New Home Studio treatment

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rogiblasko

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Hi, I'm lucky that I came across this forum since I almost bought $300 worth of foam to cover every single inch of my room including the ceiling. I thought I'd just cover it all up and call it fixed. :laughings:

Anyways, I have a new room where I'm setting up the studio and I this time around I need to pay some attention to the acoustics. I will be using it to mix and record, however, all of the recording except for Vocals will be digital. Aafter 20 min of research here - it turns our my problems will be the low frequencies and not really mids and highs. It says that I should treat the corners with the foam to take care of the low frequencies and I also found out that Owens Corning 703 Rigid Fiberglass Board from Home Depot would be the best solution for an over all insulation of the room. The rest of the info is mostly fresh and scattered around my brain because it's 6am on Sunday Morning and I couldn't sleep. :mad:

Room dimensions:
width, length, height
125 x 118 x 96 (inches)
10.5 x 10 x 8 (roughly in feet)

I'd like to cover all four walls and the ceiling.
2(walls) x 84(sqaure ft) = 168 square feet
2(walls) x 78.5(sqaure ft) = 157 square feet
Total of 325 for the 4 walls
Windows will be boarded and there are two doors that I don't mind covering up.

Ceiling: 105 square ft.

I'm guessing the first step would be to get the foam for the corners to avoid the issues with the bass frequencies.

The 2nd step would be to get owens corning 703 rigid fiberglass at home depot [http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...lass&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053], but options are many(tickness, sizes) and it looks like its the kind of foam i'd have to put sheetrock over. Is there another solution?

I'm also looking at http://thefoamfactory.com/acousticfoam/wedgefoam.html

Is there a better or cheaper place where I could get more for my money and how much area should I cover for the best results?

Please be specific with your answers, i'm not familiar with room treatment. The more specific you are the less room I have to do this wrong.

Rogi

:)
 
Hey, that's a good question, buddy.

I'm going to be treating my back room next weekend as well. I figured I would keep it simple and just buy one of these here fancy pants kits :laughings:

Auralex DS-2 Pro Designer Kit $249.99

Instead of wasting too much time on research, I figured I would just read the instructions that comes with it. It comes with the bass traps and everything. I'm doing a pretty small room. the room is big enough for my desk, a drum set, a few half-stacks and a PA System.

Maybe be tight for more than a trio :P

307814.jpg


http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Auralex-DS2-Pro-Designer-Kit?sku=420869


Is this adequate?
 
This photo makes me wonder - when they say that the "room corners" should be treated to eliminate issue with the bass frequencies are they talking about the corners where the three walls come together or the corners along the line where the two walls come together. I assumed that it would be the first one, but this photo shows no parts for the corners where all three walls come together. Which corners will be causing more problems, the ones between my walls and the ceiling or the ones between the two walls?

I'm sorry I'll have to complicate things, because this is one issue that I have neglected for a long time.

Rogi
 
FoulPhil said:
Instead of wasting too much time on research, I figured I would just read the instructions that comes with it.
Click to expand...

My advice- waste some time doing research. Then when you have, you'll know why you can do a MUCH better job for less money without buying a single piece of foam. :)
 
rogiblasko said:
This photo makes me wonder - when they say that the "room corners" should be treated to eliminate issue with the bass frequencies are they talking about the corners where the three walls come together or the corners along the line where the two walls come together. I assumed that it would be the first one, but this photo shows no parts for the corners where all three walls come together. Which corners will be causing more problems, the ones between my walls and the ceiling or the ones between the two walls?

I'm sorry I'll have to complicate things, because this is one issue that I have neglected for a long time.

Rogi
Click to expand...

Treating the corners where 3 walls intersect will have a higher effect. But you can never have too many bass traps in a room.
 
Also, I can pretty much guaranty you WONT find OC703 or any of the competitors (Johns Manville, Knauf, etc) at Home Depot. They just don't stock it, and they can't even order it. The pink fluffy stuff in your link is NOT the stuff you want. You'll need to find a local insulation or commercial framing supplier to get this stuff.

Also, the beauty of using rigid fiberglass is that it not only absorbs low frequencies that the foam can't even begin to touch, but it ALSO works just as well as foam in the high frequencies... so, in almost every case, you don't need foam at all. There are lots of very nice sounding studios (home and pro) that don't have a bit of foam in them. In contrast, there are a lot of bedrooms and basements packed with foam, that still sound bad....

