Question about Auralex

Biggsheff · 26th August 2007, 02:17 AM

I just bought a ton of Auralex to treat my room for mixing and was wondering if I have to use tubetak to put it up with. Can I use anything else ? Does the entire backing have to be covered an pressed to the wall or just enough to make it stay up?

illynoise · 26th August 2007, 04:54 AM

if you use that stuff you will ruin it if you ever have to move it. Just make sure that your gonna keep that room foamed up! This might sound kinda crazy but I saw someone use thin nails and that worked great for me. Velcro will work as well.

Biggsheff · 26th August 2007, 05:54 AM

Yeah I was thinking about the thin nails. If I ever have to move anything it would all just rip apart. I have a booklet from Auralex and it said the room should be 60% covered for control room an post production. I know I should at least hit that mark, but should I cover more? The room is 12x12. I think I'm gonna go with the thin nails.

nukmusic · 26th August 2007, 07:32 AM

ya... thin long nails(3/4" - 1") works great. Just decide where u need the foam, then tap the nail in near the wedge. Do it correctly and the nail will be hidden.

ricknaqvi · 26th August 2007, 07:45 AM

A friend that I work with made some really cool frames and mounted the auralex to some plywood and hung it like a picture. They look really cool and are portable.

I just finished treating my room with Auralex and got some cloth covered sound panels from them that already had hooks on them.

The cool thing about that is you have the ability to take panels down if you want a more ambient sound.

I would strongly recommend this as I spent a year mixing in a room that was 'over done' with treatment. It sounded like crap in there and was a drag to work in.

My new room can go from super ambient to dead like a walk in closet. I'm really digging the flexibility of panels on hooks.

Alex Niedt · 26th August 2007, 11:07 AM

I mounted thin foam board to the backs of everything, then used these cool little picture hanger things and/or some double-sided sticky squares. This way there's NO damage to the foam, and the most damage to any wall is tiny little nail holes that could be repaired w/ zero trouble if need be. This idea came from our Auralex consulting guy...brilliant.

ricknaqvi · 26th August 2007, 02:55 PM

I didn't even think about foam board. That's a great idea because it's a lot lighter than plywood!!

Biggsheff · 26th August 2007, 04:58 PM

I'm going to hang the Auralex today with the thin nails. How much of a difference did you notice in your mixes after your rooms were treated ? I also purchased some new monitors that should be here in a couple days. The Event TR8XL's. I'm ready to see how much better my mixes will become after new monitors and proper room treatment.

azwun25 · 26th August 2007, 05:07 PM

Auralex makes these little velcro things called Temp Tabs. They work well and don't ruin anything. great if you're foaming up a room in a rental spot (apartment, condo etc).

KBOY · 26th August 2007, 05:48 PM

Be careful with that tube tack or what ever it's called stuff. I used the 3m spray on most of my foam in my old apartment but it didn't hold up the foam bass traps. Had to use the Tube tack stuff. Moved recently and not only did it destroy the foam taking it down but the wall as well. Any where it was used it ripped however many layers of paint there was. Leaving gouges in the wall. Needless to say, the landlord was not happy and I'm going through a lawsuit as we speak. Even the 3m stuff left damage.

One thing I will say though. In my make shift vocal booth I had the entire wall done with foam and real traps mid absorbers around the mic facing away from the foam. One day I flipped it and the sound of the foam absorbing was hideous. Dead in a weird way....... The real traps stuff has a smooth deadening effect. I will never use foam again.

chris carter · 27th August 2007, 12:06 AM

Probably NOT what you want to hear, but....

The best way to hang Auralex foam is to not hang it at all so you can return it and get your money back. That stuff is severely overpriced and really sucks for acoustic treatment. The absorption is totally uneven and really only absorbs above 1kHz leaving you with some funky resonance left over. The best way to treat a space is with 703 rigid fiberglass. It's CHEAPER than Auralex and works MUCH MUCH MUCH BETTER! If you don't want to DIY, then buy from Realtraps, or Readyacoustics, or GIK. But some of the descriptions in the above posts of what people have done to install the auralex is honestly just as much a pain as building 703 panels.

Again, I know it's not what you want to hear. But Auralex is really a major disapointment. In comparison to 703 it's just a complete joke. And their bass traps don't even treat the bass (maybe the midrange, but not the bass!).

illynoise · 27th August 2007, 12:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggsheff

I'm going to hang the Auralex today with the thin nails. How much of a difference did you notice in your mixes after your rooms were treated ? I also purchased some new monitors that should be here in a couple days. The Event TR8XL's. I'm ready to see how much better my mixes will become after new monitors and proper room treatment.

