GIK Traps... Worth it?

[meltdown50]

I've been looking into really upgrading my studio. everything.. mics, preamps, monitors. everything. Including my room treatment.

My Rooms is about 18ft by 12ft. 8ft high. Dry wall with insulation. and thicker scruffy carpet.

Right now i had a bunch of home made traps around my rooms. they are 2ft by 2ft squares, 2in thick of Rock wool cover with cloth. I made them myself.. they look ok.

Aurlex Basstraps (8 of them) around in the corners.

and in my "drum corner" i have a layer of auralex foam about 5ft by ft square. again on the ceiling.

This is both my mix and recording room.

My question is... will i notice a a big difference with GIK traps/panels? Why cant i just make 2ft by 4ft and 5in think boxes and fill them with rock wool?

I ask, because I'm a college kid.. and in this economy money is steep.

Can anyone vouch for them? or know another company that offers the same sort of traps/panels for slightly less $ amounts?

-Ian

[SaSi_SiDi]

The GIK products are really well thought of and worth their price. DIY is also a very good way of reaching similar results with less cost and more effort (self work).

The 2x2 panels you have (2" thick) can be reused into building thicker and larger traps. Depends on how much material you have. With some thought you might even avoid wasting the cloth you used (e.g. mount 4 of those in two adjacent stacks to make a 2x4ft and 4" thick panel.

You really can make a 2x4 and 5" frame and fill that with rockwool. Leave both the front and back faces open for them to work efficiently and distance them from the walls by as much distance as their thickness.

Considering the traps being there, there's also the expertise in placing them correctly for effective use. This is where an experienced person can help with. Or you can study, read this forum and ask questions.

You could start by posting a plan view of your room and kit.

[soundchaserxyz]

If your happy with your sound now, don't change anything. I don't think you would notice a big difference with the GIK traps. Make your own and save some cash.

[Glenn Kuras]

Well I am bios so maybe you will know my answer, but yes you will here a difference. If you would like, go ahead and contact us and let us see what you have now and what we could put into the room to give you the best bang for the buck. The Tri Traps might be perfect, but there are other options depending on what you have going on.

[meltdown50]

Hey, I called into GIK but got no response.

Here is a layout of the room along with some pics.

[greenears]

Well for sure some GIK traps would look better than what you have hanging up now! I like your square trap scheme tho.

I think if you built more traps and modeled them after GIK or RealTraps or Ready Acoustics or whatever, you would probably realize similar results. However keep in mind what you're paying for...quality construction and design based on real world testing AND saving yourself the hassle.

When I decided to get trapping in my room, I weighed the pros and cons. If I went the DIY route I would have to drive 30 miles to buy OC703 from a distributor (only in a 12 pack) then somehow transport those in my coupe then find some way to cut them down (in my condo) then make some kind of wood supports then wrap them with fabric, etc. Based on my math, I wasn't actually going to save that much money by going the DIY route. And I was going to incur a lot of effort and time. I figured it was worth the extra (small) amount of money to have a reputable company make them professionally.

I went with GIK because their pricing was in my range. Their traps are sturdy and good looking and work effectively.

[steveschizoid]

Meltdown,
I've been to Hades and back in the process of getting my spaces under control. I have a couple of really oddball rooms, and GIK was incredibly helpful. I did create a couple of my own traps (because I had to to fit them where they needed to go,) but otherwise I've got 20 GIK traps - 242's, 244's and Monsters. It took all that, plus a lot of trial, error and measurements to get my rooms somewhere near honest. Here is a thread where I posted before and after graphs of my mix room's response:
GIK and Realtraps greatest hits? (graphs)
Mine is on the third page, but the whole thread is rather interesting.

Looking at your set up now I'd guess that your traps aren't thick enough and aren't optimally deployed. It seems the usual place to start is by straddling the tri-corners. Have you done any measuring? IMO That's the best way to find out what's going on and what kind of an impact your intervention is having.

Unless you can buy it locally, by the time you've paid to have OC 703 and/or 705 shipped, paid for your other materials, then invested the time to make sturdy, decent looking traps, you really might as well have just paid GIK.

[Glenn Kuras]

From looking at your set up we need to get your mix spot in the right spot. I think the panels you have now will work for early reflection points but not much for low end control. I have a pm into you to get the ball rolling.thumbsup

[Lectra]

GIK Traps... Worth it?

