Marky L Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 As the title suggests the small room I use for my music is too boomy. From the bass amp to the stereo system. I'm not precious about perfection, nor do I want to spend a lot so I'm wondering what DIY low cost options there are to bring down the boom. Would some foam under the stereo speakers on the desk help a little? Bass traps on the walls (are these just big chunks of foam)? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 I have exactly the same problem - small, very square room. Followed with interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky L Posted May 2, 2019 Author Share Posted May 2, 2019 37 minutes ago, ahpook said: I have exactly the same problem - small, very square room. Followed with interest. Square..with clutter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 6 minutes ago, Marky L said: Square..with clutter! Hell, yes ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 If you get your thinking heads on, there are a few threads to help with this a good start here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 Aaaah, right so Fred. Many thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky L Posted May 3, 2019 Author Share Posted May 3, 2019 Excellent, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 (edited) I'm an acoustics nerd and very happy to help with any enquiries about room treatment 🙂 I'm not an expert, but can certainly give you some basic advice that should make a difference. In order to do so I need to know: The dimensions of the room (length/width/height). Ideally a rough sketch or photos showing the current layout and any furniture in the room. I also need to know where your speakers are positioned and where you are sat/stood when listening. Is it a dedicated music room, or does it have other uses? This will help to determine how much room treatment can be installed and where. I can then provide some initial tips to get you started. Long shot: if you have access to an omnidirectional mic (like one these) I can talk you through the process of taking acoustic measurements using free software. That's the ideal, of course, but we can at least get some of the way there through educated guesswork. Ideally, post your info here so that others can learn from the process. But if you'd rather share things like room photos in confidence then just send me a PM. Some things to avoid right from the off... Egg boxes, carpets on the wall, using bookcases as diffusors, etc. All proven to be garbage. Acoustic foam. It's does work, but you need lots of it and it's far more expensive than mineral wool. Those foam panels that people glue to their walls just suck the high end out of the room and leave the low end booming. Literally useless. Don't waste your money. Edited May 3, 2019 by Skol303 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 SKol303 will steer you right. Basic issue is almost certainly parallel walls/ceiling/floor at similar distances apart causing massive nodes where reflection meets original source. Solution will eat into the space in the room - too small a room is not effectively fixable (without much money). If I were looking to do this I would put superchunks in the corners, and maybe even the wall/ceiling edges, broadband absorption on the walls can help especially if placed in the path of reflection from source to ears... Beyond that it is possible to build a Helmholtz resonator to deal with more specific frequency issues, but you are getting way into serious DIY project territory and some time/effort on room analysis after all the other stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 51 minutes ago, 51m0n said: Solution will eat into the space in the room - too small a room is not effectively fixable (without much money). This is the problem I have -there's not really any free corners to mount any treatment. The wall/ceiling might be an option, I'll have a look at that, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 You get the best bang for your buck where surfaces meet - so the best ceiling solution is where ceiling meets wall, all the way around the room. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky L Posted May 3, 2019 Author Share Posted May 3, 2019 I'll see if I can pencil out a crude drawing of the room. It's really a very basic option I'm looking at and certainly bang for buck! Interesting about the ceiling meeting the wall, basically it's an acoustic coving solution? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SH73 Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 Best thread I have read in long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 Pirate Studios use boards spaced a couple of inches from the walls with lots of large, different sized, holes in them and a layer of acoustic (I assume) foam behind. Their studios aren't boomy at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 9 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said: Pirate Studios use boards spaced a couple of inches from the walls with lots of large, different sized, holes in them and a layer of acoustic (I assume) foam behind. Their studios aren't boomy at all. That's a diffuser in front of an absorption layer. The gap maximises the bang for the buck because absorption is very efficient across changes in material. So you get sound hitting the diffuser, high frequency sound gets reflected and scattered by the diffusion pattern, lower frequencies go through and hit the absorption layer, that uses up some energy, it then hits the air gap, using up more energy. The lowest frequency energy goes straight through the wall, low mids bounce back off the wall: straight across the air gap, losing energy on hitting the absorption layer and again when hitting the air in the room. Lots of studies done on this to work out what frequencies are best effected by different thicknesses of absorption Vs air gaps. Gearsluts is the forum for this kind of thing, some very serious acoustic experts share their knowledge freely on there.... And yes acoustic coving, 2ft by 2ft triangular cross section acoustic absorption coving. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Tahnks for the details - interesting! Alternatively the anechoic chamber 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 12 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said: Pirate Studios use boards spaced a couple of inches from the walls with lots of large, different sized, holes in them and a layer of acoustic (I assume) foam behind. Their studios aren't boomy at all. I was in the Pirate Studios in Cheltenham at the weekend and for the rooms do sound very good. Even the small room we'd hired sounded remarkably un-boxy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 8 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said: Tahnks for the details - interesting! Alternatively the anechoic chamber 🙂 Anechoic is utterly awful for anything but measurements. Some people feel sick in there! You can also download all the BBC white papers on acoustic design, a fascinating few evenings worth of reading material 🧐 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 16 hours ago, 51m0n said: Anechoic is utterly awful for anything but measurements. Some people feel sick in there! Just wanted to use the picture 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 A really cheap option for bass traps is to stack unopened rolls of loft insulation in the corners of your room. You could put it in cardboard boxes to aid stackability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 On 17/06/2019 at 10:05, Pea Turgh said: A really cheap option for bass traps is to stack unopened rolls of loft insulation in the corners of your room. Yep! Haven't tried this myself, but I've seen it recommended elsewhere. Often with the addendum that you can in fact use this method to test the effectiveness of treatment in your room - i.e. buy some insulation rolls; leave them unwrapped; place them in your room and test/measure the results; and then return the insulation to the shop for a refund if you're not satisfied. NB: I'd only recommend using wrapped insulation rolls for corner bass traps. High frequencies would reflect off the roll surface, so be cautious about using them elsewhere as it could potentially cause problems with comb filtering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 If you are happy to live with rolls of loft insulation in your living room, I think you should contact Channel 4 as they may want to make a documentary about you... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 On 20/06/2019 at 18:15, Stub Mandrel said: If you are happy to live with rolls of loft insulation in your living room, I think you should contact Channel 4 as they may want to make a documentary about you... Yeah I generally wouldn’t recommend kitting out your living room with acoustic treatment (rolls of loft insulation or otherwise) unless you live alone, or are in a hurry to do so 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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