Bass Traps: Floor to ceiling, or half the corner good enough? - AcousticsInsider.com
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- Опубліковано 14 чер 2024
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Let’s talk bass trapping again. Placing bass traps in particular.
Because when you’re trying to tackle that endlessly confusing topic of low end control in your home studio, it can be so easy to get caught up in rabbit holes that have you questioning your sanity in no time.
And I can’t have that happening!
So when you’re placing bass traps in the corner of your room, do you need to cover it entirely, floor to ceiling?
Or is it good enough to just focus on half the corner, let’s say?
As so often, to answer this question, we could go into intense theoretical debates that don’t really lead anywhere.
But ultimately it boils down to two basic facts in my experience, that I want to share with you in this video:
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Okay so I’ve officially watched every acoustic advice on youtube. The summary is
If you want to do it, it might work but might not. If you do whatever and does or doesn’t work then try something else or don’t.
😅😅
Seeing this kind of videos after my room treatment is done and ticking all the boxes is just priceless. Precise and healthy way to share great information!
you are an invaluable asset to the community !
💯
Killing it Jesco, really informative series of videos on bass traps, no bullshit and straight to the point!
Clear , Concise, Short & to the point video. That's how we want your videos!
Great video Jesco as always! I understand the velocity vs pressure can be easily confused.. great explanation!
Good instructions and advices, However I would like you to add some pictures to illustrate your ideas, thank you so much
Thanks for all the info and the treatment framework. Keep up the great work!
Thank you for the article! Finally someone made it clear that these expensive foam corners that are all around amazon ARE NOT Bass traps and not worth buying.
SO glad I found this video. many engineers treat acoustics as a mysterious magical art and don't try to explain on a level you do! can't wait to download your home studio guide!!
Nice! Thanks!! Big help. Clear and concise.
Super good to understand the difference between SPL and Frequency...
Great info. Thank you so much!
Thank you for this series. I've been looking at some of your older videos on bass traps and I downloaded your guide, primarily to see if you cover the Hidley Hanger. I was hoping to find detailed info on the design formulas, because I used to service the equipment in the only Hidley room in Honolulu (for about 15 years). I was in awe of this room with his hand shaped hardwood horns and the mysterious 18" of space behind the fabric covering the walls. This is as near as I have come to understand the design principles of these traps:
1) Area will be related to the frequency in wavelength. I believe that 1/4 wave dimensions will work; thus (in feet) for 30Hz: 1125/30/4 = 9.375 = 9'-4.5".
2) Mass will be related to how much SPL can be attenuated. The panel needs to vibrate to absorb the energy, but too much vibration will cause it to act as a passive resonator and produce waves that will do strange phase dances with the source sound. So a large mass (heavy) is desirable, but since the panel needs to hang from flexible hangers (like rope) it can't be too massive.
3) Distance from wall will determine the "Q" or bandwidth of the "filter". This was what I was told and I have no info on just how those calculations work, but I imagine that the closer to the wall, the narrower the bandwidth gets to the fundamental, and the farther out from the wall, the more other wavelengths can impinge on the surface.
And finally I'd note that these treatments are only necessary if you are going to be playing the program material at fairly loud volumes. If your listening to NS10s at levels you can converse over, there should never be a problem. Just like mixing on headphones (sort of). But when the band comes in and wants you to turn it up, well that's when the room will contribute to the sound. The Hidley room I worked in had soffit mounted monitors (built by Tom Hidley) that were a 15" speaker above a large wooden horn and a 15' passive resonator below. I believe the drivers were Gauss and each was biamped with a BGW750 power amp. There were NS10Ms on the meter bridge. The console and tape machines were MCI and they also had 8 channels of Pro Tools. I don't think I've ever experienced a better sounding room--and it was tiny! The outboard racks were against the rear wall so 3 people sitting at the console filled the entire listening space--anyone else had to stand along the sides of the room.
perfect explanation man!
Hi Jesco, I have a question. What’s less worse: having windows behind the monitors (with port on the back) or having windows behind the listening position?
My room is 340x440, right now I have the windows about 3m behind the listening position. I was able to hang 4 diffusers before the windows and I have a stage curtain to cover them. Can the sound improve if I switch? Thank you!
