Treating My Oddly Shaped Room - Help!

[putney41]

I am getting ready to treat my room. I bought a room kit with 36 sq ft of foam and two extra 2' x 4' pieces of foam. I started by gluing the foam to precut pieces of 1/4 inch drywall, which i plan to hang like pictures with skrews. I figured a few skrew holes would be easier to patch later on if I move my studio. My wife wasn't a big fan of the thought of gluing it directly to the walls of the bedroom I've taken over Anyway, I've now got eight 2' x 2' foam panels and two 2' x 4' panels with a few pieces left over. So, my question is this: where is the best place to put the foam panels. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by putney41

where is the best place to put the foam panels.

Here's my standard blurb, and it applies to your room too:

Room treatment is a deep subject, and a complete answer requires far more than will fit into a single reply here. So here's the short version. All rooms need:

* Broadband (not tuned) bass traps straddling as many corners as you can manage, including the wall-ceiling corners. More bass traps on the rear wall behind helps even further. You simply cannot have too much bass trapping. Real bass trapping, that is - thin foam and thin fiberglass don't work to a low enough frequency.

* Mid/high frequency absorption at the first reflection points on the side walls and ceiling.

* Some additional amount of mid/high absorption and/or diffusion on any large areas of bare parallel surfaces, such as opposing walls or the ceiling if the floor is reflective. Diffusion on the rear wall behind you is also useful in larger rooms.

For the complete story see my Acoustics FAQ.

There's a lot of additional non-sales technical information on my company's site - articles, videos, test tones and other downloads - linked under my name below.

--Ethan

[Glenn Kuras]

Here's my standard blurb, and it applies to your room too:

Thanks, I thought I was losing it. I think this is the 4th time today on Gearslutz I have seen the same reply.

My wife wasn't a big fan of the thought of gluing it directly to the walls of the bedroom I've taken over

How about push pins? The holes will not be as big. Maybe you can find a way to rig it to a hook some how. Just thinking out loud for you.

So, my question is this: where is the best place to put the foam panels. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Most thinner foam is good for early reflections and flutter echo but for bass trapping you may want to look for something made from rigid fiberglass or mineral wool. For set up take a look at the following page for a couple ideas.
GIK Acoustics: Room Setup

Glenn

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by Glenn Kuras

Thanks, I thought I was losing it. I think this is the 4th time today on Gearslutz I have seen the same reply.

Yes Glenn, and it really should be a sticky in every sub-section here at Gearslutz, don't you think?

As long as people continue to ask "I have no idea what to do" I'll keep pointing the way.

--Ethan

[putney41]

Originally Posted by Glenn Kuras

How about push pins? The holes will not be as big. Maybe you can find a way to rig it to a hook some how. Just thinking out loud for you.
Glenn

Thanks, Glenn. The walls are lathe and plaster which is as hard as concrete. What I was thinking of doing is drilling pilot holes, skrewing small hooks into the holes and attaching the hooks together. Let me know what you think.

Also, the website is sweet. I'll check it out more thoroughly here in a bit. Peace.

[putney41]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

Here's my standard blurb, and it applies to your room too:

Room treatment is a deep subject, and a complete answer requires far more than will fit into a single reply here. So here's the short version. All rooms need:

* Broadband (not tuned) bass traps straddling as many corners as you can manage, including the wall-ceiling corners. More bass traps on the rear wall behind helps even further. You simply cannot have too much bass trapping. Real bass trapping, that is - thin foam and thin fiberglass don't work to a low enough frequency.

* Mid/high frequency absorption at the first reflection points on the side walls and ceiling.

* Some additional amount of mid/high absorption and/or diffusion on any large areas of bare parallel surfaces, such as opposing walls or the ceiling if the floor is reflective. Diffusion on the rear wall behind you is also useful in larger rooms.

For the complete story see my Acoustics FAQ.

There's a lot of additional non-sales technical information on my company's site - articles, videos, test tones and other downloads - linked under my name below.

--Ethan

Thanks for info, Ethan. Could you take a look at my pictures and let me know what you think? That would be lovely. Peace.

[Glenn Kuras]

Not Ethan, but you are going to be much better off moving the mix spot facing the window and place yourself 38% of the room length.

Thanks, Glenn. The walls are lathe and plaster which is as hard as concrete. What I was thinking of doing is drilling pilot holes, skrewing small hooks into the holes and attaching the hooks together. Let me know what you think.

If it is up on the wall, then it should be fine.

Glenn

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by putney41

Thanks for info, Ethan. Could you take a look at my pictures and let me know what you think? That would be lovely. Peace.

I did look at your photos before I posted, and that's why I said my advice applies to your room too. This is not tough as you might think. Follow what Glenn said above, and what I said a few posts above that, and you'll be in good shape.

--Ethan

[putney41]

Originally Posted by Glenn Kuras

Not Ethan, but you are going to be much better off moving the mix spot facing the window and place yourself 38% of the room length.



If it is up on the wall, then it should be fine.

Glenn

Would it make a difference that the room is only 8'' from being square (floor measurement)? Or is your reasoning more due to the sloped ceiling? Because right now, my ears are at 38% of the total distance measured from front to back (knee wall to knee wall), but the sloped ceiling probably come into play when calculating it. Also, to make thing worse, I've been reading that the accoustic foam doesn't even do much and that I should use bass traps instead. What do you guys think of this link that shows you how to build bass traps?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=***********

[putney41]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

I did look at your photos before I posted, and that's why I said my advice applies to your room too. This is not tough as you might think. Follow what Glenn said above, and what I said a few posts above that, and you'll be in good shape.

--Ethan

Thanks Ethan! By the way, that is one fine looking feline you have in that picture of yours!

[Glenn Kuras]

Would it make a difference that the room is only 8'' from being square (floor measurement)? Or is your reasoning more due to the sloped ceiling? Because right now, my ears are at 38% of the total distance measured from front to back (knee wall to knee wall), but the sloped ceiling probably come into play when calculating it.

Both of the reasons you pointed out.

Glenn

[putney41]

How much of a difference will moving my desk in front of the window really have? Will the difference be enough of a benefit to offset the disruption of Feng Shui? I hate having my back to the door! And no, I'm not in the mafia. Also, I've decided to build four 2' x 4' x 6" bass traps for the corners of my rooms. I'm using roxul 80 which has a density of 8 lbs per ft! Hope it works well.