Low Cost manufactured Diffusion panels

[Switchcraft]

I am building a mix room that is in need of some diffusion. the room is shaped and it does already have a good amount of absorption, but I have three places that I would like to add some diffusion. I have spaced these areas so they will fit 2X2 blocks (4X4 Total area). I need to buy pre manufactured diffusers only because of a time constraint and because it is in a union building and I cannot do too much wood work myself. I am googling around and have found a few things, but nothing too great. Oh yeah, this needs to be cheap too so Auralex spacearays are too expensive...
Thanks for the tips...
has anybody used these?
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MetroDiff/

or these?
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MetroDiff/

I found these for 79$

Any other suggestions would be appreciated...

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by Switchcraft

Any other suggestions would be appreciated...

With diffusion, "good" and "low cost" don't usually go together. Good diffusors are deep enough to be effective to a usably low frequency, which rules out the cheap (or not so cheap) shallow products.

--Ethan

[Switchcraft]

Well,
Can you suggest something that is usefull and not 500$ per 2x2?

[tINY]

Gargoyle statues, wall sconces, faux Roman collumns....

Get them second hand.




-tINY

[AlexLakis]

How about a bookshelf filled with all those useless encyclopedias you've been holding on to?

[octatonic]

I had this idea a while ago but not tried it- be curious if Ethan/Glenn & co think it might be a good idea or not.

Get a sheet of 5/8 ply and an 8ft 2 x 2, cutting the 2 x 2 into various different lengths from 1-4 nches.
You could cut some at different angles on one side, so they sit flush to the ply but have different angled top bits...
Then gluing the wood to the ply in a semi random fashion.
So if you look at it from the top down it would like a model of a city as seen from above.

Know what I mean?

You could cut the ply sheet into whatever shape you want and hang it from the wall .

Is there any merit to this idea?

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by octatonic

I had this idea a while ago but not tried it- be curious if Ethan/Glenn & co think it might be a good idea or not.

Get a sheet of 5/8 ply and an 8ft 2 x 2, cutting the 2 x 2 into various different lengths from 1-4 nches.
You could cut some at different angles on one side, so they sit flush to the ply but have different angled top bits...
Then gluing the wood to the ply in a semi random fashion.
So if you look at it from the top down it would like a model of a city as seen from above.

Know what I mean?

You could cut the ply sheet into whatever shape you want and hang it from the wall .

Is there any merit to this idea?

I got to tell you that we have been working on a diffuser for about 4 months (cross your fingers it should be here very soon) and it is NOT a random thing. There is a great deal of math that goes into a proper diffuser, so random really is not a good thing. It is incredible how bad a diffuser tests in a lab when it is not done right. Not to say that what you are thinking of building will not diffuse, but it might not diffuse the way you want it to.

Glenn

[octatonic]

Originally Posted by myfipie

I got to tell you that we have been working on a diffuser for about 4 months (cross your fingers it should be here very soon) and it is NOT a random thing. There is a great deal of math that goes into a proper diffuser, so random really is not a good thing. It is incredible how bad a diffuser tests in a lab when it is not done right. Not to say that what you are thinking of building will not diffuse, but it might not diffuse the way you want it to.

Glenn

Rats....

Thanks for the response though.

Synchronise fingers crossing in 3.... 2.... 1....

Jim

[Switchcraft]

GIK<
Any time line on that?

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by Switchcraft

Well,
Can you suggest something that is usefull and not 500$ per 2x2?

This is $500 for 2 by 4 feet:

http://www.realtraps.com/diffusor.htm

So it's not really cheap, but it's also a very effective bass trap so you get twice as much value!

--Ethan

[Ethan Winer]

Glenn,

Originally Posted by myfipie

it is NOT a random thing

Exactly. I cringe when people say to stack books randomly behind you. It's probably better than a bare wall, but it's not really diffusion.

--Ethan

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by Switchcraft

GIK<
Any time line on that?

Well lets see here, when we started coming up with it we thought it would take about 1 month. So 4 months later and just now got everything worked out. I would hope it would be soon, but I ain't going to jinks myself and give a date.. .

Glenn

[AlexLakis]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

Exactly. I cringe when people say to stack books randomly behind you. It's probably better than a bare wall, but it's not really diffusion.

...And you might learn something! From the encyclopedias, that is...

I see a lot of control rooms with medium to large DIY "bowed out" ply wood boards on the back wall...Any thoughts on that kinda thing? I wonder how they bend the wood like that...

[Acoustic Cloud]

So, when is they ready??

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by AlexLakis

...And you might learn something! From the encyclopedias, that is...

I see a lot of control rooms with medium to large DIY "bowed out" ply wood boards on the back wall...Any thoughts on that kinda thing? I wonder how they bend the wood like that...

What you are talking about is called a Poly. Those can be very nice, but you really have to be in a big room for them. I would think you would not want to be any closer then about 10 to 15 feet from them. Any closer and you could get comb filtering coming from them.


Glenn

[tINY]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

Glenn,



Exactly. I cringe when people say to stack books randomly behind you. It's probably better than a bare wall, but it's not really diffusion.

--Ethan

Awww, think of all of the fun and "coolness factor" when you start buying second hand statues and large pots and maybe even some industrial machine carcasses...

Eventually you will get something that works.

Of course, in a small room, having engineered diffusors has it's advantages - but fun and "neat decor" are not among them......




-tINY

[aapee]

Here is one DIY -project...

http://kotiweb.kotiportti.fi/audiovi...a/QRD/QRD.html

Sorry, it is in Finnish but the pics will tell. Costs for this are approx. 30€ in Finland. Not so much.

aapee

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by AlexLakis

I see a lot of control rooms with medium to large DIY "bowed out" ply wood boards on the back wall...Any thoughts on that kinda thing? I wonder how they bend the wood like that...

It's easy to bend plywood, but as Glenn explained that works better in larger rooms. Curved wood deflects sound and can help reduce flutter echo, but it does not avoid comb filtering. The comb filtering you get from a nearby reflecting wall or ceiling is the larger problem in small rooms. So for this reason, a "real" diffusor does a better job.

--Ethan