Need help with bass trap design

cytokinesis

New member
I'm moving into a new place and along with the move, I'm planning on turning the basement into a recording studio. I've got a budget of only about $1500 for control room treatment and I want to make it count. I've seen all over the place online that bass trapping is priority number one and read all about OC and Roxul's insulation being great but pricey etc.

I have a friend who said he successfully used donna conna (sp?) board in creating bass traps for a friend years ago. Is there legitimacy to this? As far as I knew, absorption was the key and I'm seeing a lot of posts regarding donna conna's usefulness as an extra soundproofing layer rather than absorbing low end specifically. Obviously if I can, I'd rather use the donna conna board because it's a waaaaaay cheaper solution but I would like to know if anyone out there has pros and cons for using it as my trapping material, I'd be grateful to hear them.

My room's dimensions are 19' 9" x 11' 5 5/8" x 8' so I'm going to need a lot of whatever I wind up using, I just wanna make sure it's right.
 
From doing a quick google search, sorry I'm not familiar with the stuff. It's meant for sound proofing, aka keeping the sound in/out. That does nothing in terms of treating a room...only making your neighbors happy.

There are a two main different forms of bass traps, there are "super chunks" which is when the insulation (what ever you got, roxul, oc, what ever) cut into triangle pieces and stacked on top of each other from floor to ceiling.

Here's a picture:

SuperchunkA.jpg

You can also do a bass trap that is essentially a much thicker absorption panel. 4-6" thick. And they just straddle the corner and leave an air gap behind it.


You should be able to do 4 floor to ceiling super chunks for around $600 or so. And then around 12 absorption panels for around $200. That's with modest pricing and not finding deals. The insulation is cheaper is you can find it locally. So at most around $800 to do a good room treatment.

Either way, you have more than enough budget for it.
 
Thanks!

I was mostly wondering if anyone had any info on this stuff. I'm certain he knows the difference between sound proofing and acoustic treatment, but I suppose it's possible that he's confused about the function and I think I've now become confused myself, lol.

The roxul I found locally is $37.49 per bundle of 3" x 16" x 48" and what I've been reading is that if you want to affect the low end and have it be worth the effort, you need at least 4-6" of depth per trap which means I'm already up to $80 per 48" x 16" trap. Where are you seeing 12 panels for $200? I must be doing something wrong here....
 
Thanks!

I was mostly wondering if anyone had any info on this stuff. I'm certain he knows the difference between sound proofing and acoustic treatment, but I suppose it's possible that he's confused about the function and I think I've now become confused myself, lol.

The roxul I found locally is $37.49 per bundle of 3" x 16" x 48" and what I've been reading is that if you want to affect the low end and have it be worth the effort, you need at least 4-6" of depth per trap which means I'm already up to $80 per 48" x 16" trap. Where are you seeing 12 panels for $200? I must be doing something wrong here....

Those are for your absorption panels (the one's you hang on your wall) which are generally 2-3" thick and they should come in bundles of 6, if not order online, because it looks like it may be cheaper than locally for you. Their purpose is to cut down on the rooms reflections and address some of the highs and mids, and proper placement in relation to your mixing station or instruments in the room is key to use them effectively.

Essentially you should be paying around $6-$7 for each piece when you divide it out. Plus about $20 shipping online, So guestimate $60 for the insulation shipped to your door ($10 a piece). There's a thread at the top of this forum that has locations everywhere of where you can find insulation.

Here's a website I've used: Roxul Acoustical Fire Batts Mineral Wool 2 inch Case of 6
 
Ohhhh man..... I totally read the pricing wrong..... So it's $40 for a package of 6 sheets of 16x3x48? If so I feel REALLY stupid now.......
 
Another question is what to do about my floor. It's hard lino on top of the foundation pretty much. I'm assuming it's extremely reflective, but I've heard it's sometimes good to keep one surface in the room live sounding? Is this false?
 
Another question is what to do about my floor. It's hard lino on top of the foundation pretty much. I'm assuming it's extremely reflective, but I've heard it's sometimes good to keep one surface in the room live sounding? Is this false?

It's not necessary good or bad, you just want to cut out any trouble some reflections in the room. You don't want to deaden it because then it can sound like s*** that way too lol and you'll feel like your in a box.

Best thing to do is throw down a rug under the drum kit, I assume most drummers do this, but you never know, for stability and sound reasons.

Then maybe toss another one on the ground opposite the drum kit.

There's also what you call "clouds" which is basically a absorber on the ceiling, you'll see these above drums and mixing positions and then kind of like the rug, one on the opposite side of the room.
 
no problem man, there's a bunch of builds that people have pic documented in the this forum as well, if you need any guidance, check'em out.
 
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