I phoned my local Insulco supplier for a price on 50mm semi-rigid board. They want $31.08/m^2, in pack quantities. This seems very expensive.
This doesn't answer your question directly, but there may be some useful information in it. I wrote it as a general post on another forum.
Many people ask what brand of any type of insulation is better Thant another in acoustic properties. The answer is, it doesn't matter.
The following table has the absorption coefficients for 3" thick material from seven companies. At first glance one might think that ht ere are significant differences between the companies, but due variations in testing, it is not realistic to make direct comparisons. What is useful are relative comparisons.
Code: Select all
Brand Density 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 NRC
CT 3 0.17 0.76 1.05 1.02 0.95 0.96 0.95
Fibrex 4 0.2 0.61 1.07 1.06 1.04 1.07 0.95
Knauf 3 0.29 0.65 1.11 1.13 1.06 1.03 1
JM 3 0.24 1 1.11 1.08 1.06 1.05 1.05
OC 3 0.17 0.86 1.14 1.07 1.02 0.98 0.95
OFI 3 0.21 0.76 1.16 1.15 1.09 1.08 1.05
Roxul 4 0.26 0.68 1.12 1.1 1.03 1.04 1.05
The brand codes are:
CT- Certain Teed
Fibrex- Fibrex
Knauf- Knauf
JM- Johns- Manville
OC- Owens Corning
OFI- Ottawa Fibre Inc.
Roxul- Roxul
So what are the things to look for when choosing a brand? The most important factor is price! Because most of this type of material is used in commercial applications, you may not find a supplier for one brand that stocks it, so you may have a bit of a wait for delivery. Tying in with that there may be a minimum order size.
Some times a supplier may know of one of their customers who may have some left over from a large job. Here we are talking about quick delivery (pick up) and probably great price because the material is just sitting around taking up space.
There may be other differences such the finish of the material. Some have a dimpled surface. If you are going to apply some fabric etc directly on the material then then a smooth finish is important (Thanks Dan C for pointing that out).
Most companies have data sheets on their websites that include acoustic data test results. There also many websites with detailed summaries of acoustic performance, If you don't find acoustic data on the product you thinking about and are not certain, play it safe and choose another product.
[bold]Brands/Product Names[/bold]
This is an area of great confusion not helped by the companies at all. The above table has all the companies in North America that I am aware of that make product that we would use in a studio, with the exception of Delta, because I have not been able to find any acoustic test data on.
Some of the companies have similarly named product that is different for Canada and the USA. Some of them that sell in both countries have some products only for one country.
Going international a bit, Knauf has a UK arm whose name is fairly close to Knauf, as does Owen-Corning. Roxul is the North American division of Rockwool. Rockwool has a series of RW products named RW3 etc. Roxul in the USA has an RW series, but the numbers have no direct relationship with the American product. Certain Teed has ties ( I am not certain exactly what they are with Isover. Isover has a UK arm whose name includes Isowool.
It is almost impossible to know about about every brand and model of material. If you are interested in a given product, look at the acoustic data, and compare it to similar products, in the same conditions and test types.
One of the difficulties in comparing data is that there may differences due to the testing method and calculation method of reporting the results. If you see differences that seem to large than what you think they should be, check if the testing methods and mounting methods were the same.
Good luck and have fun with your improved acoustics!
I hope this helps.