Great vid and now subscribed to both your channel and the mailing list 👍
Thanks so much. New subscriber. Finally an authoritative scientific analysis explained in lay language with a practical perspective.
Thank you for the advice, always appreciated
What would you suggest for for a basement space with lots of metal air ducting through the middle of the room? As well as to metal support stilts that seem to be ringing like tuning forks, The walls are concrete and most available space has been covered with sound blankets
Thanks; great info😀
Thanks for this! My ceilings are really high and have funky angles so if I went from floor to ceiling I would have to have 14 foot traps. Is that correct or can I just make them from floor to 9 feet high ?
Would you be down for a video call to look at my room. Of course I would pay for your time. Cheers
Great info, I'll consider all of this when i place my bass traps. Thanks :-)
Thank you for all the great info.
Ok I'm in love with this channel 😍
Thank you!
HI Yesco, amazing channel thank you! I was wondering if in a box room, like a 3x3x3, is a good idea to make the ceiling fully absorvent by dropping the ceils and stuffing it with rockwool. THanks!
I signed up for your newsletter, I am mostly using this to setup a listening room as somebody who enjoys a great hifi system. I answered your poll and got an email back saying I am being unsubscribed from your newsletter. Thats cool, no worries there and I appreciate the straight up honesty. But my question to you is, why wouldn't your material apply to a audiophile/hifi system?
Hi jesco, great job! I have a question. I am thinking that perhaps it is better to have some areas with 10 inches of porous absortion (and act as real bass trapper) and some with 2 inches vs all in the same size of 4 inches in which case there will no bass trap in the low end?
Does this apply to wide range diaphragmatic bass traps as well? I usually see only one per corner at around ear height , Primeacoustic Maxtrap for example. Or am I better off going with some very thick regular (fiberglass etc) bass traps from floor to ceiling?
Thanks
Ive been researching diaphragmatic (pressure) absorbers for my new studio build. Whats your take on their design? Specifically their specs, materials and layering (air gaps etc)
This is great info…I always thought my gik 4” “bass traps” were supposed to be mounted in the corners. Then if not the corners? ….Where?
Question, is a corner trap better in the shape of a triangle or a flat panel caddy corner with an air gap behind it better for corners?
I have the exact same question here. Did you get the answer yet?
I've listened to hours of accustic guys and I haven't had a single question answered. Where is my asprine?
It's very simple things that matter most are bass traps first reflections and then measurements without measuring the room you ain't getting Nowhere
You can watch hours and hours of acoustic guys but they still won’t be able to your question on the whereabouts of your asprin.
Does the method you mention applies to sub woofers that are on the floor or studio speakers that are on speaker stands? I feel like because my sub woofer being on the floor requires a different approach.
Great video nonetheless
Great Video. I also love your hairstyle!
Thank you for explaining this without trying to sell me an alternative product because it means I can trust this information. There is a lot of misinformation out there.
My home studio is only one side of a 10' x 20' room, and due to limited space, I can either place 12" wide by 48" high bass traps in all four corners of the room or place 24" wide by 48" high bass traps in the front wall corners (where my desk and monitors are located. Which is better, four narrow traps or two wide traps?
danke lieber jesco, deine videos helfen mir sehr beim einrichten/bauen meines neuen studios :) hoffe dir gehts gut, liebe grüße
Thank you very much 👏
Hey Jesco, like many others, I've been on this seeminly endless journey of measuring my room, adding in absorbtion, moving obsorbtion around, moving my desk around blah blah blah. It's a bit tiring to say the least. But today I had this thought... We all focus so hard on making our studios sound proof, insulated, building these weird bass absorbtion contraptions that may or may not work, and making our studios as sound tight as possible to some degree - trying to control primarily bass frequencies. What happens if we just open the studio door? Could that allow some of the bass pressure to escape thus reducing the problems we have with mixing bass in our studios? Maybe letting our studios breath a bit more might be part of the answer? I havent had a chance to take more measuremets since thinking about this but thought i'd start a discussion in case anyone is interested :)
The standing bass waves hanging out in tri-corners (especially upper) hurts my brain when I hear a constant bass drone up high across the front wall. Floor to ceiling traps worked great to clean up the bass. Partial traps didn't cut it for me. I made 1/4 polygon shaped traps, which also have a bit of diffusion from the vertical wood strips (about 4"x 8' of surface area for each trap) behind the fabric, defining the 1/4 polygon shape, rather than a 1/4 circle shape.
