with 2X2 strips to further extend the low end of their effective absorption range), has made a world of difference, without entirely deadening my room.

FWIW, local studio design guru Wes Lachot inspected my setup and gave it a thumbs up.