Anyway, my advice, skip the expensive foam and go for rigid fiberglass or rockwool. Treat the first reflection points of your monitors and put 2' wide 4" thick panels spanning across the corners of your room, and you'll be off to a great start to a very good sounding room... If you want more specific info, post a plan with dimensions and I'm sure you'll get lots of help. :)
 
That's sounds like a good idea. I was going to buy a kit just to save time. They say it has everything you need and that it looks "professional". I figured we want the room to look good as well as sound good. Although looking good isn't as important as sounding good sometimes visual stimulants can have a great effect on inspiration.
 
You can get the OC703 panels to look great with a little DIY time. Buy some super cheap fabric from the Walmart clearance bin and cover the panels. Use a spray-on adhesive (but don't breathe the stuff, you'll be coughing for days. :mad: ) to hold the fabric in place. There are different ways to attach the panels to the wall. Browse or search through the Studio Build forum (this one) to find some ideas. Searching for OC703 or just 703 will probably pull something up.

The smaller the room, the more panels you will need. I did my tiny little cube-shaped studio for about $200 total.
 
Mine will be a small cube as well. I haven't measured it yet though. I'll figure it out when I get closer to the start.

Would it be a good idea to just drape the fabric over the panels so that you don't even see they are there? That seems to be an easier solution than actually gluing it to the panels lol.
 
I bought an electric staple gun (Ace brand) and it works great for attaching fabric to wood. It's super fast and a huge improvement over those Arrow hand staplers. Those Arrow units are brutal.

Plus I don't smell contact cement for the next month if I use a stapler.
 
Here is an article I just came across while trying to do some research on how to go about this. I'll give a link and add a quote from the text. Maybe someone can provide some info and resources on how to approach it.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4511326_soundproof-home-music-studio-advance.html

"Start off by purchasing some Studio Foam. You might have seen this used by some of the hottest musicians and producers. By using Studio Foam you will ensure that your vocals sound the best they can sound. This means crystal clear clarity which makes for a fuller mix."
 
That article made me LOL.

Even the title made me cringe... foam isn't going to do anything in terms of soundproofing/isolation, and they seem to get even the basic difference between this and acoustic treatment confused throughout the whole of the 4-step "advance" guide :p

LOL.



Forget lightweight "studio foam". Its absolutely pointless. If anything its just a fire hazard.
 
Is there a guide here on the forums or online that will walk a noob through the process or setting a room up right? I think if there is it should be stickied. Instead of wading through thousands of posts to try and figure it out... :confused:
 
Foam is OK for higher frequencies but for lower ones you need mass. But, at the price of auralex crap you can get a whole grip of high density fiberglass duct board from a climate control supplier.

AHHH. Cube = Worst place to record. It's a room mode jungle in there.

Remember you need 'MASS' to absorb lower frequencies.
 
FoulPhil said:
Is this the stuff you guys are talking about?

http://www.atsacoustics.com/item--ATS-Acoustics-Rigid-Fiberglass-Board--AB2.html
Click to expand...


That looks like the stuff although they don't say what brand it is... and for sure they aren't making their own. It might be Johns-Manville, same color. I wouldn't buy the spray-on adhesive from them. :eek: You can pick up a can for $3 at home depot or walmart.

There's a stickie for where to buy Owens Corning 703. One place throughout the US is SPI. I prefer Johns-Manville Rigid Firbreboard. It's the same density as 703, but a little more durable. Might cost a few more dollars per panel, but I think it's worth it. Shop around.

Here's a link to a thread I started for building my studio. Further down the thread I have a couple of pics on how I attached the panels to the wall using carpet tack strips. For the most part it still works, but having problems with panels falling off in areas where they get bumped, like on the door.

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=279814

good luck and have fun,
 
So, let's say I have some panels of this Owens Corning 703 that is 2 inches. Couldn't I just use the spray to glue 2 of them together to make a 4 inch thick panel? And once I did that...

I would just hang it vertically in the corner. And do I have to hang it from ceiling to the floor? Can someone post some photos of what this looks like?

This is looking to be just as expensive as buying one of the kits that comes with everything... LOL
 
Yes, it could end up costing as much as one of the Auralex kits, but the difference is that these would actually do something useful! :p

As for your earlier question about draping fabric rather than covering the panels in fabric; the wrapping is not only to look good, but also to prevent fibreglass particles from drifting round in the air, which are not the best of things to inhale! The back side of the fibreglass panel should also be covered up properly.
 
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