Help me treat my room!

[jeid]

This thread is relevant to my interests. My room is equally small. I'm pricing up Rockwool and stands at the moment as the bass in this room is overwhelming. Really bottom heavy. I've also got a really stupid velux window in the roof of this room which cuts a big whole in the roof, I dunno if it affects the sound, but I hope not.

Bass traps are a must for me.

 

[The Unavoidable]

It's pretty much the opposite for me, I don't get much bass at all. I would say the general sound of the room is rathar cold and slightly distant, like I have to lean in to hear everything clearly.

Looking around for insulation at the moment, but I'm getting quite lost already. This is all way over my head

 

[GarethSE]

This topic is fucking golden

 

[AEL89]

One of the guys who was helping me with my room design from GIK acoustics said that all traps/diffusors have to be mounted or hung from walls or they won't work very well. Just a heads up as I've seen pictures where people just rest their traps and diffusors against walls/tables!

My traps from GIK have made a huge difference for me and I only have 4 traps and 6 diffusors! Its an American-based company but there's a factory in the UK, so I'm sure shipping to Sweden wouldn't be outrageous.

 

[Ermz]

It's pretty much the opposite for me, I don't get much bass at all. I would say the general sound of the room is rathar cold and slightly distant, like I have to lean in to hear everything clearly.

Looking around for insulation at the moment, but I'm getting quite lost already. This is all way over my head

^ Yes that would be because your dimensions are almost exactly the same as my room, and I had the EXACT same problems.

What you can do for yourself is download the Realtraps test tones and play them then listen to their relative volumes. Chances are that you have a HUGE null at anywhere from 90 to 110hz. What's also happening is that the reflections from your bare balls are interfering with your ability to hear direct sound from your monitors. Once you start covering those surfaces you will start to notice immense improvements with everything related to your monitoring. Honestly, I cannot understate how fundamentally important this is to any home studio type arrangement.

Your solution is very simple, so don't feel overwhelmed. Just try to source Owens Corning 703, or your European equivalent of it.

Cover your first reflection points on the side walls, the ceiling and your back wall.

After that just cut the insulation panels into triangular pieces and stack them in your corners until you fill them up. Then cover the insulation with a fabric facing.

Fibreglass and rockwool insulation (what most use for audio purposes) can be irritating to the skin, so if you can find polyester based stuff that works well, then you're one step ahead. That way you can even leave it open in your room if you're too lazy to cover it with fabric.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

your bare balls are interfering with your ability to hear

Yeah, definitely put some pants on ASAP.

Sorry, someone had to!

 

[Ermz]

that's glorious. Tis what I get for typing up instructionals at 5am... bed time. Won't even bother editing that.

Good luck!

 

[TheDriller]

Question: when trapping the corners, does the bass trap panel really need to "stradle" the corner? or can it be laid flat against one of the walls.
I ask because i just moved to a new apartment, the new mix room is a nice size (12' 10" X 11' 2") ,(i just realised that im currently aligned on the short axis of the room, silly me)
but there is either a door , window or closet in all 4 corners, so i can't put up "straddle" bass traps.

I can post more pics if necessary.
am i fuked?




EDIT : Sorry for thread-jack , but i feel it's a relevant question.

 

[Joematthews]

Stradle the corners is better.

If you want you can engineer a solution to the door. Mount the trap on a hinge/pivot, and put some velcro on the other side, then you can open and close the door by folding the trap onto it, and mix by closing the door, and velcro'ing it to the opposite wall.

Dodgy explanation haha

Joe

 

[TheDriller]

Stradle the corners is better.

If you want you can engineer a solution to the door. Mount the trap on a hinge/pivot, and put some velcro on the other side, then you can open and close the door by folding the trap onto it, and mix by closing the door, and velcro'ing it to the opposite wall.

Dodgy explanation haha

Joe

Thats a cool idea, but its a rented apartment, so i can't really do that.
I suppose i could put the bass trap on two "legs" or strutts, and lean it across the corner with the door closed.

 

[arv_foh]

Here's the best kept secret on the interwebz for acoustic foam for 1/10th the price of Auralex or similar brands:

www.foambymail.com

I know the site looks really janky, but I have ordered from them and they are legit.

 

[Ermz]

^ Actually if you see Ethan's tests about the efficacy of their product you may not think so.

http://www.realtraps.com/data.htm

 

[GarethSE]

driller i really actually dig the pink

 

[arv_foh]

^ Actually if you see Ethan's tests about the efficacy of their product you may not think so.

http://www.realtraps.com/data.htm

Interesting... I guess you do get what you pay for eh? Thanks for the link. The only thing I'd bought from them was the pads to sit my monitors on.

 

[monolithsound]

Building "real" bass traps with OC703 was the best investment I've made for the quality of my recordings. I'm kicking myself for not doing it sooner. www.atsacoustics.com I built my 2'x4'x4" panels for around $40 each.

 

[TheDriller]

driller i really actually dig the pink

Indeed, it is rather awesome.

Originally, this was supposed to be the master bedroom, and i would use the smaller bedroom for mixing, but it had an insane flutter echo everywhere in the room. no joke, the longest flutter echo i have ever heard. so i ended up using this nice big pink room instead.

Question: When making Bass trap panels from 703 or rockwool or whatever, do you need to take any major precautions when working indoors? i intend to build some soon, but the only place i could work would be either in the living room or in this mix/bedroom, both are carpeted. will i end up with dangerous fiber particals infecting my living space?

 

[::XeS::]

Another good test is to load this wav file in your daw
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1436721/response.wav
It's a sequence of notes between 40Hz to 300Hz, with a 1Hz increase every second.
Place a measurement mic in your listening point and play that track.
When you listen it during the recording, you can clearly know which are your critical frequencies: when you have a null you nearly hear nothing in your room and when you have a peak you hear too much boominess (where the source track is at the same volume for every frequency step).

 

[HeadCrusher]

Damn, the more I look at this thread the more I envy you for your room. It may be a small room but it's a dedicated mixing room nonetheless and not everyone has that.

Btw I once read something about small particles in Rockwool that can be a serious health issue. How do you guys go about that?

 

[Harry Hughes]

This is an absolutely great topic, gotta bookmark this one.

 

[Harry Hughes]

Another good test is to load this wav file in your daw
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1436721/response.wav
It's a sequence of notes between 40Hz to 300Hz, with a 1Hz increase every second.
Place a measurement mic in your listening point and play that track.
When you listen it during the recording, you can clearly know which are your critical frequencies: when you have a null you nearly hear nothing in your room and when you have a peak you hear too much boominess (where the source track is at the same volume for every frequency step).

This file is awesome, cheers for sharing man