Absolutely !
No amount of gear could have been a better decision for my room than the 18 GIK panels i bought....
Great stuff !

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by meltdown50

Hey, I called into GIK but got no response.

Sorry man...our offices close at 6:30pm. I got your message but must have just missed your call. A couple of things I notice right off the bat:

- 7' is a REALLY wide monitoring triangle for a room that size. I'd knock that down to maybe 5' and go from there.

- If you decrease it to 5' that'll allow you to move 2' further back from the front wall, which is going to help a lot with low end response.

- Right now you have A LOT of high frequency absorption in that room, which makes sense in a way because I'd guess flutter is a pretty big problem in that room when it's untreated. The issue is low end, as it is in most rooms. You've got a lot of opportunities in terms of bass trapping too, which is a great thing. You should go floor to ceiling with at least 4" thick panels in the front corners, get the back wall with 6" bass traps and the front wall behind the speakers with 4" panels. You've got a wonky corner in the back, so you can either skip it entirely or use a stand for a bass trap there. I'd trap the available corner in the back from floor to ceiling exactly as you did in the front. Another great thing is that you've got plenty of high frequency panels already made...those will work great for the ceiling and reflection points. They'll be great on the ceiling above the drum kit too.

In terms of the difference bass trapping will make, I'll just say this: it won't be subtle. The improvement will be dramatic, especially if you make the moves I suggested as well.

Frank

[Eatin Weenies]

As the outspoken bearer of esoteric knowledge which when employed will produce fantastic sonic results for very little money if you D.I.Y,...

HOWEVER, I would say this, since the GIK prices are so great, and they are a 100% no B.S. company, why bother making traps yourself,... save the time, save the pain in the @ss of it all,... just order what you need,... the cost difference is not that much, the GIK stuff looks GREAT, plus they will tell you exactly where to put what you buy,.... and you won't have to deal with a bunch of high pressure "Buy as many as possible, I need the money more than you need good sound at a fair price B.S."

Simply stated, GIK = excellent value at a low cost with all the helpful tech support you might need, even AFTER the sale.

GIK?, Go for it! as I am,
Eatin Weenies

[garymusic]

A trick I have found that works is to get the 2 x 4 ft Auralex panels, mount them to 2 x 4 ft x 1/4 in plywood (you can buy pre cut at home depot)m make a little U hook on the back of the plywood and mount to a standard mic stand. All the hook is for is to keep the panel from falling down. I use 5 of them. Total cost around $200. You can move them around to get the best sound. It works great. Easy and not very expensive.

Gary

[abtech]

I can vouch for GIK as they were able to ballpark my end result before I placed any orders and the completed room (with 12 244s, 8 242s, 4 TriTraps and 6 D1s exceeded their specifications).

Great looking product that does what it's supposed to do.

[superiorsound]

flower power!

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by abtech

I can vouch for GIK as they were able to ballpark my end result before I placed any orders and the completed room (with 12 244s, 8 242s, 4 TriTraps and 6 D1s exceeded their specifications).

Great looking product that does what it's supposed to do.

Glad we could help.

[Tone Laborer]

I have the GIK room kit #1. It was affordable and has been effective. By my calculations, I wasn't going to be saving that much by DIY. Nor would they look as good. And chopping up rockwool doesn't sound like much fun. Definately a worthwhile purchase and I'll be buying more in the future.

[wiglad]

I've done one round of GIK treatment, and I'm getting ready for round two very soon. The product is excellent value, and GIK (I've always dealt with Frank) has been extremely helpful and accommodating. You will notice a great difference if you follow their advice. I got the feeling that they wanted to work with me, within my budget, rather than just trying to stuff as much of their product as they could into my studio.

I would suggest starting with what you can afford now, and add panels as you see fit, or budget allows. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by wiglad

I've done one round of GIK treatment, and I'm getting ready for round two very soon. The product is excellent value, and GIK (I've always dealt with Frank) has been extremely helpful and accommodating. You will notice a great difference if you follow their advice. I got the feeling that they wanted to work with me, within my budget, rather than just trying to stuff as much of their product as they could into my studio.

I would suggest starting with what you can afford now, and add panels as you see fit, or budget allows. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Thanks man...it's always our goal to get your room sounding right, and it's great to hear that it's working out well.

Frank