Acoustic treatment

[DaleRoyce]

I'm considering acoustic treatment options that wont leave me feelin like an 18 year old debutant trapped @ an AFL grand final after hours party.
I'm looking into GIKs from the states. As mentioned above, REALTRAPPS need not apply..

Please dont say straw. (what do you mean only one smiley) ok.. wink/grin

[DaleRoyce]

Bass trapping most important.
Small space 3x4x4.

[DaleRoyce]

76 posts and only one tube..

[Kurt]

Do the standard insulation/wooden frame/material broadband panels that every home studio on the planet has?

[Senad]

Bass trapping most important.
Small space 3x4x4.

4 mtrs high ceilings?? if that's the case, plenty of room for some suspended "clouds"..rockwool suitable for this application would be around 45-50 kg/m3, so it's not that heavy and would not be that hard to hang off your main ceiling. Whichever of those dimensions is the height, there's plenty of headroom, so I'd concentrate on the ceiling the most and corners of course, especially wall-ceiling ones
Cheers

[Hookemeister]

Hi Dale

Just came across your post and thought I'd throw in my 2 cents worth.

Don't want to dampen you're spirits but 4 x 4 x 3m... your only 1 metre away from having a room that's a cube... worst possible acoustic scenario. Room Dimension 101: No equal dimensions and no multiple dimensions.

Having 2 dimensions of 4 metres will create a lot of problems for you. Peaks and dips @ 43Hz, 86Hz, 129Hz then all hell will break loose when the 172Hz mode coincides with a mode of the 3m dimension.

If at all possible pick another room with better dimensions or reduce one of those 4m dimensions with a solid wall.

Don't let anyone convince you that copious amounts of acoustic foam, rock wool or fibreglass will cure these problems. These are long wave lengths and they will have their way.

Mind you, that's just my opinion.

Greg Hooke

[DarkSky]

Bass trapping most important.
Small space 3x4x4.

4 mtrs high ceilings?? if that's the case...

Hi Sen,
It's my guess that Dale was using the HxWxD convention, and the ceilings are 3m. Which doesn't leave so much room for clouds, and throws the focus more onto trapping and wall treatment/mods.

The other issue, however is that the space is already on the small side, so reducing its volume further to reduce the equal dimensions issue will be a compromise too. An option would be to add solid panels that provide non-parallel surfaces on some or all of the walls. You'll still lose a little volume, but it might be a reasonable trade off.

[Kurt]

It will also depend on what the walls are made of, if some are single layer gyprock (standard internal house walls) then they're not going to reflect much low frequency energy. Perhaps little enough that they'll be virtually transparent at very low frequencies?

[DaleRoyce]

Thanks for the all the input..
The Room is 3 meters high.
As i'm doing a small reno i have had a chance to play with tontine batts around the room and have discovered a dead room is a dead end.
So I'm thinking Corners to ceiling traps and adjusted angle panels for the sides (nice one), and a rear trap behind me.
I still may hang a little cloud above (Yes it will look like a little cloud).
Oh and the glass balustrade has to be paneled with something, probably thinner trap panels.

[DaleRoyce]

The walls are very smooth set and render. the ceiling is gyprock and the floor is timber.
The good thing is there is a stairwell in this space and sound can escape to up stairs. Seriously.

[Drumstruck]

I empathise Dale, and will be interested to hear how you progress.

My (small) studio is one L-shaped room on a concrete slab and with concrete block walls. The ceiling is 2.4m high (unfortunately) as I'm downstairs. I'll call it a "challenge" to make this room sound good - and a further challenge to make all the acoustic treatment removable (for re-use in the next studio)......

So far carpet tiles / rugs / venetians and curtains / studio furniture did a lot to help - and large movable baffles did a lot more. Acoustic tiles got rid of a good bit of the top end flutter / reverb.

More low altitude acoustic tiles (targetting 250Hz and upwards) go in this week - then it will be fine tuning time - Oh yes, and a soundproof door will be good too.

[Senad]

Bass trapping most important.
Small space 3x4x4.

4 mtrs high ceilings?? if that's the case...

Hi Sen,
It's my guess that Dale was using the HxWxD convention, and the ceilings are 3m. Which doesn't leave so much room for clouds, and throws the focus more onto trapping and wall treatment/mods.

The other issue, however is that the space is already on the small side, so reducing its volume further to reduce the equal dimensions issue will be a compromise too. An option would be to add solid panels that provide non-parallel surfaces on some or all of the walls. You'll still lose a little volume, but it might be a reasonable trade off.

Hi Ray,
As soon as you see someone trying to get help saying it's a small space, 3 meters opposed to 2.4 standard ceilings, seem like a real luxury for such a room. Even bringing the ceiling down to 2.6 meters high leaves 400mm to be completely filled with insulation if need be, and that would provide rather large volume of absorbing material in that room. I agree with your options as well, although maybe instead of solid panels to create unparallel swalls, he could use timber slats (varying gaps, backed with rockwool) for a bit of a HElmholtz - type resonator.

[DaleRoyce]

[quote.. although maybe instead of solid panels to create unparallel swalls, he could use timber slats (varying gaps, backed with rockwool) for a bit of a HElmholtz - type resonator.[/quote]

Interesting.

[Drumstruck]

[quote.. although maybe instead of solid panels to create unparallel swalls, he could use timber slats (varying gaps, backed with rockwool) for a bit of a HElmholtz - type resonator.

Interesting.[/quote]

I agree - very interesting - one of the ceiling options I've been considering is using balsa wood in a structure like a model plane wing hanging from the ceiling on wires - could raise or lower it to adjust the freq response. Another option is to use a 2nd hand bass drum cut in half (into 2 rings), lined with some acoustic foam and suspended on wires / fishing line - sort of a poor man's version of the Opera House doughnuts.

[DarkSky]

...Another option is to use a 2nd hand bass drum cut in half (into 2 rings), lined with some acoustic foam and suspended on wires / fishing line - sort of a poor man's version of the Opera House doughnuts.

The sculptural possibilities are endless!!