DIY effective Acoustics ?

[musimedia]

I know there are millions of threads like these on the web.
This is really to get some real life advice. Please no bashing.

I'm in Canada, more specifically in Gatineau Québec near Ottawa, across the bridge actually.

We don't have OC703/705 here. We can get it but with US dollar conversion and shipping charges it becomes ridiculously expensive.

I visited, like many others, every possible store that could sell OC703 and others to no avail. Nothing even close !

Until last night. I went to RONA (our diy center stores) and noticed that they are now selling Fiberglass Ceiling tiles.
They are 1" thick, 2X4'. Selling for about 9$ a sheet or 73$ for a box of 8 sheets.

They actually look like OC703, only in a 1" thickness and on side is covered with a 2mm thick plastic material just like a diaper.

like these:





I'm wondering if I do take two of them, peel of that plastic covering and wrap them in a fabric or those ReadyBag envelopes if it could be acceptable.

I could even use 4 tiles to make basstraps ?

Here is the link to the ReadyBag products:
http://www.readyacoustics.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=26_11_2&products_id=5


Any thoughts on this ?

and as always, Thanks for your help and time.
Michel.

[Glenn Kuras]

You can do that, but you can also just buy some fabric and wrap it.

[avare]

Originally Posted by musimedia

We don't have OC703/705 here. We can get it but with US dollar conversion and shipping charges it becomes ridiculously expensive.

I visited, like many others, every possible store that could sell OC703 and others to no avail. Nothing even close !

There is a company formerly known as Ottawa Fibre Inc. that is now a part of CertainTeed, which is the north american presence of the insulation giant Saint-Gobain. Their 703 equivalent is OFI 48. Try HVAC and insulation supply houses, not home building stores.

Andre

[musimedia]

Originally Posted by Glenn Kuras

You can do that, but you can also just buy some fabric and wrap it.

Hi Glenn,

Thanks for such a quick reply ! I have read many of your threads on acoustics.

So you think these would be effective as both broadband (2") and Basstraps (4") absorbers ?

I could find some fabric (some talk about landscape fabric) or use burlap coffe bags as I have a friend with a coffe shop and he has tons of them ?

Thanks
Michel.

[Seamus TM]

We have those exact tiles in one half of our live room.
The plastic side down sounded horrible.
I just wrapped them all in fabric and flipped them all around so that the fiberglass was facing down into the room.
Huge improvement.

When I have some extra cash, I plan on laying some R38 on top of the grid.

EDIT:
Sorry, I should have read you post more closely. I thought you had that drop ceiling.
At $9 a sheet, that's $1.12 per square foot for, what is essentially, 1" OC703.
That's going to add up very fast.
Listen to Andre and look a bit harder for places that sell fiberglass products.

[Glenn Kuras]

So you think these would be effective as both broadband (2") and Basstraps (4") absorbers ?

Yes just remove the plastic. You can though keep the plastic on the front panel (facing the room) when used for bass traps. It will help keep life in the room. But for the early reflection points you want to remove ALL plastic.

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by Mumblesound

We have those exact tiles in one half of our live room.
The plastic side down sounded horrible.
I just wrapped them all in fabric and flipped them all around so that the fiberglass was facing down into the room.
Huge improvement.

When I have some extra cash, I plan on laying some R38 on top of the grid.

EDIT:
Sorry, I should have read you post more closely. I thought you had that drop ceiling.
At $9 a sheet, that's $1.12 per square foot for, what is essentially, 1" OC703.
That's going to add up very fast.
Listen to Andre and look a bit harder for places that sell fiberglass products.

You really want to remove the plastic.

[Seamus TM]

Yeah, I would have if I knew then what I know now, but it's doing a fine job the way it is.
The bare plastic sounded pretty awful.

If I were to try and put a bunch of them together in a panel, like the OP, I would absolutely remove the plastic.
However, in my situation, it's not hurting anybody. Yes, it's reflecting some midrange back into the room, and all the bass is passing right through it to the ceiling 1.5 feet above it, but if I were to rip them all apart (300 square feet), peel off the plastic, wrap them back up and put them all back on the grid.... I would be wasting my time.

Here is CertainTeed Canada:
CertainTeed Insulation Canada

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by avare

There is a company formerly known as Ottawa Fibre Inc. that is now a part of CertainTeed, which is the north american presence of the insulation giant Saint-Gobain. Their 703 equivalent is OFI 48. Try HVAC and insulation supply houses, not home building stores.

That's great advice from a fellow Canadian. Any reason you can't look for some OFI-48? That might be a better solution.

Frank

[musimedia]

Thanks guy. I will definiyrly look into that OFI48. If it is cheaper than the ceiling tiles I will go that route.

If not I will simply get these tiles, peal of the plastic (2 second job) and wrap them in fabric.

I have never treated a room before (tho my last studio had amazinb acoustics being build out of rustic pannel wood). This time I have a pre-build environement composed of drywall walls and ceiling and floating floor... I don't want to rebuild everything in this house (moved in 4 months ago) so I will try treating the rooms to the better of my knowledge.

again thanks for all your advice.

Michel

[mobius.media]

You can have UltraTouch R21 shipped to you from Toronto. Contact: Twin Maple Marketing Ltd.
Phone: (800) 663-8898

For the Toronto vendor's number.

Alternatively, if you want fiberglass or rockwool, look up your nearest "Multi-Glass Insulation". They have a location in Ottawa and can order in Roxul RHT or OFI48.

[musimedia]

Originally Posted by mobius.media

You can have UltraTouch R21 shipped to you from Toronto. Contact: Twin Maple Marketing Ltd.
Phone: (800) 663-8898

For the Toronto vendor's number.

Alternatively, if you want fiberglass or rockwool, look up your nearest "Multi-Glass Insulation". They have a location in Ottawa and can order in Roxul RHT or OFI48.

wow, Thank you very much! I will contact them for a price quote.

Michel.

For the moment I am using a set of Auralex Max-Wall with four 4" pannels... but I'm getting tired of moving them arround between recording and mixing !

Thanks a bunch guys !
Michel.

[musimedia]

Originally Posted by Glenn Kuras

You can do that, but you can also just buy some fabric and wrap it.

I just found out more details about the product.

It is actualy 74$ for 12 pannels. but they are 5/8" and not 1"

the technical documentation says this about the absorbtion:

Sound absorption (NRC) C-423, 0.55-0.65 .

And that is all I have, no freq reference but it usualy is from 125 to 4k ? (tho I doubt that a 5/8 pannel qould have a coeficient of 0.55 @ 125Hz)

any opinions on this ? Use 3 pannels for 1 7/8" (18$ + fabric/pannel)

Or spend more and get single pannels with the correct thickness ?

Link to product: Sculpted