Placement of corner bass traps for my room?

[AbeYo]

I've got some funky corners in my studio-to-be and I ordered some corner bass traps just to start out with but there are some oddities in some of the corners in the room I'll be using. I've included some pictures. There's a pole in one corner that I'll probably just squeeze them behind but for the other corners I'm not sure where to place them exactly. Any input is greatly appreciated!
Corners - Album on Imgur - the corners

Amazon.com: Set of 8 - Acoustic Foam Bass Trap Studio Soundproofing Corner Wall 12" x 12" x 12": Musical Instruments -- the bass traps I ordered

 

[Massive Master]

On the bright side, you could literally carve out a notch for the pipe and it wouldn't affect the low end absorption of those traps.

On the non-bright side, (A) those aren't bass traps (hence why they wouldn't be affected) - and frankly, it sort of irritates me that anyone advertises them as such. (B) For them to even make a dent in the 'sort-of-lower midrange' (which is about all you're going to get out of them), you're looking at dozens and dozens of them - Stacked floor-to-ceiling in each corner, probably 3-deep.

IMO/E, you'd be far (I mean FAAAAAAAAAARRRR) better off just stacking bags of heavy insulation in the corners. Roxul Safe and Sound for example. Same thing - all four corners, as much coverage as you can possibly muster. But that will make a measurable difference.

 

[mjbphotos]

Yes, as John says - these aren't going to do what you need. Look into building your own bass traps using OC703 or 705 or Roxul rockwool - lots of youtubes on how to do it.

 

[miroslav]

Yeah..what MM said ^^.

Those foam traps aren't going to do anything for the bass. You need purpose built bass traps, either DIY or ready-made.


I have the same problem with corners...there's other shit there, and no way to put actual corner traps...but I simply put lots of trapping everywhere else, and I'm getting 4-6 of the GIK Acoustics Bass Traps with their Range Limiter, which focuses the trapping on the very low end rather than broad. I'm going to use in a gobo-like setup behind my mix position, rather than mounting them to the wall. I'm going to make them free-standing, that way I can move them to the mix position when needed...and/or use them elsewhere in the studio when I'm tracking.

 

[ecc83]

"better off just stacking bags of heavy insulation in the corners. " Yus, didn't know this until about 6 months ago John. Source, SoS*. It seems you just buy intact bags of rockwool or GF and stow them anywhere the air can reach them (though corners are the best start) . They work just as well at LF IN the bag as out and that means they can easily be moved/sold on should you take up oil painting instead.

*Article in the current issue about 'Mastering for Streaming'. Apparently the bastards don't tell you the CODECs and processes they might use and you can get bad results without knowing it.

Dave.

 

[AbeYo]

Guess I should have posted here first but I did already buy them Thanks so much for the advice I'll give that a try. Do they sell that type of material in a hardware type store or is it something I should look into getting online? And I guess I should also ask, can I use these "bass traps" I ordered for anything else in my studio since I am just starting out and they were my first acoustic treatment purchase. Thanks again!

 

[Massive Master]

Home Depot type places -- Roxul, Owens-Corning 703 and 705 -- Bulk rigid fiberglass -- the more the merrier.

Using what you ordered... I have to submit that if you can, just return it.

 

[easlern]

I've done this myself, bought a couple bags of safe n sound and just put them unopened in the corner. It works- I found that leaving an air gap between the traps and the corner makes it even more effective at lower frequencies. Doesn't look pretty but it helped a lot with an annoying null I had around 100Hz.

 

[AbeYo]

Thank you! And that material should help deal with the low frequencies in my studio if I place it in all the corners?

 

[easlern]

If you can get 703 or 705, those would be better (from what I've read) but I haven't been able to find those in my area. Safe n sound is a good substitute.

I found a good resource for this kind of info. I'm just an amateur mind you, so I can't say how accurate it is. But it helped me a lot with improving my mixing space, according to before/afters in room eq wizard.

Speaker/Studio Monitor Placement Secrets | Room Setup 101

Ethen Winer designs treatment, he has some great info:
Acoustic Treatment and Design for Recording Studios and Listening Rooms

 

[JimmyS1969]

"If you can get 703 or 705, those would be better (from what I've read) but I haven't been able to find those in my area".

There is a SPI in Perrysburg, OH. Not sure how far you are from them. They sell the good stuff.

 

[easlern]

Thanks jimmy, we're actually gonna be about an hour from there this weekend, so I could probably make a special trip. That's some luck.