Spacing bass traps from walls

[Getafix]

Hi guys,

Well i've finally moved into my new studio! It's the first time i have such a large room & i want to make sure it sounds its best.

So far i have all four wall corners covered up with 4 inch thick traps. This leaves me with an additional four (2 inch thick) traps for the reflection points & four (4 inch thick) traps that i want to place on the front & back wall.

So my question is what is the best distance to leave between the traps & the wall. Should the 2 inch thick traps be spaced 2 inches away from the wall & the four inch one's 4 inches?

Thanks for the help.

[Glenn Kuras]

yes equal distance for the thickness of the panel.

Glenn

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by s-cube

Should the 2 inch thick traps be spaced 2 inches away from the wall & the four inch one's 4 inches?

Glenn beat me to it, but Yes. Full explanation here if you care:

Acoustic Treatment and Design for Recording Studios and Listening Rooms

The link above should take you right to the section Optimizing the Air Gap.

--Ethan

[Getafix]

Thanks guys. I have another question so thought i'll just ask here instead of opening a new thread.

The new room is quite large, around 29 feet x 15 feet with a 10 foot ceiling. I'm assuming i'm going to need a lot more than the 16 traps i have right now.

Anyway i've read that an important place to treat beside the wall corners & reflection points is the front & back wall. The front & back wall in my room are quite big & i only have four (4 inch) traps to treat them. What will be the best place to place them? I was thinking of just putting them around the middle of the wall (length & height wise). Is there a more scientific approach to this? Should i be using these traps elsewhere?

Thanks again!

[bpape]

A nice chunk on the rear wall behind the seated head position will help deal with potential nulls off the rear wall which are very common.

As for the front wall, play with your seating and monitor positions first to see what they do to your response. After that, you'll likely want some panels directly behind your monitors to deal with SBIR - though the thickness will be best determined after you know the specific frequency ranges that are having boundary issues. In some cases, a 2" panel is more appropriate - sometimes a 4" is better.

Bryan

[Getafix]

Thanks, ok so supposing i go with your advice & put one directly behind my mixing position & two behind my monitors. That still leaves me with one more 4inch trap, what would be the best place to put it (wall corners & reflection points are already covered)?

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by s-cube

Thanks, ok so supposing i go with your advice & put one directly behind my mixing position & two behind my monitors. That still leaves me with one more 4inch trap, what would be the best place to put it (wall corners & reflection points are already covered)?

ceiling to wall or floor to wall corner.

Glenn

[Getafix]

Thanks Glen, what would be more important front or rear corner?