RealTraps Debuts SoffitTraps - bass traps with high visual appeal

[Ethan Winer]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RealTraps Debuts SoffitTraps - bass traps with high visual appeal

New Milford, CT, USA - May 27, 2005 - RealTraps has announced their new SoffitTrap. Unlike conventional bass traps that intrude visually when mounted straddling room corners, SoffitTraps are designed to mount high up in the ceiling corners and look like a built-in soffit. They can be painted using standard Latex paint to match the walls and ceiling, and like all RealTraps products they employ a damped membrane for very high performance down to the lowest bass frequencies.

SoffitTraps are 12-1/2 by 16-1/4 inches by 4 feet long and weigh 8 pounds. Since rooms are rarely multiples of exactly four feet, custom lengths are available at no additional charge. Seams between sections are easily hidden using standard drywall tape and joint compound, and the traps can then be painted to match the rest of the room. SoffitTraps can also be installed vertically in wall-wall corners, or hidden under a small table top (not supplied) to serve as plant holders or as stands for loudspeakers up to 50 pounds. When used as speaker stands they effectively decouple the speaker cabinet from the floor, in addition to their bass trapping.

According to RealTraps co-owner Ethan Winer, "High-performance acoustic treatment is a key component of every great monitoring environment. Unfortunately, the intrusive appearance of most bass traps has been a big impediment to their acceptance, especially when a bedroom or living room does double duty as a home studio. Effective bass traps are of necessity large, which makes them difficult to hide. Our new SoffitTraps redefine what acoustic treatment looks like, appealing to people who were previously turned off by large rectangular panels. We have also raised the bar for performance. SoffitTraps provide a huge amount of absorption below 200 Hz, centered around the 'fullness' range for bass instruments, with intentionally less absorption at higher frequencies. This avoids over-damping a room as can happen with typical panels made of foam or fiberglass."

Complete product details and photos are on the RealTraps web site www.realtraps.com. Also at the RealTraps site are many articles and videos offering room treatment advice, tutorials showing how to solve common acoustic problems, and a detailed explanation of acoustic product testing methods. SoffitTraps are available directly from the manufacturer for $50 per linear foot or less.

RealTraps is owned by Ethan Winer and Doug Ferrara. Ethan is known throughout the industry for his many technical articles in audio and computer magazines, and he has engineered and produced several classical music CDs including a recording of his own cello concerto. Ethan also moderates the Acoustics forum at www.musicplayer.com. Doug is a professional musician who has operated a professional recording studio for more than twenty years. Besides audio and recording, Doug holds an advanced degree in engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic and has been a systems engineer for Intel and Motorola.

All RealTraps products are sold direct by the manufacturer.

Product information: www.realtraps.com

Toll-free (USA and Canada): 866-RealTraps (866-732-5872)
Local and international: 860-210-1870

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[Glamdring]

haha Ethan you're a genius - this is going to be a hit.

E

[MASSIVE Master]

Sweet...

[Johnny B]

Ethan,

I see 200Hz listed, how low do they go?

[Ethan Winer]

Johnny,

> I see 200Hz listed, how low do they go? <

You can see the complete data on the Products Data page of our site. In corners (as intended) they're about as effective as MondoTraps below 200 Hz - a little more around 100 Hz, a little less at 200 Hz and above.

--Ethan

[Johnny B]

Thanks Ethan,

I have suggestion for you. I think an open E on a bass guitar is lower than 50Hz, and one tuned to a D is even lower, and for sure the lowest note on a real grand piano is about 27.5 Hz...so would it not be a good idea to at least show your specs going down to 27.5Hz?

[Ethan Winer]

Johnny,

> I think an open E on a bass guitar is lower than 50Hz, and one tuned to a D is even lower, and for sure the lowest note on a real grand piano is about 27.5 Hz <

I'll address that part first. Yes, the fundamental of a low E is 41.2 Hz, but most of what you hear is usually an octave higher. With an electric bass, the second harmonic is as much as 12 dB louder than the fundamental when the string is plucked in the usual position over the pickups. With other bass instruments, like a standup bass or tuba, the disparity is even larger. With guitars it's larger still. The last time I checked very low notes on a grand piano, there was almost no fundamental at all. So take that 27.5 Hz with a grain of salt.

> would it not be a good idea to at least show your specs going down to 27.5Hz? <

Sure, but it's almost impossible to get reliable data that low. Most labs are certified to measure down to only 100 Hz, and a very few labs are certified down to 80 Hz. IBM's lab we use is certified to 100 Hz. This does not mean the numbers suddenly become useless below that frequency! The size of the test lab determines the lowest frequency that can be tested reliably. As you go lower the margin of error increases. I devised a way to measure absorption reliably down to the lowest frequencies, and reported on it in THIS article. Note that this method does not yield absorption data as numbers. Though it is useful to see the relative absorption of different traps.

