Bass trap filling?

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Re-tox_stl

Re-tox_stl

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Hi all, I just have a quick question regarding bass trap building. Im building some bass traps today, and I found some insulation (the pink fluffy kind) and was just wondering if that would be effective for my cause. Or would that just be a waste of time, and I should just go with some roxul or rigid fibreglass. All input is welcome:)

Much love, Drew.
 
you need density for bass traps- the pink insulation(probably wall or ceiling insulation) won't do much for you RFG or mineral wool
 
The pink stuff is good for in the walls only. Completely useless for bass traps or diffusers. You will really be surprised at how effective 2" rigid insulation is when a 2 foot wide piece is placed across (stressed - across) the room corners. When placed flat on a wall it works really good as a diffuser. Just make sure you cover it with some type of material. You don't want to brush up against that stuff.

DD
 
So what if I were to fill them with mineral wool (2.5lb/sqft). How effective would that be?

Oh, and I made the frames out of 1.5 by 3.5s, so I will probably use 2" thick board and the fill in the other inch and a half with fluffy pink stuff. Or if i can find a way to split the wool into 1.5 inch pieces, I will do that.
 
Re-tox,

Pink fluffy is fine... actually it depends on the depth and type of bass trap design as to what density works best. A general suggestion is to use 40kg/m3 density - about 3 lb/ft3 (OC 703 in general or similar rock wool)

DigitalDon said:
The pink stuff is good for in the walls only. Completely useless for bass traps or diffusers. You will really be surprised at how effective 2" rigid insulation is when a 2 foot wide piece is placed across (stressed - across) the room corners. When placed flat on a wall it works really good as a diffuser. Just make sure you cover it with some type of material. You don't want to brush up against that stuff.
Click to expand...

sorry, Don. That's not true. The lighter pink stuff is recommended for walls because there is not that much difference in TL using higher density stuff and the lighter stuff is cheaper - that's all. For bass traps and absorption panels, have a look at absorption coefficients here. note that unfaced R-19 spaced from the wall with 16" of air space behind has an absorption coefficient of 0.96 at 125Hz & on the wall 0.64 at 125Hz. Not too bad for something that is "Completely useless". Compare that to OC 703 2" on the wall = 0.17 at 125Hz - Fluffy wins!!! Yes, it is thicker...

Also, rock wool or rigid fiberglass will never act as a diffuser... it will aide in diffusion if panels are separated by untreated wall space. This format tends to 'break up' sound waves and adds to the diffusion in an enclosure.

In summary; Go with what you can afford and be aware of the differences. Remember that absorptive material works best where velocity is highest, this is why the data shows better absorption when the material is further from a boundary.

Cheers,
John
 
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So how does that relate to the pink fluffy stuff in 2 of my walls? Does the sheet rock dispel their use? And is it so fluffy I'm gonna die?
 
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