I have bass traps in every corner of my room but not floor to ceiling. Are cornercubes effective with filling in the gaps in between bass traps placed top and bottom?
I have a small room 11 x 13.75 and am wondering what should be the dimensions of the bass traps and the other panels?
I have a question, following quantity over quality there is a 48 pack of foam bass traps only 3"thick vs 12 7" thick. On a budget, afraid 3" wouldn't be enough to actually trap bass waves, is there one you would recommend?
What about the corner created by where a single wall meets the ceiling? should there be bass trapping there as well?
Quality always matters.
great content! 👌👌👌👌👌
What was your process for deciding on placing the velocity trap behind you in the corner in this video, as opposed to just covering the walls more, where those types would be more appropriate? And does an air gap have any affect at all in corners and as long as it isn’t a gap larger than the material from the corner, is it a positive or negative effect?
I’m limited on how many panels I can afford to build, and already wasted a lot of time/money on building membrane traps, so at this point I’m just trying to figure out placement better. I’m starting with the first reflection points of course, but then just trying to figure out corners vs cloud vs walls in order of priority.
Thanks, this was already incredibly helpful!
What was wrong with your membrane traps? Why didn't they work?
WHAT ARE pressure absorbers made out of? can I throw some goodyear tires in the corners of my room? would that work as pressure absorbers? haha
Would your step by step break down work for a listening room as well? Dont have a mixing studio
dear jes... just wondering how its gonna sound if I do fill all 4 walls (ceilling to floor) of a 4.0x3.2x2.5m studio with absorbers... it would sound too much dull? a wooden difuser straifght at back wall could help with the mid - hi frequencies? let me know cheers!
so in theory foam bass traps can work well if you use more of them?
Thanks for sharing your insights. I have one question that's haunting me for quite some time. I'm going to set up home "office" that will double as recording/mixing room (rectangular shape). And because recording and mixing won't be the only use cases for that room and because of how window and door placement it seems, that listening position will need to be oriented facing the longer wall, rather than more optimal short wall. How "bad" I can expect it to be?
I'm sort of setup in the short dimension of a really long rectangle, though my back wall, not front wall where speakers are, but back wall, isn't really a wall. But from my listening position to the right is at least 25 feet of clutter, aka diffusion, and some absorption, and to my left is at least 25 feet of the same, slightly more clutter (bass full stack of 4x10 and 1x15, guitar amp head, 4x12, mixer, loudspeaker, guitar cases, some absorption from a cloth upholstery chair, carpets, tall tables, stored cardboard boxes, stacked floor to ceiling in the corner with all kinds of different sized boxes. It's all a mess, really. And that back wall... it's really a framed but unskinned wall, so just 2x4 studs, with shelvs in front, loaded with all kinds of stuff, boxes, it's pretty intense on the diffusion, no absorbtion. And on the other side of that transparent wall, is another wall of shelves loaded with oddly shaped things. And on the other side of that "room", again, just 2x4 studded walls, with no drywall is more "stuff" cylindrical objects, all kinds of diffusion, then that room has a "wall" that is just studs, and there are shelves lining the next room covered with all kinds of reflective objects, then on the other side of that room is a hard wall, with you guessed it, all kinds of stuff, though minimal shelving, though there is some and some bare flat hard wall.
So, how do we tackle this theoretically? We don't. It is a theoretical nightmare. There is no symmetry, other than being in the middle of the long dimension of a 50 foot by 14 foot room, though the back "wall" of the fourteen foot dimension is, again, not really a wall but a transparent diffuser, and another wall of diffusion and another wall of diffusion and another wall of diffusion, then finally the last wall with some diffusion, though it is around seated head height bare concrete wall. That total dimension to the real back wall may be 35 feet. I haven't measured in a long time, my apologies. But, you couldn't possibly really look at this theoretically. It is chaos.
