Info on this diffuser

[full_bleed]

I was wondering if anyone can provide me with info on a diffuser that basically looks like several halves of hollow blocks and their direction is alternated. I'm not sure what these are called. I know I've seen them in a few places but I can't seem to find them know. If anyone can help it would be greatly apreciated!

[full_bleed]

heres a link to an img of what I'm referring to. http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/33548 ... image.html

[Soundman2020]

What would you like to know about them? To me they just look like angled panels: I'm not aware of any theory behind them. It seems like the basic principle is that the scatter waves in different directions, but my guess is that they'd be very course, very specular, and with some pretty major lobes.

Maybe someone else has a take on what they might do.


- Stuart -

[full_bleed]

Thanks Stuart. That was pretty much my assumption, that they are more or less for scattering. I wanted to double check here to make sure there wasn't something more to it that I missing.

Do you think that if the "peeks and valleys" were not as extreme that this design would have less of a lobing issue or do you think that there really isn't hope for it being effective and not causing problems of its own?

[Soundman2020]

I wish I could say! Diffusers theory isn't something that I've studied in enough detail to be able to say, but it stand to reason that large panels at large angles are going to cause large (as in "not subtle") effects on sound waves. The smaller and less angled you make them, I guess would reduce the lobing and coarseness of effects, and I imagine there might be some relationship to wavelengths involved, but I'm not at all sure about how sound waves behave in highly angled triangular diffusers like that, and I can't find any theory on how they might work, if you can tune them, etc. Maybe they do work, and maybe they can be effective, but if there's no theory about it, then its all just guesswork.

- Stuart -

[full_bleed]

I have a bunch of left over 2x4 random length studs. I think I'll try doing a small panel using 45° angles and see how well it works. I would assume that it would be better than having a flat reflective surface when the depths are a maximum of around 2 1/4".

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?