Auralex!!!

[Gorty]

I have done a heap of reading, eg Ethan Winers arcticles etc and I have learnt that the 703 rigid fiberglass is a favourite in construction of home made broadband absorbers and bass traps.
I have just ordered some Auralex for my studio to enhance the visual appeal more than anything, in conjunction with my homemade absorbers made from 703.
What I am dribbling on about is I would like to hear some feedback from anyone out there who has used or is using Auralex room treatments in their studio's.

 

[zed32]

i'm using it, and i actually just got some broadband absorbers which i set up today! the difference between the two types of treatment is pretty huge. a little test i did (although it probably proves nothing) is that when i have my monitors blasting in the room, i'll put my ear up about 6 inches the bare wall and listen to the reflections. then i move my ear to a place where the foam is, and you can hear that it's eating up some of the highs, but you still get mid and low freq reflections. when you put your ear up to the fiberglass traps, it sounds like a black hole! it really absorbs a ton of the sound.

so the foam does work somewhat, but not nearly as effective as the fiberglass at absorbing a wider frequency range. the fiberglass does what the foam does, only WAY better, plus it absorbs the lower frequencies too. so it's kind of a no-brainer! but the foam does look kinda neat.

 

[Nakatira]

A friend of mine has it, he bought a big ol package of it with bass traps and the lot.

It works, that is I can hear results, I helped him put i up.
and as we worked the rooms accoustics were gettin better.

I would however choose Fiberglass\rockwool over auralex anyday

 

[bpape]

Not to mention the fact that if you take your time, you can make some pretty nice looking absorbers from 703 with some basic cloth and wood.

The Auralex is fine for upper mid/high absorbtion but that's about it.

Bryan

 

[VSpaceBoy]

then i move my ear to a place where the foam is, and you can hear that it's eating up some of the highs, but you still get mid and low freq reflections. when you put your ear up to the fiberglass traps, it sounds like a black hole! it really absorbs a ton of the sound..

+1

as for the looks, what I did is cut down some of the insulation into 2' x 2' (61cm x 61cm) squares, wrap them in a patterned fabric, trimmined in wood, and hung them diagonally. Looks great, and still gives the sweet black hole effect in the room.

 

[Gorty]

Here's what could be classed as a silly question but here goes.

If I made some 2' x 4' panels with the 703 2" thick and the Auralex 2" thick on top of that to create a panel 4" thick, would the lower frequencies be absorbed more so than just the Auralex by itself?

I have both materials and just like the look of the Auralex!!

 

[VSpaceBoy]

Here's what could be classed as a silly question but here goes.

If I made some 2' x 4' panels with the 703 2" thick and the Auralex 2" thick on top of that to create a panel 4" thick, would the lower frequencies be absorbed more so than just the Auralex by itself?

I have both materials and just like the look of the Auralex!!

Yes it would absorb more (of everything) than just with the Auralex alone.

 

[Farview]

Here's what could be classed as a silly question but here goes.

If I made some 2' x 4' panels with the 703 2" thick and the Auralex 2" thick on top of that to create a panel 4" thick, would the lower frequencies be absorbed more so than just the Auralex by itself?

I have both materials and just like the look of the Auralex!!

Yup, but it would be a waste of money because the 703 is already absorbing the highs.

One of the downsides to the foam is that it changes size with the weather. It gets bigger when it's humid and shrinks when it's dry. Every spring and every fall I have to re-glue the stuff to the wall because it shifts and pops off. The stuff that doesn't pop off starts to look funny because it no longer lines up with the other panels and creates gaps between them.

 

[Gorty]

Some interesting points to consider!

Thanx to everyone so far for your help and comments!

 

[VSpaceBoy]

Yup, but it would be a waste of money because the 703 is already absorbing the highs.

One of the downsides to the foam is that it changes size with the weather. It gets bigger when it's humid and shrinks when it's dry. Every spring and every fall I have to re-glue the stuff to the wall because it shifts and pops off. The stuff that doesn't pop off starts to look funny because it no longer lines up with the other panels and creates gaps between them.

Why glue them? Why not hang them with a nail?

 

[Farview]

Why glue them? Why not hang them with a nail?

They stretch and sag. You would never get the panels to line up with each other that way. Also, I got this stuff 10 years ago when no one knew about 703 (or it wasn't common knoledge) and BBS's like this didn't really exist. If I were to do it all over again, it would be all 703. I'm slowly changing over, but my control room is 19X25 with a 20 foot vaulted ceiling. That's a lot of 703.

 

[Supercreep]

Stuff looks good but a little goes a long way.

I had to pull half of it off my walls/celing to get any sparkle back in the room.

I'd say use 1/3 of what Auralex recommends.

 

[Farview]

Stuff looks good but a little goes a long way.

I had to pull half of it off my walls/celing to get any sparkle back in the room.

I'd say use 1/3 of what Auralex recommends.

Do you have any low end absobtion? (auralex doesn't make any) That would be the problem with the lack of sparkle, you killed the highs without killing the lows as well.

 

[zed32]

Here's what could be classed as a silly question but here goes.

If I made some 2' x 4' panels with the 703 2" thick and the Auralex 2" thick on top of that to create a panel 4" thick, would the lower frequencies be absorbed more so than just the Auralex by itself?

I have both materials and just like the look of the Auralex!!

i asked that same question once before! and basically the response i got was it's better to keep them separate in order to get more overall coverage area. putting auralex on top of the 703 is gonna be overkill on a 2x4 panel. BUT if you find that you are getting too much of the highs choked out of the room, maybe putting the foam on top of the 703 could leave some bare wall space and give back some of that "sparkle" that Supercreep had mentioned.

 

[Gorty]

Show me how you used your Auralex product!

I would like to see anyone's creations using Auralex products in their home studio's.

 

[Blue Groove]

....

Here's what I did with mine, auralex recommends not puting panels acrss from each other, it takes the even look away, but sounds way better.

 

[Blue Groove]

....

Also, the 3'x4' panels are mounted on 1/4" plywood. This is so they can be moved easily, with nothing more than a couple of screw holes to replace.

This also helps with extra vocal trackings, I can hang them from a counter weight boom stand, like gobos. Nice when my other gobos are being used elsewhere in the studio.

 

[Gorty]

Here's what I did with mine, auralex recommends not puting panels acrss from each other, it takes the even look away, but sounds way better.

Thanx Blue Groove for the pictures!

 

[Gorty]

Anyone else got some pics of how they have used Auralex products.

 

[ez_willis]

One of the downsides to the foam is that it changes size with the weather. It gets bigger when it's humid and shrinks when it's dry.

They stretch and sag.

Are we talking about my nuts or acoustical studio foam?