mopads

K

Kasey

New member
has anyone used these? are they worth anything? im tempted just to get them since theyre cheap and building something wouldnt be as pretty.
 
I use them because I have my monitors on wood shelves attached to the front wall of the control and the mopads help prevent buzzing of various things and eliminates some resonance if that's the right word. I'm fairly convinced this "resonance" is a product of the monitors vibrations being conducted through the shelves and "resonating" with the wall via this conduction process which perhaps causes the wall to act like a sounding board in a similiar fashion like a piano's sounding board. I can't wait to get a larger control room so I can get my monitors away from the wall. I had the choice of large tracking rooms or tiny control room and opted for larger tracking rooms. When I get enough money I'm going to knock out the wall and extend the control room.
 
Kasey,

> im tempted just to get them since theyre cheap and building something wouldnt be as pretty. <

Monitor isolation can help, but it's no substitute for proper room treatment.

There are two very different issues monitor isolation attempts to improve. One reason to decouple speakers is when the surface they rest on vibrates on its own sympathetically. But even on a stable surface decoupling can sometimes be useful. If the vibrations transfer to a floor that vibrates, some of the sound will reach your ears through the air and some - mostly low frequencies - will get to you through the floor. Sound travels faster through solids than through air, so the same sound arriving at different times can create comb filtering peaks and nulls.

In most cases the improvement from decoupling is subtle, and surely bass traps and other treatment in the room are more important. Before you run out and buy foam or rigid fiberglass for decoupling, have a few friends visit and lift the speakers 1/4 inch while you listen. If you hear an improvement, then go ahead and decouple them permanently. Otherwise there's no need.

--Ethan
 
What could I use (other than mopads) to acheive this decoupling - is there a thick rubber or something available at hardware stores that would achieve the same results?
thanks
 
I just recently built my own mopads, using a piece of wood, some rubber feet for the bottom, and a couple of old thick mousepads for the top of the wood. cost about $12 total, and it made a great difference. The bass end seems alot more well defined. I still need to treat my room, but i'll be moving in a month or two, so these will hold me over for now.
 
> What could I use (other than mopads) to acheive this decoupling <

Cardboard boxes work great. Really.

--Ethan
 
> Hollow cardboard boxes? <

Yes, hollow and empty. Don't laugh, but here's an acoustic isolator I "built" using a CD shipping box:

coffee.jpg


This percolator makes quite a racket and the counter top rumbles like mad when coffee is brewing. So I folded up a CD mailer and put the coffee pot on it. It solved the rumble completely. And No, I am not kidding.

--Ethan
 
I bought some, and i don't really concider them cheap for what they are. But i like some form with function so i skipped building something. Not that they are pretty, but probably better than something i'd make. That and they are very stable. And they made a difference. Nothing night and day but a difference.
 
I'm looking for something to raise my monitors from the backside since my tweeters are around 5-6" above ear level. If i use a hollow and empty box, what material could i put in the back to increase the height of my monitors?
 
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