But, when we moved in here, I set up a desk in the narrow end of the 50 foot dimension, perpendicular to my current monitoring axis, floor to ceiling was 9 feet, concrete wall to concrete wall, left and right was only about 10 feet. And the acoustics in there were terrible. It was that small room sound, sonically stuffy. Huge nodes and antinodes. Unbalanced, asymmetric. Horrendous. Ergonomically, design wise, it would have been better for my full real desk to be down there, but the acoustics were horrible. So I set up a temp desk in the middle of the 50 foot dimension, with my monitors firing on the short 14 (ish) axis. And the sound was MUCH better. Now, I don't have an optimal setup at all. Think. I'm sitting about 4, 5 feet back from my monitors, so that is direct line of sound. Then, for the bounce sound, its got to go 25 feet in each direction, bounce and come back, a 50 foot round trip, and all along that path of travel is diffusion... Are you getting me? It's a mess.
But just set up your monitors where you'd like to monitor, and test it. Listen there, at your real monitoring level. See if there are terrible nodes and anti-nodes. Move around and just listen, you'll hear it if it is there. You'll hear the bass get super loud with your head in the right spot, or the bass/sub might just disappear with your head in another position. But test with you in the sweet spot, basically, your ears at the tip of the equilateral triangle between your monitors and your head. And move around a bit, and see how big the sweet spot really is. Is it just one head in size? Super long way of saying, just try it out before you design your space and commit to a layout. Acoustics are like war (usually, unless you have a war sized budget), everything is planned out, and when the first shot is fired, all the plans are abandoned. Lol, it is that chaotic. If you've got a mixer in front of you, you'll get comb filtering, a synth keyboard parallel to the sound travel, you'll have a big reflector that is going to diffuse only a narrow band of high freq. It's a mess. But just do a temp setup with monitors and speaker stands, even if they are stacks of book, or boxes. Just try the space out. I bet you'll pretty definitively hear a difference between your two choices, and will know which way to go. And from there, then you can start to work on corrective measures, even from a more theoretically sound pov.
But be wary of conclusive advice from internet experts who don't have ALL the parameters of your room AND objectives, and who are likely just repeating advice they've heard in the internet echochamber. Again to analogize, this is like the law, everyone "knows" the law, or they had a brother in law who was in the same situation and for him the attorney said do "X" so you should do "X" too. Attorneys are loath to give advice to friends and family, as without ALL of the facts, something that requires a serious and technical interview/discussion where one little detail can be dispositive, changing the situation entirely.
So, definitely listen to people who are actually studied on this subject for some ideas, but also, just try it in reality, and see what reality has to say. From there, fix what you can, the best you can within your budget and use case. //
So there it is. Could have said that in a three line paragraph. What is wrong with me? Apologies.
I have basically no chance to place any corner bass traps in my room. First of all it also serves as a living room (one has to live...somehow) and it's pretty much filled with shelves, a sofa and a table (plus tut desk and some other stuff).
Due to the existence of a balcony door (that's being used as such) the desk can't be placed evenly between the side walls (or anywhere else, for that matter) and there's no space to put corner bass traps next to the window and the balcony door (there is also the matter of heaters and pipes in the corners on both sides).
The left doorpost of the living room door is exactly in another corner (with the wall opposite the desk). You see, I couldn't open the door with a panel installed there and considering that I'm living in a third-storey flat it wouldn't be the best of ideas to try and get in and out of the room via the balcony. The neighbours would've like that either, I'm sure ;O).
The last corner is actually composed of three smaller, cascading corners.
The room looks pretty harmless at first sight (5,5 m long, 4 m wide and 2,9 m high) but once you start thinking about bass traps for the corners the headaches begin. Fun!
Tiny room: 9x14x7, I have 28, 6"-deep bass traps covering all 12 corners and 85% of the walls and ceilings. Yes, it's a very tiny working space but just enough. Some so-called "experts" say my room is hopeless, it's much to small. How wrong they are. I guarantee you my tiny room has better acoustics than 90% of bedroom studios. It's not flat (no room is), but the room modes are vastly improved and my mixes translate well to other systems, after learning my monitors and room.
any way of sending photos ? - u almost have the same room dimensions as my studio space and I m still searching for more bass in the listening position - would be nice if we could connect :) would love to know how you deal with the resonance at around 100-130Hz let me know :)
Now your tiny room is even tinier!
