Good bass trap material choice?

[af_analog]

I am going to be building some DIY corner bass traps and will also be treating the ceiling above the drums...and some other areas as well. I found this product that is readily available in my area, seems to have good broadband coefficients, but it seems to be very dense (72 kg/m3) compared to other products I have seen (40kg/m3). Here is a link to the product:

http://www.roxul.com/graphics/RX-NA/...fe-1-10-06.pdf


Can someone tell me if this is a good choice of material?

CHEERZ!

[Crash]

Owens Corning 703. Check Ethan Winer's website.

Go here:

http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

[guid0]

Originally Posted by af_analog

I am going to be building some DIY corner bass traps and will also be treating the ceiling above the drums...and some other areas as well. I found this product that is readily available in my area, seems to have good broadband coefficients, but it seems to be very dense (72 kg/m3) compared to other products I have seen (40kg/m3). Here is a link to the product:

http://www.roxul.com/graphics/RX-NA/...fe-1-10-06.pdf


Can someone tell me if this is a good choice of material?

CHEERZ!

Roxul makes good products. Check out the various Absorption coefficients on this page:

http://www.bobgolds.com/AbsorptionCoefficients.htm

I think the RHT stuff is closer to the Owens corning 703 specs.

[af_analog]

Thanks Crash, but I don't think that is very available here in Canada...

Thanks for the link guid0...the coefficients of the RXL (the link I put up) are better than the 703 though, aren't they? According to the chart, I would have to use 6" of 703 to get the absorbtion of 4" of Roxul RXL, please correct me if I'm wrong...CHEERZ.

Keep the suggestions coming guys! Thanks!

[af_analog]

guid0, checking the charts again, you are correct that the RHT 40 looks good...maybe I'll go that route. It seems that the RHT has about the same absorbtion coefficients as the RXL, but the RHT's density is less I believe. Thanks again for the info!

[Youn]

I would try and get something similar to 703 density. Some folks have reported that the higher density stuff does not work as well for some reason, perhaps it was a cost-performance issue though. Roxul stuff is good, especially if it's easier to get a hold of.

I'm not so sure you can trust numbers entirely, I mean, the numbers go down only to 125Hz, when really it's the junk below this freq that is of more concern IMO

[joeq]

as examined in another thread, testing below 125 Hz is problematic. Its not that these things don't absorb down there its that the testing can vary wildly

[Youn]

You're right, and that seems to me like another reason to not trust only numbers to decide which is best.

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by af_analog

I am going to be building some DIY corner bass traps and will also be treating the ceiling above the drums...and some other areas as well. I found this product that is readily available in my area, seems to have good broadband coefficients, but it seems to be very dense (72 kg/m3) compared to other products I have seen (40kg/m3). Here is a link to the product:

http://www.roxul.com/graphics/RX-NA/...fe-1-10-06.pdf


Can someone tell me if this is a good choice of material?

CHEERZ!

I think this stuff looks pretty good.. If you can afford it go ahead and make the traps 6" thick.. You will thank me in the morning..

Glenn

[Jules]

"Good bass trap material choice?"

A heavy leather couch at the back of the room

[tINY]

About 2-3" is all you need, but you have to space it out from the wall to get bass absorbtion (part of the reason corner traps work).

You may not want to kill all the higher frequencies in the room either.

Making a structure with stantions (like 2x8s) and a panel of pegboard to mount the mineral fiber to can be just the thing.




-tINY

[johndough]

I know this sounds totally crazy... But... How well do you think heavy bags as in boxing bags would work. I think it would look hot. But Im not sure it would work because the sand in them would be too dense. Actually what if they were emptied and filled with cornings then mounted?

[ozraves]

Originally Posted by Jules

"Good bass trap material choice?"

A heavy leather couch at the back of the room

You sort of think the way I think. I go for books and furniture as sound treatment.

[Rep]

In Canada you have the most amount of RockWool around....
Good stuff, fire safe , just like Mineral fiber, No airborne fibers..
wrap it in felt or Light stitched cloth.


.

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by tINY

About 2-3" is all you need, but you have to space it out from the wall to get bass absorbtion (part of the reason corner traps work).

You may not want to kill all the higher frequencies in the room either.

Making a structure with stantions (like 2x8s) and a panel of pegboard to mount the mineral fiber to can be just the thing.




-tINY

You really do not want to mount onto anything.. Keeping the back open is a must.. Even for the first reflection point panels... If you make them 2" thick you want to space them off the wall 2".. It not only picks up more of the low end but also picks up more of the high end..

Glenn

[af_analog]

"Good bass trap material choice?"

A heavy leather couch at the back of the room

I like the way you think Jules...I wish I had enough room for it!



Thanks to everyone who is chiming in here, great advise as always! I think I will go with one of Roxul's products for sure, and I think the idea of matching the 703's density is probably wise for the reasons mentioned. The Roxul is actually very reasonably priced here, I think its about $30 Canadian for eight 4' x 2' panels.

One other question though...I understand the theory of having dead space behind the corner traps, but a lot of the DIY corner traps I see are mounted so that they fill the entire corner with rockwool...is this wrong? Would I be better off just straddling the corner with 4" of this stuf rather than filling the corner right in?

Again, your advise is greatly appreciated. I can't wait to hear the improvement once this is done! Our room isn't the worst but it's far from the best, we just got a Gretsch Catalina Club kit with the 26" kick and I want to make that kit sound as good as possible, even though it's hard to make it sound bad!

CHEERZ

[midigod]

Originally Posted by af_analog

II understand the theory of having dead space behind the corner traps, but a lot of the DIY corner traps I see are mounted so that they fill the entire corner with rockwool...is this wrong? CHEERZ

It's not that it's wrong, it's just that the energy of the wave as it hits the barrier (wall) is so low that it's a waste of money to put the material in that space. Keep that inside corner space open, just as you would with the trap spaced out from the wall.

Two inches is not enough for broadband - use four inches, and hang them four inches out from the wall.

Sand won't work for a trap because it's too dense.

As far as density goes, you can use anything up to 8 pounds/cu.ft. You can use ten, but right about at ten, you're starting to get into reflection of the higher frequencies rather than absorption, which will still be good for low end, but will mess up the idea of a broadband trap. (Which is what these are - they affect the entire audible range, not just bass. So though we call them "bass traps", they're still broadband traps.)

-Craig