DIY Room Treatment Idea?

[gonefishin]

Hi there...I appologies for the mish-mash post. I was heading out the door and copy pasted some stuff from a previously written post. I know the post wasn't directly written toward this thread. But it was the best I could do heading out the door

dan

[the hand of boredom]

Sorry to rehash this old thread, but I was reading up on Ethan Winer's site about the corner absorber. Should it cover the entire corner from floor to ceiling? If so, is it important to completely 'seal' the corner?

Woochifer, which panels did you get for your system, what did they cost, and do you know any of the coefficients of that material? How did the freq. response in your room change?

I'm now looking at products from foam factory... http://www.foambymail.com/Products.html, but I have a few q's:

Where in the room is diffusion warranted?
In order of importance, what are the critical points to treat (other than corners) - first reflection side wall, second reflection side wall, first reflection rear wall, point at side wall closest to speaker, point at back wall closest to speaker, rear wall reflection point? What type of treatment is needed at that point?

Budget isn't a concern anymore as I'm no longer a student. I'll spend what is needed. If I can do the EW corner absorbers for $150-200 or so, and spend another $1-200 on panel/foam absorbers and diffusers then I'll do that. I would rather purchase manufactured materials than DIY b/c at this point I don't have the tools or the patience to DIMy.

Current room is 13,6 x 11,7 x 9,0. I will move into a custom dedicated room when the wife and I purchase a house in the near future, but extra treatments can be purchased then.

Here's to more great discussion.

[hermanv]

I use these because the price makes sense, many audiophile absorbers are stratospherically priced.

http://www.atsacoustics.com/cat--ATS...nels--100.html

(Burlap and mineral wool)

[kexodusc]

Sorry to rehash this old thread, but I was reading up on Ethan Winer's site about the corner absorber. Should it cover the entire corner from floor to ceiling? If so, is it important to completely 'seal' the corner?

More is better...you might try something like this:
http://forum.studiotips.com/viewtopic.php?t=535

Actually, StudioTips is a great site for acoustic treatment info. Ideally you want the full corner covered but I would think every bit of absorption helps.

I'm now looking at products from foam factory... http://www.foambymail.com/Products.html, but I have a few q's:

Where in the room is diffusion warranted?
In order of importance, what are the critical points to treat (other than corners) - first reflection side wall, second reflection side wall, first reflection rear wall, point at side wall closest to speaker, point at back wall closest to speaker, rear wall reflection point? What type of treatment is needed at that point?

Hmmm, honestly, I think from a cost/benefit perspective a lot of home theater enthusiasts would be better served looking after the reflection points and perhaps looking at using a parametric eq like the Behringer Feedback Destroyer to help tame crazy bass response. A few panels like hermanv or suggests, using mineral wool or rigid fiberglass are affordable and very effective.
But yeah, the corners help too. I have a several 2 x 4 foot panels at reflection points, and temporarily I have 4" thick panels in the corners from floor to ceiling until I find time to score more fiberglass panels to do the superchunk thing.

Diffusion is great along the back wall for creating a more open, spacious sound. To be honest, in home theater applications you generally want more absorption than diffusion. In stereo applications in home, diffusion is probably low on the priority list...worry about absorption first.

Budget isn't a concern anymore as I'm no longer a student. I'll spend what is needed. If I can do the EW corner absorbers for $150-200 or so, and spend another $1-200 on panel/foam absorbers and diffusers then I'll do that. I would rather purchase manufactured materials than DIY b/c at this point I don't have the tools or the patience to DIMy.

Current room is 13,6 x 11,7 x 9,0. I will move into a custom dedicated room when the wife and I purchase a house in the near future, but extra treatments can be purchased then.

Here's to more great discussion.

I've used the foam stuff from Auralex, foam factory, foam by mail, and Sonex. They're not bad, easy to put up, and work ok. IMHO, the mineral wool/rigid fiberglass works much, much better and isn't much more expensive. If you're dropping the money on foam from Auralex and the like you might as well get the foam panels.
http://www.atsacoustics.com/cat--ATS...nels--100.html
I know hermanv just posted this link, but these are what I basically made DIY, and this company is the cheapest I've found pre-made. They're great to deal with. I'd strongly recommend this route over the foam panels. Some of the foam kits do look kinda cool though...if looks matter that might be a factor? But again, I found the mineral wool/rigid fiberglass does the job much better...

[Rich-n-Texas]

I agree with Kex and hermanv on ATS Acoustics. I bought a 6-panel DIY box of 2' x 4' and two 2' x 2' custom panels covered with coffee sack burlap. Mark @ ATS is a good guy, prices are right and shipping was pretty quick. Something I read in his FAQ gave me some concern: "It doesn't really matter where in the room the panels are placed..." but I think he was of the opinion that if you put enough of them up, it doesn't really matter where they are. I've put two 2 x 4 panels next to eachother on a wall that gets a first reflection from one of my mains, and let me tell ya, they're very large looking. I'm going to try my best to locate them where form and function don't compete with eachother too much, but I'm lucky as there's no WAF to deal with currently.

BTW, because of recommendations by Kex and a few others here, the Beringer Feedback Destroyer (BFD) will soon be a member of my household. When depends on how much Christmas shopping I have to do, and how long it takes me to get more panels on the wall.

Can someone tell me what "slap echo" and "flutter echo" are? And what the difference between the two is?

(You people come up with some strange descriptions of audio here )

[GMichael]

I was half way through this thread before I noticed that it's 3 years old. I feel so ashamed.

[hermanv]

I was half way through this thread before I noticed that it's 3 years old. I feel so ashamed.

Piffle, these questions are timeless.

[the hand of boredom]

Thanks Kex. After doing more internet research, looks like the rigid fiberglass has the best absorption.

A local building centre has 6" Owens Corning 703 at $40 for 80sqft (10 4x2 panels). Will treat the front corners and the first reflections on side and back wall first. I'm gettin' excited, but gotta wait 'til after Christmas since the stereo is in the bedroom and the in-laws will be here for a few days.

Side Note - we are going to return a 4" foam mattress from IKEA. It is rolled up tight and packed in plastic until tomorrow. Earlier this week, I'm looking at it and thought , "looks like a bass trap." So I pop it in the front left corner of the room and whaddya know... better definition of acoustic bass, snare and kick drums have a better SNAP to 'em. NICE. It measures about 20" in diameter and has a 6" gap in the middle.