Bass Trap questions

[Fumblefingers]

Perhaps this should be for Ethan but I would love to hear from anyone who knows.

On the bass trap plans on Ethan's site.........are the top and bottoms-the 2' ends.... sealed the same as the sides. Or are the top and bottom ends open. I assume closed since he says to caulk the plywood skin so I am thinking that the sides must br conpleted all the way around.

Also, is luan plywood okay for the deep bass traps?

Finally, for now, can I make these in different dimensions? For example where I do not have space for a 2X8 panel due to an A/C in wall unit, can I build a 4X4 unit or several 2X2 units?

Thanks.

[Fumblefingers]

YIKES!!!

Sorry guys, I just re-read the plans ( which I have had saved in PDF form for years ) and got all my answers.

RTFM! LOL!

Okay, I picked up my 1" rigid fiberglass yesterday so hopefully I will get these going soon. I work on a TV show that is going down and I have full access to our mill. If I plan this right I will be able to do all my cuts and get all the lumber prepped and painted before we leave these stages for the last time....*sniff*......so all I will need to do is assemble them in place.

I can't wait.

One question though....I read that sine waves are never used, only pink noise as it has no one frequency or something.

Does that mean the Room EQ Wizard and it's sweeping wave is not the best program to use. It's all I have and I would have loved to do a test before and after the bass traps are in.

[PaulP]

Ethan's article was written a long time ago and treatment techniques have
evolved since (I wonder why Ethan keeps the article alive). What size room
do you want to treat ? What will you be doing in it ? There may be better
and possibly simpler ways to meet your requirements.

Paul P

[Fumblefingers]

PaulP, thanks for the reply. It is a very small room that I framed in a 2 car garage.

I had a nice size room in our house but 4 years ago when I found out we were expecting our second child, I knew the first thing I would lose would be my music room.

So I built what is now my home studio. It is tiny.......but it is mine!

The basic inside room dimensions are 12'L X7' 9"'W X 8'H. The roof height drops to 6' on one side so I put the desk under this section. I framed the two walls I built, off 90˚, decoupled the floor from the walls and floated it on some very dense rubber stuff. The floor is framed and packed with fiberglass.

I used the thickest fiberglass insulation batting I could find in the walls and ceiling and also used Celotex for the ceiling itself. I used an Auralex Roominator kit to tame some of the echo/ringing in the room.

This has been the state of things for about 4 years.

I use VI's and guitar sims as it is too tiny to run my big amps or a drumkit.

Thanks.

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by PaulP

I wonder why Ethan keeps the article alive.

The most honest answer is it comes up at the top of Google searches for bass traps. A few years ago I added a section in bold at the top with a link to my much newer Acoustics FAQ.

--Ethan

________________
The Acoustic Treatment Experts

[PaulP]

Ethan, I see that there is an obvious caution at the beginning of the article
but still I don't think it's enough. At least a couple of people here, with small
enough rooms, have been drawn into building traps according to the article
and I was certainly intending to do so myself for a while. Maybe what happens
is that the disclaimer is read at a point when one has very little knowledge (it
is the first thing that pops up in Google) and then on subsequent readings
that part is skipped over without a glance. I certainly don't remember seeing
it and I read the article several times last year.

Since there is a total lack of experimental data regarding panel traps such as
these I see the existence of the article as a danger to readers with limited
knowledge. They're quite a bit of work to build and the results are completely
unknown.

Paul P

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by PaulP

Since there is a total lack of experimental data regarding panel traps such as these

Not so! Years ago I built eight of each type and tested them in an acoustics lab. They work very well! I've also used them in small rooms with great results. In the early 1990s I had a small home studio in a bedroom size space, and used only that system of three trap types. They worked very well.

--Ethan

________________
The Acoustic Treatment Experts