Auralex bass traps?

[wolfhound]

Has anyone tried those auralex LENRD bass traps?

How'd they work out for you?

Thanks!

-wolfie

[MASSIVE Master]

They're "okay" for some corner rumble, but really not massive (no pun) enough for serious LE absorption... RealTraps or ModularAcoustics will get you a lot further.

www.johnlsayers.com DIY wall units are pretty schveet also...

[gsharp]

massive's right.

Tried for a month before replacing them with Real Traps. The problem is the foam is not dense enough for them to really be effective at their size. They'd have to be freakin' huge to really work.

The Real Traps aren't cheap, but if you factor in wasting about $600 on the Auralex stuff first, just going w/ the RT's to begin with would have been a bargain for me.

[Jack Pettit]

Better than nothing but not the real stuff.

[karatemanjohnny]

In my experience, not worth the money. Like MASSIVE said, they just aren't beefy/dense enough.

I built one of these: http://forum.studiotips.com/viewtopic.php?t=535

It's something like this one: http://www.bobgolds.com/TrapHarder/home.htm

and it definitely works.

A little more background info: http://www.customaudiodesigns.co.uk/...membranes.html

Another great design: http://www.bobgolds.com/TrapMartin/home.htm

I just built three bass traps and a vocal booth, and in all my research it was pretty consistent across the board that those aren't worth the money.

Good luck,

John

[DAWgEAR]

I have a couple dozen LENRDs in my room. They have made a significant difference as long as I monitor at reasonable levels. (My monitoring chain is calibrated so that each channel of a stereo pink noise at -20dB RMS yields a SPL of 77dB a la Bob Katz.) I use HR824s, for what it's worth.

From what lots of folks say the mini traps work better, but the LENRDs work for my needs and budget.

Tip: you can mount Auralex products including LENRDs non-permanently to drywall with "T-pins" (ask if you don't know what they are) which can be bought at any fabric or crafts store. Buy lots of extra pins because some will inevitably bend and wear a glove if you plan on pushing in a few hundred pins!

[caseyLA]

I'd say there's probably no commercial bass traps that are worth the money.
I recommend researching the forums over at http://forum.studiotips.com/
That is, if you have the time. It gets real deep, but you will learn from real scientists/acousticians about what really works and why.

Again if you have the time and want to save big money, you can build some things yourself from rigid insulation that works as good as anything else. Even if you don't have time, you could probably hire someone to build some bass traps and even with labor included, come out way ahead (if you want a lot of them).

I built 16 of these for my studio: http://www.geocities.com/thatwascasey/

Total cost was about $800. They make all the difference.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by DAWgEAR

I have a couple dozen LENRDs in my room.

(snip)

From what lots of folks say the mini traps work better, but the LENRDs work for my needs and budget.

I think it's very telling that the only person with a positive appraisal of these traps has a couple dozen of them!

I suspect if one were to line every single linear dihedral junction (i.e., every corner where a wall meets another wall or a wall meets the ceiling or floor, end to end, top to bottom) the results would be bordering on the impressive. Your room would look like a sanitarium, but the room modes would be under control

...maybe.

[tommyd]

Originally Posted by caseyLA

I'd say there's probably no commercial bass traps that are worth the money.
I recommend researching the forums over at http://forum.studiotips.com/
That is, if you have the time. It gets real deep, but you will learn from real scientists/acousticians about what really works and why.

Again if you have the time and want to save big money, you can build some things yourself from rigid insulation that works as good as anything else. Even if you don't have time, you could probably hire someone to build some bass traps and even with labor included, come out way ahead (if you want a lot of them).

I built 16 of these for my studio: http://www.geocities.com/thatwascasey/

Total cost was about $800. They make all the difference.

Those look great Casey! Care to share how you constructed the frames?
Tommy

[caseyLA]

Those look great Casey! Care to share how you constructed the frames?

The frames were 4" primed MDF boards held together with L brackets at each corner. Then the top edges were trimmed with thin pieces of wood to keep the insulation from falling out.

