Bass Traps: Walls VS. Foam

[spicyitaliano]

This is an issure that has been coming up in my designs for a while now.

As I know, building walls without 90 degree angles is the best way to prevent the most bast build-up created by corners in the first place.

But what is the advantage of this when you could simply install a corner-filling foam bass trap.

The reason this is coming up is because I don't know if I'd like to actually change the construction of the corners, as this room may likely become something else in a few years.

Please offer me any advice you have concerning this topic.

[barefoot]

spicy i,

Splayed walls do not help prevent "bass buildup" or "bass lift". Bass lift is a function of the volume of the room and the amount of acoustic energy the room either leaks or dissipates. The smaller and tighter the room the more bass lift you get - exaggerating the low end and, therefore, tending to make your mixes too light in the bass. The only way to fix this problem is with traps, or a bigger room. Corner traps are most effective, but their specific locations are otherwise not critical.

Splayed walls do, however, help break up standing waves (modes, or resonances) in the room. These resonances can also "buildup", but the physics is slightly different than volume limited bass lift. Traps can help reduce standing waves as well, but they must be located along the walls that support the resonances. Corner traps will only really be effective at the lowest frequency mode. Besides splaying the walls, panel absorbers or slot resonators are most often used to tame standing waves.

Thomas