As long as it works for you. That’s the best results you can get from a small room. Some people have large rooms and don’t treat them properly and have bad issues. Small spaces can work
@@paulwary as long as it works for him doesn’t matter
Size doesn’t matter if it works
@@Limit5482 Of course. My remark was meant to be humorous, not critical.
Thank you so much for answering my question via email and expanding on it in this video! Love your work, my studio would sound a lot worse without all your awesome info!
what type of panel is behind you?
I’m looking to buy bass traps in a small studio room, but only 2 corners fit them - the other 2 have a window and door right beside the corner with about 10cm space. Any ideas?
If porous material isn't the best for corner base trapping, what are some good materials for sound pressure?
Not that any of us is going to try this, but how would one go about finding the highest sound velocity vs finding the highest sound pressure? Is the high velocity thing just the math and measurement of the wavelengths and sources?
Brilliant!
Quantity has a quality all its own.
Relatively specific question - but if you have a video on this please direct me. I record videos from a desk that is in a corner. I just want to make my audio as clear as possible, but it isn't necessary intended to be "professional". If I fill in a corner space of 96x48 and 96x24 floor to ceiling. But do no other acoustic treatment in the roam (the room is kind of triangular shaped with the longest way being floor to ceiling windows). Will I still see a decent improvement if I am speaking facing into the corner I treated from about 2-3 feet away?
So... isn't it more effective to put the porous bass traps where velocity is highest? So is it better to hang the trap in the middle of the bi-corner than just leave it on the floor in the same corner?
right, I think thats what he said at minute 5:10
Hi, thanks for the video. I've a question: I see lot of diyers making wood frames around their porous absorbers. I'm not very good with my hands and I was wondering: can I just place the porous absorber directly on to the wall? Will I loose absorption quality? In other words, is the framing really useful absorption wise?
No, it just keeps it together and makes it easier to handle.
A wood frame isn't really necessary, but the cloth around the insulation batts (or rigid insulation board) keeps all the fibers from getting into the room and driving everyone bananas. Fiberglass in particular is bad for you, and will make you itch like crazy!
It can also make your bass traps more appealing to look at.
Wood frames (or any frame) isn't needed for them to work, though.
Good day to you and thank you so much for the information you share concerning acoustics. I am working on bass traps for my home theater room, approx 20' x 28'. On the right side, facing the screen I have two super chunks, ceiling to floor, issue is on the left side. All of my wiring is run through the wall, running 9:3. I have two 10 inch active and two 10 inch passive woofers in my towers, and I have a standalone sub woofer. The left side of the wall is where the wire feed is, and directly beneath it are the outlets. I will not be able to safely build a super chunk for the lower section of the left wall without have a ton of work to do moving the outlets etc. Is it acceptable to build a standard encased bass trap for the bottom section, and put a super cube from the mid point to the ceiling? or should both be the same. If I went with a standard and super chunk up high, I would make the bottom out of heavy mesh screen for the bottom, so the sound that penetrates through the standard trap would be absorbed as it deflects out of the corner. Would there be some kind of unbalance if I have super chunks on one side and standard encased on the other side of the room? Thank you for any advice you can provide, it is greatly appreciated.
So, would you recommend putting diffusion in tri-corners in the ceiling? Or maybe hanging monitors? Creating unparallel surfaces.
I was just about to ask the same question...
I would think no bc low freq collects up there. A diffuser, unless very thick and dense material (like a wall) will not stop that from happening.
Thanks mate, some diagrams to go along with your video would be good.
I think the question was more if you have 4 "bass traps"and 2 corners, is it better to use 1 in each corner and 1 on each wall or all 4 in the 2 corners filling top to bottom. Thanks
Another fantastic practical tip for us living in the real world (without $m budget for a purpose built studio). I’m fortunate to be setting up a room from scratch. Checked out the Studio Treatment Framework. Figured out my sweet spot for listening, now going about putting in what base trapping I can sensibly afford and fit, using off the shelf foam stuff. I will do a Round 2 at some point in the future and make my own, bigger and deeper, traps. My daughter is a young artist and I will get some canvas frames for her to paint whacky stuff on, then add additional framing behind them for depth, fill with the recommended 30kg/m3 stuffing to 6in deep and see how it goes. Combine traps with art for a better looking and more personally inspiring studio. Thanks for the great YT channel.
nice video. So Quantity > Quality. I get quantity means "more numbers" but for Quality, what type (texture, material) is the best ?