Also, bass trapping at very low frequencies is not as important as at higher frequencies. The important "fullness" range where things become boomy and ill-defined without traps is around 80 to 200 Hz. So that's where trapping is most important. Further, with "normal" single layer sheet rock construction, when you get down to very low frequencies the walls tend to pass sound rather than reflect all of it. Since all acoustic problems are caused by reflections, that's another reason trapping down to 27 Hz is not as important as at higher bass frequencies.

You can read more about acoustic labs and test methods in THIS article on the RealTraps site.

--Ethan

[Johnny B]

Thanks Ethan,

You are one of the good guys.

Oh, BTW, what would happen if you stuck a pair of monitors on these guys instead of a plant? If that worked well, in addition to mix rooms, all the home theatre people should be drooling for them.

And all that drool will not just be comming from drummers either.

[Ethan Winer]

Johnny,

> what would happen if you stuck a pair of monitors on these guys instead of a plant? <

They work great for decoupling monitors too, and that's mentioned in the SoffitTraps description on our Products page.

> If that worked well, in addition to mix rooms, all the home theatre people should be drooling for them. <

That's the hope!

--Ethan

[Johnny B]

Ok, thanks.

[Dor]

Ethan, I'm thinking of ordering some SoffitTraps for my studio & am wondering what the texture of the SoffitTraps is like. Is the painted SoffitTrap porous or does it look like painted sheetrock? Thanks for your time & response.

Dor

[Ethan Winer]

Dor,

> am wondering what the texture of the SoffitTraps is like. Is the painted SoffitTrap porous or does it look like painted sheetrock? <

The outside skin is basically thick white paper, so it looks nice enough as is (if you like white) but it also takes standard Latex paint so you can paint it to match the rest if the room if you prefer.

--Ethan

[Jax]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

Johnny,

> what would happen if you stuck a pair of monitors on these guys instead of a plant? <

They work great for decoupling monitors too, and that's mentioned in the SoffitTraps description on our Products page.

> If that worked well, in addition to mix rooms, all the home theatre people should be drooling for them. <

That's the hope!

--Ethan

Ethan,

(From a proud and happy, early minitraps owner)

Do you have any test information that would compare the decoupling properties of soffit traps to 'standard' sand or shot-filled speaker stands?

Now for the dumb question: Can soffit traps be filled with sand-filled thick plastic bags (a standard way of filling speaker stands)? I doubt it, but it's worth asking. I'd guess that sand bags might actually detract from the performance of the soffit traps, but who knows...

p.s. - Get a couple of mondotraps ready for me! I'll be ordering again soon.

thumbsup

[Ethan Winer]

Jax,

> Do you have any test information that would compare the decoupling properties of soffit traps to 'standard' sand or shot-filled speaker stands? <

No, and I'm not even sure how to officially test that. Aside from knowing that the lightweight material SoffitTraps are made from does not transmit vibration very well, all we did was put some speakers on them and verify that indeed no vibration travelled through the trap length.

> Can soffit traps be filled with sand-filled thick plastic bags <

No, but that's not really needed since they already decouple very well.

> Get a couple of mondotraps ready for me! I'll be ordering again soon. <

Thanks. They're right here ready to go.

--Ethan

[Johnny B]

Maybe he's worried about them traveling around or falling off, I dunno.

I forgot to ask, how heavy of a load can they handle before they collapse as some of those speakers are mighty weighty.

[Ethan Winer]

Johnny,

> how heavy of a load can they handle before they collapse as some of those speakers are mighty weighty. <

I'm sure they'll handle 50 pounds, but later today my partner is doing more testing, so I should know better then at exactly what point they'll collapse.

--Ethan

[Johnny B]

Oh, I wish I were there. Testing stuff and destroying it, loads of fun.

Is he going to keep piling weights on it until you hear it snap? e

Maybe you should record it? Throw a bunch of 'verb on it and make it sound huge, could be a fun sound for your next party. You could make people guess what they are hearing. That'd be fun, aye?

[Ethan Winer]

Johnny,

> Testing stuff and destroying it, loads of fun. <

You bet!

Yesterday my partner Doug put a 50 pound weight on top of a SoffitTrap, and then pushed down harder with his hands, and he reports that it still was very solid. He's leaving the weight on over the weekend to see if it sags, but doesn't think it will. (Why would it?) He's also going to put a second 50 pound weight on top of the first one to see what happens, so if you want to come by as a witness let me know.

--Ethan

[Johnny B]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

Johnny,

> Testing stuff and destroying it, loads of fun. <

You bet!

