John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hey thanks - its so nice to receive so many nice comments!

limsa-terry wrote:How does it sounds after acoustic treatments?

Well in short, not good enough. And I'd actually appreciate some input.

At some point I made the decision that I would build the rooms first and build/apply acoustic treatment as need afterwards. The problem with that is I developed a design that maximized square footage but didn't place enough priority on accommodating bass trapping. As an example, both back corners of the control room have doors in them.

There's actually more bass build-up than I would like in all three rooms (LR, CR, booth) so here's what I'm thinking;

Control room - I had built some corner tri-traps and moved two of the 2" thick panels right into the front corners, but that just wasn't taming the low end enough. So, I built two 4" thick panels (4' tall, 20" wide). Having those in the front corners actually makes a big improvement, but I'm hopeful that they may actually only be temporary.

I've started playing with designs for a massive bass trap that spans the whole front of the CR, between wall and ceiling (see attached image of rough idea). I'm not sure yet what material to cover it with, so I'd really appreciate any and all thoughts. I haven't been totally happy with the look of the CR so I'd like to do something that looks really good (obviously ) while controlling the low end at the same time.

In the booth, I think I'll fill the pictured corner with insulation (super chunk style), and also do the same with the pictured corner in the Live Room.

But again, I'm not sure about how I'll cover those. I don't think I'd want them to just be fabric wrapped - facing it with wood slats (helmholtz resonator) would probably look really cool, but I'm not sure I really want to tune the trap.......

The back of the CR is untreated as of yet but I'm going to deal with that after I get my loveseat in there in the next week or so.

Glad to hear your honesty - many people kid themselves after all that work.

I must say - I'd use more insulation on one wall of a room than you've used in the whole of the control room

as Ethan keeps saying - the more traps the better

The problem with that is I developed a design that maximized square footage but didn't place enough priority on accommodating bass trapping. As an example, both back corners of the control room have doors in them.

Maybe you could do a large, deep horizontal one across the entire top rear wall, above those doors? It looks like you have a bit of space up there that could be used.

Maybe some "traps on wheels" could be rolled in front of the doors when needed?

- Stuart -

John Sayers wrote:
I must say - I'd use more insulation on one wall of a room than you've used in the whole of the control room

But you do realize I certainly wasn't done yet, right?!

Soundman2020 wrote: Maybe you could do a large, deep horizontal one across the entire top rear wall, above those doors? It looks like you have a bit of space up there that could be used.

Hey Stuart, thanks. I was thinking that too. My HVAC guy said the air handler unit there needs to be at least 6" below the ceiling though, so I wasn't sure if it would be good to build something right down close to it? May ask him about that.

Effectiveness of treatment aside - I've been feeling a little less than happy about the look of the panels in the CR, which is partly why I haven't been working at completing it recently. I think I'd really prefer panels similar to those used in movie theaters (generally 1" thick but covering a much larger surface area). I just didn't want to be purchasing something designed for that purpose at ridiculously high prices and never found a rigid product that I thought would accomplish the same look.

The church I go to actually meets in what used to be a movie theatre and they still have a lot of the acoustic panels the theatre used. They unfortunately gave away a whole bunch of them a few years ago . That would have been a nice score.

onpurposeproductions wrote: I think I'd really prefer panels similar to those used in movie theaters (generally 1" thick but covering a much larger surface area).

John - if I went this route, is there a particular product that you'd recommend? Owens Corning 703 seemed to be impossible to find (in Canada) when I looked earlier during my build.

Your certainly going for the mini traps!
I thought the pic you posted the other day was just an optical illusion or you had really big hands

onpurposeproductions wrote:

onpurposeproductions wrote: I think I'd really prefer panels similar to those used in movie theaters (generally 1" thick but covering a much larger surface area).

John - if I went this route, is there a particular product that you'd recommend? Owens Corning 703 seemed to be impossible to find (in Canada) when I looked earlier during my build.

Roxul (Canadian company) have a similar range to OC and it's cheaper also.

http://www.roxul.com/

John Sayers wrote: Roxul (Canadian company) have a similar range to OC and it's cheaper also.

Yeah, I used Roxul's industrial grade product, RHT. I went with RHT80 (8.0 lbs/ft3). They of course also have RHT100 and RHT 120, (10 and 12 lbs/ft3 respectively), which would presumably be more rigid - have you used those before with good success at mid to high frequency absorption? I had the impression that they may be too dense for an effective wall panel?

check out roxul AFB it has a density of 2.8 pcf where as 703 has a density of 3 pcf.
I read here somewhere that about 5 pcf or 48 kg/m is ideal,
If your interested an unopened bag of the 23" wide Roxul comfort batt R14 has a density of about 5.5 pcf, you could put a couple bags in each corner for bass trapping see how it works.

I read here somewhere that about 5 pcf or 48 kg/m is ideal,

Actually, 3 pcf is 48 kg/m3! 5 pcf is 80 kg/m3.

Roxul comfort batt R14 has a density of about 5.5 pcf, you could put a couple bags in each corner for bass trapping see how it works.

That's REALLY dense! It's nearly 90 kg/m3. Probably not going too help much for bass trapping. Lower density is actually better for low frequency trapping.

check out roxul AFB it has a density of 2.8 pcf

That sounds about right.

- Stuart -

Roxul comfort batt R14 has a density of about 5.5 pcf, you could put a couple bags in each corner for bass trapping see how it works.

That's REALLY dense! It's nearly 90 kg/m3. Probably not going too help much for bass trapping. Lower density is actually better for low frequency trapping.

oops, i was thinking 5 pcf was ideal just trying to remember numbers off the top of my head, an unopened bag is definitly not 5 pcf. I do remember i calculated it to be slightly denser than ideal, the bag weighs 41 lbs (18.6 kg) and measures
# Length: 47" (1194 mm)
# Width: 23" (584 mm)
# Thickness: 3½" (89 mm) X 8 batts = 28" (712mm)
(uncompressed height)

I forget what height the bag is compressed to but
somewhere around 18"-22"
lets say 20"(508mm)

V=.3542 m3
so approx density is 52.51kg/m3. But for some reason 55 kg/m3 is what i remember, but clearly my memory is questionable.

this design is perfect for what I want to do...

How much did this set up cost you? What was the starting dimensions of your building?