Blankets work fine? Egg cartons?

[ThaArtist]

Well after reading a lot of stuff about sound handling and the way sound travels and works. (Still such a movice) I'm convinced there is a right and not so right and even wrong way to reflect, & absorb sound for a given purpose.

I was talking with a friend and he said that Auralex studio foam just takes out the reverb and you can get the same effect with hanging thick blankets (He uses woolish cotton blankets it seems). I tried to say my so called opinion, "That it's not the same" Which after reading a lot of stuff it would seem that hanging blankets just wouldn't work... But I'm no expert. So is it, or isn't it just as good?

What would you have replied with?

Also about egg cartons on walls. I've read that that does next to nothing for sound control.

Can anyone confirm that? Why is that and/or specs?

And my friend also said concerning Auralex that "foam is foam"...

What would you say to that? What (if any) would prove that statement wrong?

Thanks...

 

[frederic]

Foams have different densities, fire retarding properties and so on, so not all foam is created equal. Read the ratings of each and choose accordingly. Markertek Foam seems to be less expensive than Auralex, with the same ratings for example, but the Auralex *feels* better to the touch and comes in 20 pretty colors.

Foam is excellent for removing mid to high frequencies from reflections. It doesn't do that much for bass frequencies. If you have a high frequency problem, foam is a great solution. If you have bass in the corners, powerful standing waves, then foam is probably not the answer. Rigid fiberglass batts make great broadband absorbers, low mid and high, which is why they are recommended as much as possible.

Ethan Whiner has an EXCELLENT article on his website.

In my experience moving blankets good for cheap, mid to high absorbtion, but only in small places like a walk-in closet being used a temporary vocal booth.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Also about egg cartons on walls. I've read that that does next to nothing for sound control.

Egg cartons are great! ...for holding eggs.

Other than that, they have NO useful qualities for sound treatment purposes.

 

[Diffusion]

ive always known that egg cartons do nothing to absorb sound, but just out of curiousity how would they perform as diffusers?

 

[zed32]

to me it seems that the pattern of the egg carton would be too small to be useful for any kind of diffusion. i would imagine you would want a larger surface if you want to make a diffusor, such as the one that Ethan (i think it was Ethan...) made with a curved piece of plywood. but then again i have no knowledge whatsoever about acoustics and how diffusors should actually work. that's just my thought on the matter...




oh and i think that the fact that egg cartons are HIGHLY FLAMMABLE is another minus. you'd probably be better off making a diffusor out of something safer.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

but just out of curiousity how would they perform as diffusers?

Diffusers? First off, you have to DEFINE a diffuse sound field.

Here is an excerpt from the Master handbook of Acousticson a "perfectly diffuse sound field"

The frequency and spatial irregularities obtained from steady state measurements must be negligible.

Beats in the decay characteristic must be neglible.

Decays must be perfectly exponential, i.e., they must be in a straight lines on a logarithmic scale.

Reverberation time(RT-60) will be the same at ALL positions in the room.
The character of the decay will be essentially the same for different frequencies.

The character of the decay will be independent of the directional characteristics of the measuring microphone.

Consider a wavelength equal to the dimension of 12' wall. How in the world would eggcrates have an effect on it When you realize this..then you will have the answer.

 

[BeatsBuY]

Egg cartons don't do any good. Rugs or thick curtains can do the job.

 

[ThaArtist]

Egg cartons don't do any good. Rugs or thick curtains can do the job.

My question is does anyone have specs to back this up or anything like that? And I read numerous times that rugs on walls don't do much "good"... I can't seem to remember if or what they said "why" that is though?

Anyone?

 

[Scrubucket7]

I tells ya what, i mix in a small ass room, 9x6, and it has some pretty bad acoustics. One day i decided to experiment and put up some blankets on the walls. Then i did the good old clap technique and it definitly got rid of all the 'ping' sound that it had before. Obviously that doesnt help low frequencies and might not even be what you need for high frequencies, but i think alot of the people who say it does nothing, are just saying that to help them justify spending so much on auralex and crap like that.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Obviously that doesnt help low frequencies and might not even be what you need for high frequencies, but i think alot of the people who say it does nothing, are just saying that to help them justify spending so much on auralex and crap like that.

They DO something alright. Problem is, they may SUCK UP a frequency band that gives life to the sound. Thats why the BEST acoustics are relativly FLAT over 5 octaves. Yea, they may keep the old "ping" out of your recordings. But that isn't necessarily good. Best approach is STILL mineral wools or rigid mineral or fiberglass panels placed to create BROADBAND absorption in such way as you have reflective surfaces around and between the panels. This creates DIFRACTION, which ADDS to the absorption. However, small rooms are really in need of all the bass trapping you can get. Fiberglass panels placed across corners, even at wall/ceiling intersections will help tremendously. Of course, this stuff ain't free. But niether is a nice console Think of it as adding a "rackmount" to the room.

y question is does anyone have specs to back this up or anything like that?

Would they do you any good? Sure, I can give you all the data you want on the products I mentioned. The problem is, YOU show us a lab test result of the absorption coeffiecient of a BLANKET to compare with. Eggrates have already been tested. Figure absorption at SUCK.