Riddle Me This Acoustics Gurus

[RecordingMaster]

Hey there,

Looking for some advice here. I will be soon moving and "rebuilding" a new home studio (as soon as we sell our damn house that is)! I have already stared organizing and purchasing a few things here and therew so it's not a huge lump I need to buy when it comes time to move. Things like fabric andOC703 for future bass trap and panel builds, wood for a new desk build, etc, etc.

That being said, I WILL be building some bass traps that consist of 4" thick OC703, FRK faced, framed, covered with breathable fabric and mounted in all four corners. I understand that 4" is not scientifically enough, but c'mon, on a budget here. This will be a one-room studio, where I mix and track. I don't want to do the whole LEDE things, but something sort of close I guess (slightly more treatment at the mix position, just not completely covered). The room will be approx 15x20 (rectangular shaped anyways). Concrete floor likely covered in laminate, peel and stick or loose lay flooring. Basement.

I am trying to save costs on building the panels that will serve as broadband traps. The fabric, all that extra wood, and extra OC will be pretty pricey. So what I am wondering is...What if I properly trapped the corners from floor to ceiling (so 2'x8' traps) in all 4 corners, had broadband traps at first reflections (2" thick OC703 2'x4' panels spaced a few inches from wall -> 1 on each side R and L, and 2-3 behind desk) and then used 2" thick studio foam to take care of the rest of the room. So I'd have 2" thick foam placed evenly around the room, not too much as to deaden, but take care of some wonky reflections, above my mix position, above and behind the drums on the far wall behind me.

What do you think? Reason why I don't really WANT to do this is I am worried that by only having bass traps and studio foam (mostly), that I will be ignoring the mids. I guess another work around to absorb more mids would be perhaps to remove the FRK facing on the bass traps in the back corners near drums? Or perhaps off of all four traps? I'd just worry I'd absorb too much highs if I do that then.

What do you think based on your knowledge and experience?

 

[Ethan Winer]

Are you asking if two-inch thick foam is useful? The answer is probably.

High quality acoustic foam (not the cheap junk) is effective. But most foam is sculpted which removes half the mass. So two-inch thick foam is about equal to rigid fiberglass only one inch thick.

--Ethan

 

[GIK Acoustics]

Your plan so far doesn't really neglect the mids at all (2" foam absorbs down to about 800 Hz) and the bass traps will absorb a lot around the midrange as well.
The foam will be okay for cutting reflections - in a small room like that with the current traps you're proposing wont need that much to cut any additional flutter echo. Maybe 8 pieces or less on the upper areas of the room would likely do fine.

 

[Chili]

You mentioned fabric being pricey... not really. The stuff you want is the breathable kind which can be found easily in the Walmart bargain bin. I'm mean $1/linear foot at 46" wide. Maybe you can't find quite that good of deal, but still anything around $2USD is a pretty good price. Just look for the cheap stuff that you can blow air through.

You don't need to build wood frames if wood is expensive. In fact, leaving the sides open is better for absorption. You can find a different way to mount your panels to the walls. I used carpet tack strips of all things. It works fairly well if the panels are in locations where they won't get bumped or moved. Carpet tack strips are super cheap. Or you can just nail some 16D finishing nails into studs in the wall leaving about 1.5 inches (30cm) showing and just plop the panel right on there. that's what I did for the panels that get bumped or mounted on my door.

Your bass traps and absorbing panels can be made on a very low budget if your a little creative with the DIY stuff.

 

[jhbrandt]

RecordingMaster,

You must determine what you want to accomplish... It is very important to have 'balance'. You MUST have trapping.. and too many people do too little trapping. Many will happily trap away everything from the low-mids to 20kHz and leave the bass unaffected. Many times 8" or 20cm of trapping is needed at a minimum. You'll need some diffusion/diffraction/scattering...

If you only want a 'workable' space, treatment as you described will be a good start, but be aware that frequencies below 100Hz may be neglected. On my publications page, my paper; 'Room Acoustics Design and the Frequency-Power Spectrum' describes the insanity. ;

Cheers!
John