By "quality", he is referring to targeting very specific frequencies, by careful measurements, using diaphragmatic-type absorbers. He's not saying those "quality absorbers" do not have their place, but his philosophy is that in a smallish home studio, you're going to be better off with lots of boxes full of rockwool, covered with felt, or something similar.
I treated my own room and helped a friend with his. I found that the most powerful room modes at the lowest frequencies are the front and back walls axis, side walls axis and the ceiling.
When you say axis what do you mean by that?
@@ivansoto9723
A line, used as a reference to determine position, symmetry and rotation.
why fill the corners at all? Based on your explanation if porous absorbers work like just normal foam panels with more broadband absorption and are not pressure absorbers,then why concentrate on the corners at all ??, instead shouldn't we prioritize first reflection points???????? sorry i am confused very much
all his videos make me more confused lol
Corners tend to accumulate low-frequency energy due to pressure build-up. When bass frequencies encounter a boundary (such as a wall meeting the floor or ceiling), they can't easily disperse, leading to an increase in pressure. This causes bass to be more pronounced in corners, resulting in boomy or muddy sound. By filling corners with absorptive material, you can mitigate this buildup by absorbing some of the low-frequency energy, thus reducing resonance and improving clarity.
While porous absorbers primarily work to absorb sound rather than dissipate pressure, they can still help in controlling reflections, especially when strategically placed across the room. However, corner fillings are particularly effective for bass frequencies due to the pressure buildup phenomenon.
In summary, while first reflection points are important for clarity and stereo imaging, corner fillings primarily target bass buildup due to pressure effects. Both are essential aspects of room treatment, and a balanced approach that addresses both bass control and reflection points yields the best results in improving overall sound quality and acoustics in a room.
I have huge 26" bass tube traps, so inconvenient. I'm going to cut in half or even quarter and double/quadrupale my piece count. Any advice?
Why inconvenient?
I love science. Thank you.
Where do we get the designs for the base traps you use?
Im guessing they go all the way back into the corner.
I'm guessing they are all solid wood & not frames wrapped in fabric.
I'm also guessing they are filled with Rockwool.
I'm guessing that the design on the front with the slats are not random.
I came here from the vid that @Newrecordday2013 did of his room.
he mentioned he got the design from this channel & I'm yet to find any info on them.
I'm guessing hat you get them after making contact & requesting a room fix. (which costs obviously)
I have a 17x12 foot room that I'm converting to a home gym. It's in an apartment and I want to deaden or dampen the sound from bleeding through into other units. I'm new to all this but I thought I'd ask what you might recommend for it. I'm thinking of going the route of sound dampening panels but I still want to hang pictures and such up on the wall. Do I need to cover up the entire wall in panels or can I have room between them to allow me to put up pictures?
Thanks in advance.
Hi berner, you want sound-Proof material. In this vid he is talking about sound Treatment and treating for frequencies.
One thing you want to do is seal air gaps, which usually happens with lots of solid mass. The more dense the better. Sound proof is an expensive challenge. The floor and ceiling are tougher the than the walls. It's hard to add material above and below for a few reasons.
Correct me if i am wrong but sound velocity is a speed of the sound, right? Sound can not have higher or lower speed, it does not depend on a sertain position in the room. Speed of the sound is a constant in the air. It can vary a bit depending on the room air temperature and humidity. But for the given conditions it is a constant. Panels does not decreas the speed of sound. They decreas the amplitude of the sound to the point that reflected sound is not perceivable by the ear any more.
What about doing mixing out of doors in open air? I do a bit of home recording and am considering sound shaping my room but since I live in the middle of a 100 acre farm where it's fairly quiet I'm wondering if taking my speakers and computer outside on a nice calm day would negate the need for mixing indoors.
Has anyone tried this? Are there other factors other than reflections I need to be concerned about?
