John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Seeing that lower frequencies are the most difficult to absorb, wouldn't a thicker trap absorb the same amount of high frequencies (as in ALL high frequencies for that surface space--if thick enough)?

So if you had a small room and wanted to increase the low frequency absorption, without making the room too dead, wouldn't ONE option be to increase the thickness of traps?

So for example, if you have 4" 703 in all your corners, what if you made that 12" 703? Would the room retain the same ambience/liveliness as before, but with smoother bass?

Within what you are sayng, yes.

Andre

Tom,

> if you have 4" 703 in all your corners, what if you made that 12" 703? Would the room retain the same ambience/liveliness as before, but with smoother bass? <

In theory, but you'll then also have twice as much edge surface which will give more absorption at mid and high frequencies. So in practice, assuming you don't put a wood frame over the edges, going from 4 inches thick to 12 inches thick will add a fair amount MORE absorption at higher frequencies.

--Ethan

Another option John has used successfully is thin plastic over some or all absorption before the cloth goes on - one thing I like about that is you can do a "final" tune by just taping painter's drop cloths over sections til you're happy, then putting up the cloth (after more secure mounting of the plastic, of course) STeve

Generally you can avoid HF absorption problems and still use a great deal of mineral fiber panels if you avoid room finishes that are exclusively HF absorbent such as carpet on pad and stick to hard surfaces where practical. But if you do have that problem, try this specific recipe in line with what KF describes.

Take the panel and spray the edge with 3m Super77 or similar spray adhesive - let it tack up - get a friend to help you lay a thick sheet of poly film [6 mils or more] on the panel face while the two of you hold the edges taught. press down to assure good adherence and trim with a razor.

Also as KF describes, all diaphragmic type resonators should be measured for performance in situ to verify the tuning and correct for the right quantity for the room. You could easily make the room worse using assumptions versus measurements in such a technique.

Great responses, thank you!!