I think it's cool for booths, but for mixing I haven't had much luck with hearing a difference with the wedge type of stuff. BUT the sunburst diffuser did make a difference when I put them in front and behind me in a echoed room. They are over priced if youbuy them list, but I got a pretty good deal on them, when Mars music was going out of business.

jordanh · 27th August 2007, 01:41 AM

I think the idea of mounting the foam panels to some kind of board is really worth the effort. Not only do you have MORE options of changing the environment on a small budget studio, taking more away and adding more panels when you need the space to be more dead or alive, it is an investment. In my old studio I had invested a ton of money into the acoustic treatmeant but used the glue to get it all on the wall. It sounded good but when I moved, the foam was destroyed. When I setup a place again, I am going to make sure I do something that is more modular so to speak.

Yetti · 27th August 2007, 01:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggsheff

I just bought a ton of Auralex to treat my room for mixing and was wondering if I have to use tubetak to put it up with. Can I use anything else ? Does the entire backing have to be covered an pressed to the wall or just enough to make it stay up?

Use these Brotha.
They are so thin, they just push right in....use 1 in each corner, and 1 in the middle....SO EASY!

Staples.com®. that was easy®.

Glenn Kuras · 27th August 2007, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggsheff

Yeah I was thinking about the thin nails. If I ever have to move anything it would all just rip apart. I have a booklet from Auralex and it said the room should be 60% covered for control room an post production. I know I should at least hit that mark, but should I cover more? The room is 12x12. I think I'm gonna go with the thin nails.

Does it really say 60%? It does not tell you where to put the foam? For a room that is 12x12 you really need to put in as MUCH bass trapping as you can. In fact I would focus more on that then covering 60% of flat wall surface. What is going to end up happing is you are going to absorb all the highs in the room, but the low end will be out of control. It is all a balance.

Glenn

Biggsheff · 27th August 2007, 08:46 PM

Yes it says cover 60%. Right on the back of the booklet. Under all the room sizes. I have plenty of bass traps. The room is treated from almost middle of the wall up to the ceiling. All the way around the room.The corners have bass traps from top to bottom.

Glenn Kuras · 27th August 2007, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggsheff

Yes it says cover 60%. Right on the back of the booklet. Under all the room sizes. I have plenty of bass traps. The room is treated from almost middle of the wall up to the ceiling. All the way around the room.The corners have bass traps from top to bottom.

Well I would have to disagree with that. You want to cover as much of corners as you can with bass traps (like I guess you have done), but at that point you want to cover early reflection points and that is about it. There are other parts of the room you want to treat, but not with thin foam.

Glenn

Biggsheff · 28th August 2007, 05:34 AM

So what I've done is wrong ? Have I made the room too dead ? I thought I had the early reflections covered.

Glenn Kuras · 28th August 2007, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggsheff

So what I've done is wrong ? Have I made the room too dead ? I thought I had the early reflections covered.

I read back through the thread and don't see where you placed the foam in the room. Can you take pictures or give a diagram of placement? Basically you want to hit the reflection points with maybe a 4x4 or 2x4 area of foam. I would think with 60% of just foam in the room it is really going to be dead. Highs will be absorbed but the bass is going to still be out of control and as you know, it is all in the bass.

Have you looked into getting some bass traps that are made out of rigid fiberglass or mineral wool? That really is going to be much better for the bass trapping.

Glenn

Biggsheff · 28th August 2007, 02:00 PM

I'll try to take some pics this afternoon after school. I was afraid I did it wrong an would have to start all over, but if thats what it takes I guess.

Biggsheff · 28th August 2007, 09:37 PM

Heres the pics of my room. I don't have the monitors in the pics because they wont be here until tomorrow. They will be placed to the sides of my desk. About as high as the second level of the desk. I was 1 piece of foam short for behind the right monitor position. I didn't know how to make the pics just show up on the page so here is the links.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...f/100_0186.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...f/100_0185.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...f/100_0184.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...f/100_0183.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...f/100_0180.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...f/100_0179.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...f/100_0178.jpg

Glenn Kuras · 28th August 2007, 09:55 PM

I hate to tell you this but you really need to take it down. You only need the foam where the reflection points will be. Do you know how to find the reflection points? If not, go to our website and click on the education page. It will show you how. The foam on the front wall is really not going to do much, but make the room feel more dead. Also you are way to close to that wall, back up a couple feet or so.

Glenn

Biggsheff · 28th August 2007, 10:28 PM

I'll do that. Thanks for the help. There really is nobody here locally to help me out so I usually have to mess things up 10 times before I get it right.

Biggsheff · 28th August 2007, 10:45 PM

I'm probably gonna need some help with finding all the reflection points. I spent alot of money and I don't want to keep messing it up.

Glenn Kuras · 29th August 2007, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggsheff

I'm probably gonna need some help with finding all the reflection points. I spent alot of money and I don't want to keep messing it up.

