Acoustic panel questions

  • Thread starter Thread starter NashBackslash
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Well...that is ideal for non bass trapping...You see, the air gap between the insulation and wall is important because that pocket of air is helpful for the reflection coming back off of the wall. The air space gives the sound a place to bounce off the wall and come right back through the insulation making it more effective. In bass trapping, you want lots and lots of mass. In the case of rockwool or insulation the more you use, the more effective it will be for taming bass frequencies. On wall absorbers, the air space will help in the mid frequencies, unless you have 6'' thick wall absorbers, then I would guess it could help in the lows.
 
People often confuse the air gap as being what is providing the extended absorbtion. It's not the air behind, it's the spacing from the corner/boundary to the absorbtion that is giving the benefit. Spacing 4" of absorbtion 4" from a wall is better than 4" on a wall but not as good as 8" on the wall (in the deep bass) - though the initial face of the absorbtion is in the same place. The thinner material with spacing gets close and is a good way to save money.

Bryan
 
Shout It Out said:
Well...that is ideal for non bass trapping...You see, the air gap between the insulation and wall is important because that pocket of air is helpful for the reflection coming back off of the wall. The air space gives the sound a place to bounce off the wall and come right back through the insulation making it more effective. In bass trapping, you want lots and lots of mass. In the case of rockwool or insulation the more you use, the more effective it will be for taming bass frequencies. On wall absorbers, the air space will help in the mid frequencies, unless you have 6'' thick wall absorbers, then I would guess it could help in the lows.
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The air gap is specifically for bass trapping. At least that's what I gathered from reading Ethan's articles. The air gap allows for the absorption of lower frequencies. Maybe I am confused, but that's how I read it.
 
I'm sorry but this is still not clear to me. For Bass Traps in the Corner of the room is Super Chunk better or Not than 4"x2'x4' traps a few inches away from the wall? I too thought the Air Gap was needed for optimal Bass absorption.

I was just about ready to build a few traps and now "Super Chunk" gets thrown in the Mix :confused:

Also if Super Chunk is best in the Corner... what if the front face has a thin reflective surface on it? Like 1/8" plywood or something. My room is a little dead and I was planning on building my traps having one side of the 4"x2'x4' panel reflective w/ no outside frame. I could turn them towards the room or towards the wall depending on what sound I was going for. If that makes any sense.

With all the research I've done on Bass traps over the last couple years, I can't believe I'm still not sure of what I'm going to do... I'm sure others feel the same way.

B.

Shout It Out said:
Well...that is ideal for non bass trapping...You see, the air gap between the insulation and wall is important because that pocket of air is helpful for the reflection coming back off of the wall. The air space gives the sound a place to bounce off the wall and come right back through the insulation making it more effective. In bass trapping, you want lots and lots of mass. In the case of rockwool or insulation the more you use, the more effective it will be for taming bass frequencies. On wall absorbers, the air space will help in the mid frequencies, unless you have 6'' thick wall absorbers, then I would guess it could help in the lows.
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It's all in the mass I believe. I use 4'' rigid fiberglass panels ceiling to floor in the corners for my traps...They tame lows. Probably could use 6''. Superchunks would give your more mass, which means it would tame even lower frequencies than the panels to a certain extent. If I am correct, I would say people use panels becasue they are efficient and cheaper than doing the chunks. The chunks jsut control more lows.

Correct me if I am wrong please.
 
Booda said:
Also if Super Chunk is best in the Corner... what if the front face has a thin reflective surface on it? Like 1/8" plywood or something. My room is a little dead and I was planning on building my traps having one side of the 4"x2'x4' panel reflective w/ no outside frame. I could turn them towards the room or towards the wall depending on what sound I was going for. If that makes any sense.
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Makes sense, I like that idea.
 
The way I understand it: building super chunks will extend the low frequency absorption range, but will require more fiberglass. So for people who don't have enough resources to build super chunks, they can still extend the low frequency range by spacing their panels away from the corner. However, ultimately, the best way to tame the widest range of low frequencies is to build super chunks because of the density of super chunks.

By the way - carrying rolls of 80 kg/m3 fiberglass up to my studio on the first floor is NOT a fun experience. >:/ I totally underestimated how heavy a roll of fiberglass can be. On top of that, I'm itching like an ape already.
 
Oh man, the itching is the worst, figerglass and burlap...so much itching. And yet, I haven't learned my lesson. Each time I make a trap, I always think "Oh none will get on my skin this time." I'm wrong every time!
 
oops posted in the wrong thread sorry! :o
 
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Shout It Out & NashBackslash, thanks for clearing that up. I think Super chunk will be the way I will go. I kinda also wondering why it's rarely mentioned. If you do a search on "Super Chunk" there are only 6 threads where it's mentioned.?.

How about Balance? Before I was thinking of 2 traps 2x4 in the front corners and then 2 traps across the other side up at the ceiling. Basically 1 long trap. I'm attaching a quick sketch... hope it works. Traps are in Red

What if I did the Super Chunk w/ 1 in the top left corner and 1 in the bottom right? Then I was thinking I could either do the long one across the ceiling (it takes away no floor space) or have 2 of the 2x4 panels that I can remove if I need to. Or does the trapping in the room have to be balanced to be effective?

Any ideas?
Thanks,
B.

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I've never thought of building a long panel like the one you illustrated. Perhaps an expert can comment on it?

(Gah... I'm still itching... dammit, I showered three times already...)
 
I'm pretty sure that I read that if one corner is bass trapped, then one on the opposite side of the wall away from it would not need one. I think you would be fine with super chunks on the mixing desk wall only, and a cloud would help, it is also good to get the back wall as dead as possible, and make sure to set up a reflection free zone if possible. Your room is basically the same layout as my first studio build, but the instruments weren't tracked in it. My room was 11' x 9'.

Here was the mixing wall in mine. (bass traps were originally 7 feet tall for my basement, my room was 8 feet tall)
https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b179/seattleseahawks32/PICT0701.jpg

Here was the back wall.(underneath the blanket on the wall was all absorption. PS, all of that foam was too much, it would have been a great "dead" room though for guitar or drums).
https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b179/seattleseahawks32/PICT0704.jpg
 
I have another question. For corner bass trap PANELS (NOT super chunks), is it pointless if the panel doesn't cover floor to ceiling?

For example, in my control room, if I make a 2' x 4' corner bass trap panel and mount it as high as my monitors. Are there huge disadvantages for not making the panel as high as my ceiling?
 
As I said, the gap simply gets the absorbtion out farther from the hard boundary. There's nothing magic about the gap. 4" flat on the wall will do as good or better than 2" spaced 2" from the wall.

Nash,

Floor to ceiling is usually better because you get more surface area and you get both tri-corners. However, any corner coverage is going to be a help in almost all rooms. It's not at all a waste.

Bryan
 
and I think I almost got it all figured out
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Almost is as far away from reality as almost figuring out gravity. :) Call me when you have. :rolleyes:
 
I'll keep that in mind, hopefully I can afford the long distance phone call. :rolleyes:

;)
 
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