How wide do bass traps need to be?

[Glenn Kuras]

2' feet is pretty standard/proven.

Glenn

[woodfoot]

Cheers Glenn

Thats do-able

[wshaw]

Isn't this a question of total area/volume/mass? Wouldn't a thinner, but taller trap work as well as a standard 2 x 4 footer?

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by wshaw

Isn't this a question of total area/volume/mass? Wouldn't a thinner, but taller trap work as well as a standard 2 x 4 footer?

Not necessarily. Thickness is important too. Ideally every room would be totally surrounded by bass traps two feet thick. Seriously. But since that's not practical we do the best we can given the space and budget.

--Ethan

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by wshaw

Isn't this a question of total area/volume/mass? Wouldn't a thinner, but taller trap work as well as a standard 2 x 4 footer?

No something like a 1" x 8 " panel (same thickness) would not absorb more low end. Mainly because the lead edge (the front) to the corner would not be as thick vs 2' face, so it would start to fall off in absorption sooner.

Glenn

[wshaw]

TO be clear, I should've said NARROWER, not "thinner." I.e., how about a bass trap thats 1.5 wide and, say 5.5 feet tall, for people with rooms (like mine) that can't accommodate a 2 foot wide panel? Assume that the front-to-back measurements of both panels are the same.

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by wshaw

TO be clear, I should've said NARROWER, not "thinner." I.e., how about a bass trap thats 1.5 wide and, say 5.5 feet tall, for people with rooms (like mine) that can't accommodate a 2 foot wide panel? Assume that the front-to-back measurements of both panels are the same.

Thats what I was talking about. The lead edge (the front of the panel) to the back corner will not be as deep as straddling a 2' panel so it will not reach as low. Now with all that said if that is the best you can do then GO FOR IT! MUCH better then doing nothing.

Glenn

[wshaw]

Hi--
I don't fully understand what you mean by leading edge, I'm sorry to say. PLease explain.

Meanwhile, does anyone actually build a bass trap less than 2 feet wide? I'd buy one . . .

Thanks!

[Glenn Kuras]

I don't fully understand what you mean by leading edge, I'm sorry to say. PLease explain.

The face of the panel (facing the room) to the back corner. Does that make sense to you?

Meanwhile, does anyone actually build a bass trap less than 2 feet wide? I'd buy one . . .

WE DO!!!!!!!!!

Glenn

[skatingbasser]

Related question, not to hijack... I'm planning on building some superchunks later in the week, I too in a small room like this (10x19). With not much room to spare, I was planning on using the triangle method with the longest side being 2 feet. This would mean at their thickest (surface to the corner of the walls) the chunk would be over a foot deep, and 2 feet wide at it's widest. Floor to ceiling (7 1/2 feet high.)

What is your professional opinion on if this will be enough to tackle some Hz? Or still too small?

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by skatingbasser

Related question, not to hijack... I'm planning on building some superchunks later in the week, I too in a small room like this (10x19). With not much room to spare, I was planning on using the triangle method with the longest side being 2 feet. This would mean at their thickest (surface to the corner of the walls) the chunk would be over a foot deep, and 2 feet wide at it's widest. Floor to ceiling (7 1/2 feet high.)

What is your professional opinion on if this will be enough to tackle some Hz? Or still too small?

No way to tell how low it would go, but if the front (the widest side) is 2 feet then the sides touching the wall would be 17", which is standard size which work well to 50hz. Or am I missing something on your size?
Glenn

[skatingbasser]

Originally Posted by Glenn Kuras

No way to tell how low it would go, but if the front (the widest side) is 2 feet then the sides touching the wall would be 17", which is standard size which work well to 50hz. Or am I missing something on your size?
Glenn

Nope that's it. Down to 50hz is great! Thanks for the input!

[Ben F]

I'm process of helping a friend make some corner bass traps for a live room that is Length 5.92m, width 3.5m and height 2.9m.

I was thinking of having 50cm depth from the wall corner to the centre on the trap (lead edge), would this be too large? This would mean the trap would be made from 1m (3 feet) wide panels. Could I use 2 feet (around 0.6 meters), or is it better to have more gap? Ideally looking at absorbing 30Hz and up, although 50Hz would probably be fine. I attached is the Real Traps analysis.

[Ethan Winer]

Not too large. The bigger the better, always.

--Ethan

[Ben F]

Thanks Ethan

[Ben F]

Well the bass traps helped with the low end, however the room is too reflective and has a slight flutter echo...it sounds like it's coming from the ceiling. Would It have been better to have the corner trap fronts covered with transparent cloth instead of ply wood?. The room sounded really 'dead' before I put the fronts on the traps and sealed them, at least the echo had gone. I used the design attached for the corner traps. I'm sort of confused now about using cloth or ply for the front panel.

I've made some mid/high absorbers but have not placed them yet. Is the best way to treat the echo by hanging panels on the ceiling? Is it better to put them in the roof corners?

[woodfoot]

In my new room I will be building some new walls in order to get the ratios Ethan suggested on the Real traps site of H=1 W=1.25 L=1.6.

That means I can also decide on the shape of the room. I was planning therefore to build the bass traps from brick so they are actually part of the wall.

I was wondering if there are any benefits or problems by doing it this way instead of building frames into a corner etc


Cheers

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by Ben F

Would It have been better to have the corner trap fronts covered with transparent cloth instead of ply wood?

The only way to know for sure is to measure the LF response at high resolution with and without the plywood in place. Both types of traps work, but plain fiberglass is more flexible and is better for smaller rooms than wood panel traps.

--Ethan

[Ben F]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

The only way to know for sure is to measure the LF response at high resolution with and without the plywood in place. Both types of traps work, but plain fiberglass is more flexible and is better for smaller rooms than wood panel traps.

--Ethan

Ethan, what are the average dimensions of a small room?

After some consultation with the acoustician that built our mastering studio, I'm going to build some 600x600 absorbers and put them asymmetrically around the walls, and also build a couple of ceiling panels. I think that should do the trick.

[donsimpson]

What about height and depth? There appears to be consensus and evidence that 4" is the minimum depth for a useful bass trap, and 6" is better. Are 8, 10, 12" increasingly better?

And 48" seems to be a "normal" height, but if you increase the depth, can you reduce the height? Would 24"x24"x8" work as well as 48"x24"x4" (as if you cut one in have and stuff the halves together front to back)? This is twice as deep, yet it yields only 2/3 the surface area.

It seems neither depth nor surface area tell the whole story. Can effectiveness be calculated from the three dimensions?

Thanx, D

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by Ben F

Ethan, what are the average dimensions of a small room?

To me, a small room is a bedroom, maybe up to 12 by 16 feet, 8 feet high.

--Ethan

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by donsimpson

Are 8, 10, 12" increasingly better?

Yes, but at some point going thicker helps only a little more.

It seems neither depth nor surface area tell the whole story. Can effectiveness be calculated from the three dimensions?

Yes, all three are important. Thickness gets you down to lower frequencies, and surface area determines the overall reduction in reverb / ringing time.

--Ethan