Tweaks for more bass management?

Hello good people of this forum, I have put together a little "extra bedroom" studio to write songs with artists in. I built my own acoustic traps, and I have some extra supplies to build a couple more. I made a lot of compromises in treating the space, mainly for aesthetic reasons - I want to make the room workable sound-wise without overdoing the treatments, because the room is small and I want it to feel like a comfortable place for artists to hang out in. I guess my version of "comfortable" ended up meaning "less acoustic treament that I should have", and that's okay with me. Also, I rent, so there's a limit to the changes I can make to the room. However, one big problem remains that I'd like to see if I can tackle - the couch, where the artists will be listening, is pretty close to the back wall (small room, I don't have much choice), and the bass buildup is pretty bad. I'm trying to figure out if there are one or two tweaks (moving panels, building one or two more) that could tame the bass buildup a little. The room is 12'5" L x 9'3" W x 9' H. I'm attaching pictures with what I've done so far. I apologize for not having more detailed plans, but I'm hoping these give an idea of what's going on. I'm hanging one more 2'x4' panel above the mix position later this week. My quesion is: are there one or two "bang for the buck" changes that would really help the bass buildup at the couch position? For example... 1. Put another bass trap in the wall-to-ceiling corner directly above the couch. 2. Put some kind of trap behind/underneath the couch. 3. Lower the trap to the left of the couch so it's more centered along the wall. (would this even help at all?) 4. Put bass traps somewhere else - front, side... 5. Put 2" more insulation in the panels above the couch. 6. Suck it up and move the couch out from the wall. I'm looking to prioritize here - what changes would make the biggest difference for the couch? Thanks. EDIT: Argh, I can't get comments to appear with the attached images, so here they are: Image #1: A stitched-together view of the room - sort of a distorted fish-eye view. Those curtains are thick, lined cotton, and there is 2" foam behind them. The panel on the left is by the mix position, for early reflections. I'm going to be hanging a cloud above the mix position later this week. Panels on the right are on the rear wall. Image #2: Rear wall of the studio. Corner panels have 4" of insulation, middle panels are 4" deep w/ 2" of insulation. Corner panels go up to 6" below the ceiling, middle panels are centered between floor and ceiling. All panels are 2' x 4' except the one on the right, which is 2' x 8'. Image #3: There is room to put something behind or under the couch.

I think I'll have a swing at this. First of all gratz on your rhodes. :D As I understand it, when considering bass traps, the impact placement has on the performance is quite low. As long as it's in a corner (preferably tricorners or vertical corners), there is no better/worse position. Only way to have more trapping is have more traps I guess. Unless there's a specific frequency which jumps out, more broadband bass trapping is your remedy. Ps. have you considered changing the couch? A more solid type could help getting a grip on those basses...

Hi Sigert, Thanks for your reply. Yes, I do love me some Rhodes. :-) I get what you're saying about the bass traps, and this brings up more questions for me: 1. I love that couch (just bought it), so it will stay. I could put a 2' x 4' bass trap underneath it, but it would lay practically flat on the ground - I could tilt it at maybe a 20-degree angle up the wall. Would that be as helpful as one placed at a 45-degree angle somewhere else? 2. If I understand you correctly, if I put a bass trap behind the desk at the front wall/floor intersection, it will help the bass buildup at the couch (rear wall) - is this correct? 3. Is it safe to say that putting bass traps on the same "axis" as the couch (length of the room) will help the bass buildup at the couch more than traps on the side walls? In other words, I'm specifically hearing more bass at the couch (middle of rear wall) than at the mix position (toward front of room, midway between the two side walls), so I'm guessing this is due to the length-wise room modes. Am I correct in trying to address those first? Thanks for your help. cakes

cakes wrote:

I could put a 2' x 4' bass trap underneath it, but it would lay practically flat on the ground - I could tilt it at maybe a 20-degree angle up the wall. Would that be as helpful as one placed at a 45-degree angle somewhere else?

When you can't put a trap straddling a corner at exactly 45 degrees, a lesser angle is still useful.

2. If I understand you correctly, if I put a bass trap behind the desk at the front wall/floor intersection, it will help the bass buildup at the couch (rear wall) - is this correct? ... 3. Is it safe to say that putting bass traps on the same "axis" as the couch (length of the room) will help the bass buildup at the couch more than traps on the side walls?

Generally, the worst problems are in the front to back direction. So after all of the corners are treated, more bass traps flat on the front and rear walls often help more than bass traps on the side walls. This isn't always the case though. Ideally, you'd have bass traps everywhere. :) --Ethan

Ethan, Thanks for the reply. Two more questions 1. Would it be more beneficial to locate a trap at the intersection of two walls or at the intersection of a wall and the floor or ceiling? Or is there no difference? 2. Would it be more beneficial to locate a trap where it is completely visible (say, where the wall mets the ceiling) than to put it, say, behind the couch where the wall meets the floor? Again, the idea here is that I'm looking for the most bang for my buck - I'm trying to figure out where to put one or two more traps that will help me the most. Thanks for all the help! cakes

cakes wrote:

1. Would it be more beneficial to locate a trap at the intersection of two walls or at the intersection of a wall and the floor or ceiling? Or is there no difference?

All 12 room corners are equally important. Though depending on speaker placement and other factors, one corner might help 120 Hz more than 90, and another corner might be better for 160 Hz, and so forth.

2. Would it be more beneficial to locate a trap where it is completely visible (say, where the wall mets the ceiling) than to put it, say, behind the couch where the wall meets the floor?

It depends on how rigid and massive the couch is. Exposed is generally better, though obviously something thin and lightweight in front of a bass trap has no effect. --Ethan

Ethan, Thank you for your very helpful comments. One more question: Right now, out of the twelve corners, there are two that have bass traps - where the rear wall meets the two side walls. I have two more bass traps that I can place in the room. I'm going to place one where the front wall meets the floor. Will it make a difference if the other one goes (a) where the rear wall meets the ceiling or (b) where the rear wall meets the floor? In other words, does it matter if the traps are sort of diagonally opposite each other or both on the floor corners? Thanks again, cakes

I do believe this has no direct impact on the effectiveness of a basstrap. But Ethan did point out that, depending on other factors, your bass trap's "center frequency" (if we can call it that in this case) can vary according to placement.

Okay, great. I think I'm going to put one trap above the couch at the rear wall/ceiling intersection, and one behind the desk at the front wall/floor intersection. I'll let you know how it turns out! Thanks, everyone. cakes

*drums start rolling. People hold their breath. The moment of truth is near...