Well just grab a mirror and friend. Make the area (like I said before) around 4x4 area around the reflection point and don't forget about the ceiling!

Glenn

daillman · 29th August 2007, 04:38 PM

first of all i would have used foam by mail,and thumb tacs with the colored heads work as well then you can make cool color designs.

jacksonburn · 29th August 2007, 04:56 PM

Haven't read the whole thread so don't know if this has been mentioned but I did my whole room with Auralex mounted to the walls with T-pins (can get at a hobby store). On the ceiling, I just used T-pins and that double-sided thick mounting tape. Works awesome and I can move it with no problem.

Glenn Kuras · 29th August 2007, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daillman

first of all i would have used foam by mail,and thumb tacs with the colored heads work as well then you can make cool color designs.

Ethan Winer from Real Traps tested foam by mail in the lab and found it to be fraud. You may want to watch out on using that stuff.

Glenn

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26th August 2007, 02:17 AM	#1
Biggsheff Gear nut Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pensacola, FL Posts: 103	Question about Auralex I just bought a ton of Auralex to treat my room for mixing and was wondering if I have to use tubetak to put it up with. Can I use anything else ? Does the entire backing have to be covered an pressed to the wall or just enough to make it stay up?

26th August 2007, 04:54 AM	#2
illynoise Lives for gear Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 1,622	if you use that stuff you will ruin it if you ever have to move it. Just make sure that your gonna keep that room foamed up! This might sound kinda crazy but I saw someone use thin nails and that worked great for me. Velcro will work as well. __________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Base Jase Illynoise Music www.basejase.com

26th August 2007, 07:45 AM	#5
ricknaqvi Gear maniac Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 221	A friend that I work with made some really cool frames and mounted the auralex to some plywood and hung it like a picture. They look really cool and are portable. I just finished treating my room with Auralex and got some cloth covered sound panels from them that already had hooks on them. The cool thing about that is you have the ability to take panels down if you want a more ambient sound. I would strongly recommend this as I spent a year mixing in a room that was 'over done' with treatment. It sounded like crap in there and was a drag to work in. My new room can go from super ambient to dead like a walk in closet. I'm really digging the flexibility of panels on hooks. __________________ Rick Naqvi www.presonus.com rnaqvi@presonus.com 800.750.0323 x0641

26th August 2007, 11:07 AM	#6
Alex Niedt Lives for gear Join Date: May 2006 Location: Kansas City, Missouri Posts: 602	I mounted thin foam board to the backs of everything, then used these cool little picture hanger things and/or some double-sided sticky squares. This way there's NO damage to the foam, and the most damage to any wall is tiny little nail holes that could be repaired w/ zero trouble if need be. This idea came from our Auralex consulting guy...brilliant. __________________

26th August 2007, 05:54 AM	#3
Biggsheff Gear nut Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pensacola, FL Posts: 103	Yeah I was thinking about the thin nails. If I ever have to move anything it would all just rip apart. I have a booklet from Auralex and it said the room should be 60% covered for control room an post production. I know I should at least hit that mark, but should I cover more? The room is 12x12. I think I'm gonna go with the thin nails.

26th August 2007, 02:55 PM	#7
ricknaqvi Gear maniac Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 221	I didn't even think about foam board. That's a great idea because it's a lot lighter than plywood!! __________________ Rick Naqvi www.presonus.com rnaqvi@presonus.com 800.750.0323 x0641

26th August 2007, 04:58 PM	#8
Biggsheff Gear nut Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pensacola, FL Posts: 103	I'm going to hang the Auralex today with the thin nails. How much of a difference did you notice in your mixes after your rooms were treated ? I also purchased some new monitors that should be here in a couple days. The Event TR8XL's. I'm ready to see how much better my mixes will become after new monitors and proper room treatment.

26th August 2007, 05:07 PM	#9
azwun25 Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Roman Empire State Posts: 1,431	Auralex makes these little velcro things called Temp Tabs. They work well and don't ruin anything. great if you're foaming up a room in a rental spot (apartment, condo etc). __________________ "If the opposite of pro is a con then look beyond this The opposite of congress must be progress" ~Cage Grand Ol' Party Crash

26th August 2007, 05:48 PM	#10
KBOY Gear addict Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: philadelphia Posts: 364	Be careful with that tube tack or what ever it's called stuff. I used the 3m spray on most of my foam in my old apartment but it didn't hold up the foam bass traps. Had to use the Tube tack stuff. Moved recently and not only did it destroy the foam taking it down but the wall as well. Any where it was used it ripped however many layers of paint there was. Leaving gouges in the wall. Needless to say, the landlord was not happy and I'm going through a lawsuit as we speak. Even the 3m stuff left damage. One thing I will say though. In my make shift vocal booth I had the entire wall done with foam and real traps mid absorbers around the mic facing away from the foam. One day I flipped it and the sound of the foam absorbing was hideous. Dead in a weird way....... The real traps stuff has a smooth deadening effect. I will never use foam again.