Yesterday my partner Doug put a 50 pound weight on top of a SoffitTrap, and then pushed down harder with his hands, and he reports that it still was very solid. He's leaving the weight on over the weekend to see if it sags, but doesn't think it will. (Why would it?) He's also going to put a second 50 pound weight on top of the first one to see what happens, so if you want to come by as a witness let me know.

--Ethan

It might be strong enough to support a 350-pound bass player sitting on one, yikes.

Seriously, how does is get its structural support for this stand application?

Maybe you could give us the quick and dirty (2-sentence) theory of operation and how it's constructed. Ok, 3 sentences.

[Ethan Winer]

Johnny,

> Seriously, how does is get its structural support for this stand application? <

The outer shell is basically a type of cardboard, with two layers of different sized flutes bonded together. So the trap itself is reasonably solid in the downward direction. But it still has enough "give" to isolate and prevent sound vibration from travelling down its length.

--Ethan

[Johnny B]

Hmmm, cardboard can be quite strong. I once saw a prof give his students a single sheet of 8.5 by 11" paper and commanded them to construct something that would support their own weight an inch or more above the floor.

Pretty funny some of the stuff they came up with, like triangles and all kinds of strange shapes.

Yep, you guessed it, little paper tubes in a honeycomb config worked.

[Johnny B]

One last q?

I'm sure this has already occured to you, but are these easly adaptable for those who want to do soffit-mount monitor systems? Maybe you could have some sort of adjustable bracing system that could properly isolate and support a wide variety of speakers.

V1, V2, or Custom?

Just a thought.

[Ethan Winer]

Johnny,

> Maybe you could have some sort of adjustable bracing system that could properly isolate and support a wide variety of speakers. <

That's well outside the scope of what we had in mind originally. I think what you're describing is better off being custom built.

---Ethan

[Brian Middleton]

Ethan, two questions about SoffitTraps:

1) If you're mounting them in a mixing area, is symmetry around the mix position crucial? I ask because in my basement space, I have drywall at the front and to the left of the mix position, but to the right is rough stone foundation wall. So if I used SoffitTraps I could mount them at the front and left but not to the right. (I could always substitute some other kind of bass trapping on the right, of course...)

2) Does it matter whether the lower edge of the "soffit" is left exposed, i.e., could I install bookcases or other wall-mounted objects that would run flush up to the bottom edge of the soffit without losing its effectiveness? If not, how much open area is needed below the soffit? (Hope I'm making sense here...)

Thanks,
Brian

[dkatz42]

Originally Posted by Johnny B

Hmmm, cardboard can be quite strong. I once saw a prof give his students a single sheet of 8.5 by 11" paper and commanded them to construct something that would support their own weight an inch or more above the floor.

Some of you must be old enough to remember the TV commercials back in the 70s from one of the clear cutting, er, paper companies, where they built a bridge out of cardboard and drove a semi across...

[Johnny B]

Hmmm, maybe Ethan can show a semi or a Ferrari driving over some bass traps, or maybe even show a pretty bikini-clad woman on a Harley do a jump over some bass traps like a modern day Evil Knevil, only much better looking. Could stick in people's minds for 20 or 30 years!

[Ethan Winer]

Brian,

> is symmetry around the mix position crucial? <

Symmetry with bass trap placement is not as critical as symmetry generally. Most important is simply to treat as much corner surface as possible. If there's an odd corner or two where you can't put a trap, it's no big deal. But again, this is for bass trapping only. Mid/high frequency absorption should be symmetrical, especially from where you sit forward.

> Does it matter whether the lower edge of the "soffit" is left exposed <

Yes, it will absorb more if there's some free space underneath. If you have shelves that leave at least one foot of space to the bottom of a SoffitTrap, that should be okay.

--Ethan

[IMS]

Ethan, if you use these as speaker stands, they would (at least in my room) not be in the corners. My room is sufficiently small that I don't think I have room to put them in the corners--too many cables, isobox for the computers, etc.

Would it even be worthwhile having them as speaker stands, where they would be probably four feet from each side wall, and almost flush to the back wall?

Irwin

[Ethan Winer]

Irwin,

> Would it even be worthwhile having them as speaker stands, where they would be probably four feet from each side wall, and almost flush to the back wall? <

Using SoffitTraps as speaker stands will still help some, but you're correct that this is not the most efficient place to put bass traps. I mention that use mainly because it's an additional application. It's more appropriate for audiophiles and home theater guys who can't put much treatment anywhere else in their room because of the dreaded WAF*.

--Ethan

*WAF = Wife Acceptance Factor

[IMS]

He he. I have to admit my wife is pretty cool about the studio, even allowing me to spill guitar amps and mics over into other (better sounding) rooms as long as I don't leave them there for weeks.

Thanks, Ethan. I will still consider them if I can ever figure out a way to clean out the wiring in the corners without moving house...

Irwin