bass traps - same size matter?

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cincy_kid

cincy_kid

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Just curious if it matters if the bass traps I build are the same size or not. I am going to try and have them run from floor to ceiling but they may be different widths. One may be 2 feet wide where one may be 1 foot wide (since it has to squeeze in a tighter spot), and one may even be 4 foot wide.

Does it matter if they are different sizes (sound/mix wise) ?
 
cincy_kid said:
Just curious if it matters if the bass traps I build are the same size or not. I am going to try and have them run from floor to ceiling but they may be different widths. One may be 2 feet wide where one may be 1 foot wide (since it has to squeeze in a tighter spot), and one may even be 4 foot wide.

Does it matter if they are different sizes (sound/mix wise) ?
Click to expand...

Hey Cincy,

When it comes to your acoustic room treatments it is important if at all possible to try and achieve symmetry when it comes to your mix position. From the information that I have read I would make the two bass traps that are in front of the mix position the same width, thinking about it I would make them all the same width.
If that means making them only 1 foot wide then you can always compensate by adding some trapping to your wall-ceiling corners symmetrically around your room.
The fact that you can make them from floor to ceiling will be giving you a nice area for trapping overall. The thicker the traps the better also, ideally filling the traps completely is more effective than 4" with an air gap, a lot more OC703 will be required for this task.

This site is a great source of information. It will take a few reads to get all the information to sink in but it is well worth the read!

http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

I hope this helps Cincy! :)
 
Benny- Thanks for the link and yea I was going to have them 2' wide but I have 2 windows close to each other that kind of block that (their frames are in the way).

Gorty- I wish I had only read that entire FAQ a couple of times but it seems I have read it even more :p

I guess that was my real question Gorty. The corners right behind my monitors are where the windows are. So the one to the left can only be about 1.5' wide and the one to the right can be whatever. SO just wonder if I should also make the right one 1.5' for symmetry purposes or will usung the extra 6" of bass trap help the mix.

Also the corners behind me I will have to be creative with. The back right corner I could make whatever size, but was going to put one of those armoire/computer desks in the corner like this:

s0108887_enl.jpg


and have it angled in the corner just like a bass trap, and then either make a movable gobo style trap to go right in front of it or even make the panels on the armoire doors themselves. Either way its going to be much wider than 2', probably more like 4'

Then the back left corner has no real corner :eek:

So I thought about building the sliding wall of panels for the back wall and then maybe putting another cabinet (close to same size as armoire) in the corner and use the same treatment...

I dunno, hehe these were my thoughts ~
 
cincy_kid [B said:
Gorty[/B]- I wish I had only read that entire FAQ a couple of times but it seems I have read it even more :p

I guess that was my real question Gorty. The corners right behind my monitors are where the windows are. So the one to the left can only be about 1.5' wide and the one to the right can be whatever. SO just wonder if I should also make the right one 1.5' for symmetry purposes or will usung the extra 6" of bass trap help the mix.
Click to expand...

I would go for the same size traps behind your monitors, keeping the symmetry thing happening!
 
Agreed. Keep in front of you symmetric. If you have a tight spot on one side, maybe consider making both 2' and using an angle other than 45 degrees to slide them in.

Also, for the 4 footers, I'd stick with 2'. Once you get past a certain point, you're not getting enough absorbtion for the gap behind.

Bryan
 
Yea, I think I will work something out up front to keep them both 2' (even if it means not having them flush with the wall since the window frames will prevent it)

In the corners behind me however, I am still trying to figure out what to do. Here was the original plan:

diagram2.gif



but then I decided to try and get it more like a bass trap straddling the corners, so then thought of this:

diagram3.gif



or maybe I could move both cabinets up closer to the mix position (making it a bit more crowded up there) and do something like this:

diagram4.gif



Thats kinda where I am now on the decision process since I have to have the cabinet looking thig (or another desk) to the right of the diagram(s) in order for me to work my day job...

Any other ideas?
 
Hmmm, now I am wondering if I could get away with working from and mxing at the same desk. That way I coule elmiate the need for another desk or cabinet and have more room for treatment and other things ;)

Now if I can figure out how to make it work ~
 
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