Keep an eye on overusing lengthy Reverbs. Applying my knowledge my mixing in VR, variables such as the ceiling height have a major role in the way the sound bounces off things. That being said, consider that the only reflection you face outside is the floor and you might think your mix sounds good but may have overpowering elements such as bass. My solution is to mix outside and test your mix in different setups. Also another important rule that if your mix sounds good in mono, it'll sound good in stereo. Keep this in mind when testing your mix outside! Good luck and have fun!
how thick should the bass traps be. I have two in the front wall corners 7ft tall and 6ins deap. Should i increase the thickness. Kind regards Drew
You can guesstimate the frequency response of your absorbers with this calculator.
www.acousticmodelling.com/porous.php
I also found a (German) blog, that listed the flow resistances of typical materials used for porous absorbers, wich I found very helpful in order to get an idea of how different materials react at certain frequencies. Just play a bit with the before mentioned calculator.
www.heimkino-praxis.de/absorber-material/
BTW: If you want to use mineral wool you should be able to find the specific flow resistance value for that particular product in the product specifications from the manufacturer.
If porous absorbers aren’t the most effective in tri corners because they target velocity instead of pressure, what is the best for a tri corner?
what if you ceilings are slanted?
Thanks for sharing. I'm about to make my room 9.5 feet by 11 feet by 8 feet high as hobby.
Where do you suggest to put the bass traps that I'm about to build with ruxol compfort 80 which has 3 lbs.
Thx.
Corners first
@@kevinlentz7604 thx for replying.
Funny thing reading your guide, thank you btw. With especially the last one 'this is NOT a bass trap' as these things are sold, to be a bass trap .......
Good thing i didn't order anything before reading. Also, now what hahaha.
I heard when filling half of a corner with bass traps the top / close to the ceiling should come first
So better fill those corner with membrane traps ? Ok have you ever measured 15" bass amp as a bass trap ?! they are typically made to produce bass, I'm wondering if they do move with the ambiant air ( maybe minus the magnet) and act absorb by just moving away and transfering the energy into heat!!!
hey, Jesco & guys!
i built myself an 8 panels, from 15cm thick Rockwool RockSlab Acoustic. Covered only in thin natural fabric. they’re working great, but…
it has a little but annoying smell, which gives me headaches. i tried to let it dry, but after few months in a room with an open windows it’s still gives me headaches.
is this normal, or maybe, RockSlab Acoustic is bad for health?
for now i just pulled out panels from the room, can’t use them.
Denim insulation is a good alternative to rock wool.
@@mj8495 thanks, mate!
this also has to be as thick as possible, right?
What do you mean by sound velocity? There is only amplitude of a wave. Velocity would mean some waves are travelling faster than others. Please explain velocity of sound waves
150hz travels faster than 80hz
If I may, I would like to give some feedback in general as a layman in all these things.. I found your channel very interesting and it helps a lot. But I struggle with one main thing and I think there are probably a lot of people like me. I stumbled across here after Darko (like many others) and like others I have a hifi system for many many years and one thing I have noticed is that many channels and content is geared towards studios or sound engineers; and there is very little content aimed for someone who has a living room. - The layman. I have downloaded the sheet and thought I could tailor it for my living room a bit, but it's not entirely possible either. People say put carpets (and in a video you say don't) and whilst I am aware that bass builds up a lot in certain areas in my room, but things like bass traps, I still haven't fully understood if they help equalize the bass in the room or reduce it .There's not much content out there about when you need it but more about how it should be applied. As someone willing to invest in boosting the sound in a living room, I wish there was more content tailored for us. A small dummies/beginners guide would be helpful for Joe starting out. :)
I think there is a big difference between a room treated for mixing/mastering and a room treated for enjoying your music/movies at home. When mixing/mastering you want a room that is as neutral as possible, that reflections don't mask or amplify certain frequencies. For instance, a lot of mixers prefer the old Yamaha NS10 speakers. They are know for have great mids and thus are very helpful when mixing. (Usually those mixers also have very big speakers with a very wide spectral range and use the NS10s appart from the big ones). My point being is that someone who wants enjoy audio has different needs than an engineer. They could probaby use some of the same methods, but I think (and do correct me if I'm wrong) you would need to look at how to treat a room like a recording artist's studio. Meaning that your hifi set is more like an instrument than just an amp and speakers. I can imagine that your room can sound more live and an mixing/mastering room, without overdoing it ofcourse. Does the manufacturer of your gear have any advice for you? And yes, this can be a great niche for someone to jump in and make video about!
@dbltrplx Well it's more about the book than the movie. :)
@dbltrplx funny you should mention Mr. Duvall.
