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Sound dampening a room


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Okay, got my studio space here...room all to myself. Except it's empty for my keyboard rig and computer...so it's VERY echo-y. I looked up some acoustical tiles and they're kind of expensive. But is this best way to go? Any alternatives or maybe take an exacto-knife to a foam mattress?
:D

 

man, I have the same situation - all room for a studio, wood floor and brick walls. There is some cheap solution but doesn't look maybe nice - stick boxes after eggs on the walls, plus some thick carpet on the floor and you got it.

 

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You know you can pick up aurlex tiles used if you patiently check on Craigslist...

 

Another option is Owens Corning 703 acoustic insulation. It comes in 2'x4' panels and is semi rigid. If you mount it on the wall so that there is a space between it and the wall is very effective at absorbing reverb. It is more effective than Auralex and absorbs a wider frequency range. I owned a studio in a brick and cement room and it really tamed it. It is not very attractive unless you cover it cloth. But probably for under $120 you can have six panels, covered and hung. I would get the 2''

 

http://www.readyacoustics.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=26_3_21

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All this is going to do is that it turns your studio into a fire hazard.


A bunch of corner traps and DIY basstraps will be far more effective. Cheap, too.

 

interesting, so books in my library are fire hazard? :freak:

eggs packs or foam etc all can be fire hazard, your music scores too...:facepalm:

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in short, you need wideband absorption. with least absorption happening in HF, and most in LF range.

 

for more on the subject, read this great and simple text: http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

 

so, for starters, to make standard widebands, u could buy a dozen Rockwool AIRROCK HD70 panels (70kg/m3), 6 inch or thicker. make a simple open frame out of cheap wood and stretch microfibre cloth over it. considering the finished options out there, like realtraps and others, this will cost you next to nothing, except some of your time and brain power. even if you find a carpenter to make the frames for you its cheap. yet it will make a huge difference sonically.

 

in general, you want as much low and mid-low frequency band absorption as you can get. so, additionally for corners you may want to make a few specialized bass traps with something with even bigger density like STEPROCK-C (120kg/M3), and glue a membrane in front with water resistant paper, to the frame front. membrane additionally increases effectiveness below 100Hz, and also some HF reflects of it and returns back to the room, so you don't get it too dead in HF range (most common mistake).

 

ideally you want to cover some 30% total surface in your room (that is counting the ceiling, walls and floor), but even if you're not going for that ideal, any ammount you put inside is gonna help. best places to start are corners, and so-called "reflection free zones" (RFZ). to the left-right-above-front-behind you depending on where your seating and your speakers are (explained in detail in Ethan's article above).

 

 

please forget the egg cartons for all eternity :facepalm: - it does not work, and dont be discouraged looking at Auralex prices - it's too expensive and this "acoustical foam" is not near as effective in wide frequency range as these panels made out of rockwool, mineral wool, hemp etc.

 

so far, i have equipped 2 studios with hemp and rockwool panels, with great results, and now gonna finish mine - i have hemp panels (40kg/m3), and now i'm adding the HD70 (70kg/m3) & STEPROCK-C (120kg/m3) panels/basstraps, and cpl of 2D diffusors. here's a pic when my carpenter was building the frames and stuffin em with hemp, 3yrs ago:

 

DSC02552-FRAME.jpg

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We muppets are experts on the acoustic properties of shaggy, furry things. My replies were all "things with better acoustic absorption than egg cartons." Egg cartons are things that kinda look like acoustic foam but don't work like it.


If you disagree, I might have to send Animal over to beat some sense into you with his drumsticks. He's ready, willing, and able. He worked part-time as Courtney Love's bodyguard until she went Hollywood.


Animalbig.jpg

 

Did he nail her?

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Experts spend years studying this stuff. Lucky for us, the internet filters out all but the most imminently useful information. Such as the fact that properly designed diffusers diffuse unwanted reflections, but egg cartons only scramble them.

 

Animal parts generally cause more harm than good. Hanging mackerels on the walls only excaberates slap echo, teddy bears sound stuffy, & dogs or finches don't enhance woofers or tweeters. Snapping turtles can throw off you tempo, & beetles might get you into copyright troubles. Badgers? Well, I, for one, just don't need that sort of aggrevation.

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Lol, I just wanted to cut down a bit on the echo in the room...wasn't looking to set up a studio to record the next Grammy winning album.
:D

But all this info certainly helps.

 

I have unfinished basement (bare concrete floor&wall, hardwood ceiling) which I'm using for my studio. I just hang drop cloths for painting, and it helped reducing some resonance. I know, it's ugly, but I can use them if I need to do paint jobs, as well, and cheap.

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