27th August 2007, 12:06 AM	#11
chris carter Lives for gear Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 502	Probably NOT what you want to hear, but.... The best way to hang Auralex foam is to not hang it at all so you can return it and get your money back. That stuff is severely overpriced and really sucks for acoustic treatment. The absorption is totally uneven and really only absorbs above 1kHz leaving you with some funky resonance left over. The best way to treat a space is with 703 rigid fiberglass. It's CHEAPER than Auralex and works MUCH MUCH MUCH BETTER! If you don't want to DIY, then buy from Realtraps, or Readyacoustics, or GIK. But some of the descriptions in the above posts of what people have done to install the auralex is honestly just as much a pain as building 703 panels. Again, I know it's not what you want to hear. But Auralex is really a major disapointment. In comparison to 703 it's just a complete joke. And their bass traps don't even treat the bass (maybe the midrange, but not the bass!). __________________ Chris 'Von Pimpenstein' Carter Producer / Mixer www.millraceonline.com www.myspace.com/chriscarterproducer

27th August 2007, 01:41 AM	#13
jordanh Gear maniac Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA / Chicago, IL Posts: 285	I think the idea of mounting the foam panels to some kind of board is really worth the effort. Not only do you have MORE options of changing the environment on a small budget studio, taking more away and adding more panels when you need the space to be more dead or alive, it is an investment. In my old studio I had invested a ton of money into the acoustic treatmeant but used the glue to get it all on the wall. It sounded good but when I moved, the foam was destroyed. When I setup a place again, I am going to make sure I do something that is more modular so to speak. __________________ Jordan H Gear\|Addict Clothing (Designer/Creator) Unique Audio/Music/Recording Related Clothing (Mics, Synths, Analogue Gear...Hip Hop and everything in Between)

27th August 2007, 08:46 PM	#16
Biggsheff Gear nut Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pensacola, FL Posts: 103	Yes it says cover 60%. Right on the back of the booklet. Under all the room sizes. I have plenty of bass traps. The room is treated from almost middle of the wall up to the ceiling. All the way around the room.The corners have bass traps from top to bottom.

28th August 2007, 05:34 AM	#18
Biggsheff Gear nut Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pensacola, FL Posts: 103	So what I've done is wrong ? Have I made the room too dead ? I thought I had the early reflections covered.

28th August 2007, 02:00 PM	#20
Biggsheff Gear nut Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pensacola, FL Posts: 103	I'll try to take some pics this afternoon after school. I was afraid I did it wrong an would have to start all over, but if thats what it takes I guess.

28th August 2007, 09:37 PM	#21
Biggsheff Gear nut Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pensacola, FL Posts: 103	Heres the pics of my room. I don't have the monitors in the pics because they wont be here until tomorrow. They will be placed to the sides of my desk. About as high as the second level of the desk. I was 1 piece of foam short for behind the right monitor position. I didn't know how to make the pics just show up on the page so here is the links. http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...f/100_0186.jpg http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...f/100_0185.jpg http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...f/100_0184.jpg http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...f/100_0183.jpg http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...f/100_0180.jpg http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...f/100_0179.jpg http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...f/100_0178.jpg

28th August 2007, 09:55 PM	#22
Glenn Kuras Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 3,905	I hate to tell you this but you really need to take it down. You only need the foam where the reflection points will be. Do you know how to find the reflection points? If not, go to our website and click on the education page. It will show you how. The foam on the front wall is really not going to do much, but make the room feel more dead. Also you are way to close to that wall, back up a couple feet or so. Glenn __________________ Glenn Kuras - GIK Acoustics www.GIKAcoustics.com Need help with your room? click here

28th August 2007, 10:28 PM	#23
Biggsheff Gear nut Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pensacola, FL Posts: 103	I'll do that. Thanks for the help. There really is nobody here locally to help me out so I usually have to mess things up 10 times before I get it right.

28th August 2007, 10:45 PM	#24
Biggsheff Gear nut Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pensacola, FL Posts: 103	I'm probably gonna need some help with finding all the reflection points. I spent alot of money and I don't want to keep messing it up.

29th August 2007, 04:38 PM	#26
daillman Gear addict Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: bartow florida Posts: 408	first of all i would have used foam by mail,and thumb tacs with the colored heads work as well then you can make cool color designs. __________________ words often pale in comparison to the reality behind them.

29th August 2007, 04:56 PM	#27
jacksonburn Gear Head Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Memphis, TN Posts: 39	Haven't read the whole thread so don't know if this has been mentioned but I did my whole room with Auralex mounted to the walls with T-pins (can get at a hobby store). On the ceiling, I just used T-pins and that double-sided thick mounting tape. Works awesome and I can move it with no problem.