Watched him late last night- .... couldn’t sleep. Of course, he “killed it” in a western starring Kevin Costner ( Open Range) ......I never sleep well after purchasing new gear for the studio. .... always been that way I guess. Maybe too much excitement for me.... idk.
Anyway.... just thought I would add a couple of trivial do dad’s.
1) Radley was his debut film role!
2) He was also the owner of the famous line: “ that’s pretty bold talk for a one eyed fat man “.
Of course he was talking to Mr. John Wayne... aka Rooster Cogburn in 1969’s
True Grit . Again.... he slayed the role of
Lucky Ned Pepper!
Well.... better get back to prepping these studio walls for paint.
Be well, &..... as always.....safety first.
Is it important to place the traps exactly in the corner or is it ok to have some space between the walls?
it´s ok to have space between the trap and the walls. It´ll change how effective the traps are but with my experiencing it might even improve when u have space between.
I repeatedly hear that it's a good idea to have a little bit of space behind your traps.
Man l cant wait till this is all over, acoustic treatment, recording gear l am getting i mean its all good but cant till its over, everything has stopped and its all about room treatment, monitors and recording equipment.
Hey all? I am building my own bass traps. Did you really wrap the mineral wool in the plastic first? Thanks for answer!
I wouldn't, due to plastic being non porous...not an expert but none of the 'pro' companies do that and the common wisdom seems to be to use acoustically transparent facing fabric, meaning sound waves will pass through, not be reflected back.
Remember : when considering low bass frequency, plastic wrapping is invisible to those long wavelengths. If you show a room wall surface raw rockwool/loft insulation, it will absorb high/mid frequency FAST.
Keep the plastic ON. It is a bass trap. The mid/high will be diffused off the curved surface which is good. Later you can fine tune by adding sections of mid/high absosbant materials to the bass trap if needed.
@@vacuumelite2065 yep. Some bass traps are even designed to reflect/ scatter higher freqs and only absorb the lower ones
Good tip. My biggest issue is the layout of my living room, its far from ideal... just starting with the ideas of panels after i found a clap echo....
Rather a complex subject with so much choice and investment, especially when you want to see as little of panels as possible.
And how about density of material? I have opportunity to do bass traps from hemp wool. But they sell 35kg - 42kg/m3 or 90kg - 100kg/m3. But I dont know if 100kg/m3 isnt too dens - becouse it should slow the air...
From the number I've seen, you're going to be better with the 35 kg for bass absorption. the thicker the better. Maybe 6 inches with a 6 inch air gap.
@@dxsaigon Thanks for respond, but why is that then? Is it too dens and air (sound) will not penetrate such thing?
@@peterpida1840 If you look at charts that show materials of various densities at the same thickness, you notice that the bass is absorbed more in the less dense materials.
As for why specifically this is, I don't have any expertise. My guess though is that higher density materials either reflect or transmit the bass instead of absorbing it.
Thanks you man. You give very good courses. We suggest if you can to illustrate it more for every non technician listeners. So that they could be at the point. Thank.
How do i block.incoming sound from my neighbour?
Hey is it possible that I could still use a subwoofer in a room size that is 12 ft to 14 ft and a half or should I mix without the subwoofer on cuz I just brought four things of rock wall to fill the corners of my room top to bottom and I was wondering if I was doing all this work for nothing oh and I'm making the bass traps 15 in thick and 30 in wide
Hey Noah, there’s no shortage of opinions on the subject, but mine is that room is to small to use a sub in, it will likely give you problems.
I would say go for it. Subs can go a long way helping flatten room modes IF optimally placed and integrated. Try placing the sub midwall along the left or right wall and crossover at 80 Hz or below. Measure, adjust, repeat. Good luck!
@@eetu2532 yeah a sub is Suppose to be placed in the middle out of everything I've found they say do not put yourself anywhere near the right or left wall or the corners of a Room Just sit it in the middle because it's playing mono frequencies
@@cary3428 and i found that my room is And exceptable size or 10" subwoofers its 1500 in volume So with proper acoustic treatment I should be able to manage it To some extent
Where can I get a definition of "tri corner" and why are they called that?
this video is confusing? so you can just put any type of foam as long as you have enough of it?