I finally finished the acoustic treatment in my music room!

[HapiCmpur]

May I ask, why are you boring holes in the frames? It would seem that you're going for more absorption by having more exposed fiberglass, but I would wonder if the result will really be worth it.

It's true, I have no idea if the end result will be worth the effort, but I just couldn't bear to cover all that fiberglass with a solid wood frame. If I've done the math right (and I probably haven't), the sides of a 2'X4' panel of 4" thick fiberglass add up to a little over 3 square feet of surface area...per panel. I wanted to reclaim a little of that.

Another thing is that I would think it would weaken the frame when you go to hang it

I considered that, too, but after boring holes in an experimental plank, I found that the holes didn't make much difference, and in fact they lightened the load (and created an enormous amount of sawdust). However, I haven't assembled a full panel yet, so I may discover later that the holes were a mistake. But I'm feeling pretty confident right now. (I'm using Johns Manville 817, by the way, which is 6pcf.)

Thanks for adding the pic that shows how you hung the panels in the corners.

One more question, Riot. If you were going to make more traps, would you still use the chicken wire, or do you think that the stapled cloth is enough to keep the mineral wool from falling out?

 

[Mind Riot]

One more question, Riot. If you were going to make more traps, would you still use the chicken wire, or do you think that the stapled cloth is enough to keep the mineral wool from falling out?

No, I wouldn't. I actually abandoned it halfway through. The pic with it in it is the first trap I made. The fabric is plenty.

 

[borntoplease]

i posted over in ethans forum, but i'll ask you a question here to... how much do each of these weigh, and what was your total cost?

also... i wanted to attatch a diagram of my room, but i couldnt on the other forum, so i did it here and maybe you can check it out. i just feel pretty overwhelmed with this whole acoustic treatment thing...

my name over on ethans forum is "benjamin james" and my post was called "sound treating my small room"...

any advice would be cool.

 

[Mind Riot]

i posted over in ethans forum, but i'll ask you a question here to... how much do each of these weigh, and what was your total cost?

also... i wanted to attatch a diagram of my room, but i couldnt on the other forum, so i did it here and maybe you can check it out. i just feel pretty overwhelmed with this whole acoustic treatment thing...

my name over on ethans forum is "benjamin james" and my post was called "sound treating my small room"...

any advice would be cool.

The heaviest ones weigh 24 pounds each, those are the ones loaded with 8 pound density mineral wool. The other ones with the lighter stuff (about half as dense, though I don't have the specs) are 14 pounds. The two inch thick panels are about 7 or 8 pounds.

I spent about $600 total, but that includes a number of screwups, some cheap, some spendy. If I were to do it all again I could probably do it for about $400.

 

[studiomaster]

It simply looks awesome and professional! Good job mate!

How does the room sound now?

 

[ThaArtist]

I thinkit looks very good except the speaker isolation pads. Ugly in my eyes. I would spend the $30 and get some auralex ones cause theu just look better. Hehe.

I have been debating if building frameless panels are better then panels with frames? I'm so uncertain... Framless panels would be cheaper and have open sides for absorbing even more sound. Doesn't this sound like it would work better? What do you think?

And to hang I was thinking of using big washers or securing thin strips of wood along the back. Enough to keep the fiberglass straighter and hold some wire.

For material (after looking at tons) I was thinking some regular old (not so tightly weaved) cotton would be my pick. For one because every good design I picked up was made of cotton. So any fabric that you can easily breathe through will work ey? Coo...

 

[LemonTree]

When you say "Canvas", do you mean like......REAL canvas If so, I had to be a bearer of bad news. But CANVAS is waterproof ......which translates into NO TRANSPARANCY!! The weave is SEALED. That means, for broadband absorption, air molecules movement can NOT move through the absorbant material, which is required for it to work. Resistive absorbers do their job by FRICTION of air molecules within the "interstices" or fibers, to transduce the energy into heat. If the fabric is not open weave, then it is a reflective surface. Although, it will allow some low frequencys to enter simply because it is similar to a panel absorber. But then the absorbant material is acting like a dampener. At least thats my understanding. I'm sure it works to some extent, but if it is REAL canvas, you won't get the full benefit of the absorber.
My .02 only though. BTW, they LOOK great. Hope it isn't real canvas.
fitZ

I thought the same thing until I watched the cover DVD of SoundOnSound the other month there and they used PVC covered fabric in front of some ridgid fiberglass hanging with an air gap then covered the whole thing with fabric...PVC doesn't breathe to my knowledge

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

and they used PVC covered fabric in front of some ridgid fiberglass

Why would anyone cover FABRIC with PVC And THEN, hang it IN FRONT of an absorber. Sounds to me like someone has their head firmly up thier ass.

 

[SonicClang]

I have a quick question about this mineral wool everyone is talking about. From what I gather the stuff is actually pretty heavy, is that correct? If so, if I were to use oak as a frame (I have a ton of wood working experience) and make them look all pretty with stain and stuff, I'd probably be looking at something in the end that's pretty darn heavy.

My question is this: If all my drywall is hung on z-channel, what the heck am I supposed to drill into for my screws? I do know of some drywall anchors that can hold a large amount of weight, but do you think those would be enough? Am I going to have to get screws long enough to stick into the OSB behind the drywall?

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

My question is this: If all my drywall is hung on z-channel, what the heck am I supposed to drill into for my screws?

HUH? I hope you didn't use OSB behind ALL the drywall, and fastened resiliant channel to the OSB !!!!
Please say you didn't.
You can still hang heavy things to the drywall using metal drywall anchors that have heavy duty threads and a self drilling tip. Some of these even have interior machine threads for screwing machine screws into them. There are many types of these. But you really want to make sure these don't touch anything behind the drywall or the RC. Although, this may dampen the vibration absorption of the RC to an extent in those places the frames are hanging. Kinda hard to say though. But if you DID use osb prior to the RC, you probably can't use these as you will only have a 1/2" clearance between drywall and OSB.

Sonic, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you DID fasten all your RC to OSB.......you totally negated its benefits. AND created a THREE LEAF assembly, which in isolation construction is a no no. In fact, from what I have read, it could possibly be worse at certain frequencies than a lighter two leaf assembly.
However, thats not to say you haven't improved it. Its hard to say, but by virtue of tests that have compared THREE LEAF/TWO LEAF systems and RC mounted to a LEAF vs mounted to studs, it is very clear. TWO LEAF systems are substantially better due to effects of resonance/coincidence dips at higher frequencies. Although, I'm no expert by any means and these phenomena are still being studied/tested, my understanding is you can improve THREE leaf systems by adding mass to the inner leaf to improve the
overall transmission loss, although at certain frequencies, you may not be able to improve it without LOTS OF MASS. Some situations require the use of three leaf systems, such as existing cieling/roof adding a third suspended/decoupled
leaf .
Also, from what I've read from experts such as Rod Gervais, who post here once in a while, IF, you want to mount RC, over existing drywall or other material(leaf), you should first cut VENTING holes in the existing leaf. Otherwise, remove of the existing leaf down to the studs is recommended. Sorry for the bad news. Although, you may already have enough isolation since this is a basement. But, only you can determine this. Good luck.
fitZ