The beauty of this design is there is no fabric to mess with. The traps are 4" thick. One regular 2" piece of 703 and a special black finished piece called "Select Sound" on top.

[tommyd]

Originally Posted by caseyLA

The frames were 4" primed MDF boards held together with L brackets at each corner. Then the top edges were trimmed with thin pieces of wood to keep the insulation from falling out.

The beauty of this design is there is no fabric to mess with. The traps are 4" thick. One regular 2" piece of 703 and a special black finished piece called "Select Sound" on top.

Good plan, thanks!
Tommy

[C/G]

I am about to buy some 703 and make some of these myself. Is it better to get the 703 without the foil layer? What is select sound and where do I get it?

[DAWgEAR]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

I think it's very telling that the only person with a positive appraisal of these traps has a couple dozen of them!

LOL!

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

I suspect if one were to line every single linear dihedral junction (i.e., every corner where a wall meets another wall or a wall meets the ceiling or floor, end to end, top to bottom) the results would be bordering on the impressive.

Excluding the floors, it's pretty much what I have done ... it's a small room.

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

Your room would look like a sanitarium

Yes ... and is that a problem?

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

... but the room modes would be under control

...maybe.

Almost certainly not fully, but more under control than before, anyway. I got them for $20 apiece so my cost was just over $500. Not too bad of a bang-per-buck ratio considering that my mixes have translated better as a result.

[nyladude]

IMHO, Mini Traps are the way to go!!

I recently bought some LERNDs and within a week I had order Mini Traps instead. I had some serious issues with the room and the LERNDS weren't anywhere close to good enough to solve the problem on their own. I am still using the LERNDs in secondary corners, but they didn't have near the effect that the Mini traps do on the primary trouble spots.

[warhead]

I'm using the Auralex Genesis system behind my monitors right now with good success floating the foam out on the 3" mounts.

I also have mega respect for Ethan's work and contributions to these boards. I've never used a RealTrap but bet they are great as well.

War

[Ghost Logic]

While not superior to a properly built acoustically treated studio space, for existing spaces as long as you aren't monitoring at crazy levels the LENRDS can work just fine, you just need to use a lot of them (4 per corner etc.).

[davode]

They're "okay" for some corner rumble, but really not massive (no pun) enough for serious LE absorption... RealTraps or ModularAcoustics will get you a lot further.

HOW ABOUT THE MEGA LENRDS? TO ME THERE MASSIVE ENOUGH. ONE BOX CONTAINS 2 OF THEM. AND THEY EACH MESSURE 24IN.X35IN. SOLID. WHICH IS ONLY ABOUT $10.00 MORE THEN REAL TRAPS BUT ARE 11IN. WIDER AND THEY FILL IN THE WHOLE CORNER RATHER THEN STRADDLE IT, BUT THIS IS JUST MY OPINON

[Bang]

Let me tell you the easiest, most economical, best working bass trap.... drum roll...................

boxes of 703... I mean, a 2 foot by 2 foot by 4 foot cardboard box of 703 panels (they come in boxes of a dozen 2 inch pieces). Bob Alach had me stack these massive boxes in the corners and then I just painted them with "rock paint" so that they look like big boulders in the corners. Then I made 4 inch wall traps like Casey's. Measured the room to be almost perfectly flat now where it used to have HUGE problems..

Steve
www.bangrecording.com
www.blacklinerock.com

[tINY]

Originally Posted by Bang

Measured the room to be almost perfectly flat now where it used to have HUGE problems..

Steve
www.bangrecording.com
www.blacklinerock.com

I doubt that. Maybe "flat" mesured with pink noise on 1/3 octave FFT....

Run a sine sweep and tell me it's perfectly flat. I dare you.



-tINY

[Bang]

tiny, do a search on Bob Alach. The guy is a genius. Its nearly impossible to get a room perfectly flat, but mine is awfully close, with a range of -1 or +1 here and there which I have compensated for with a custom eq on the low end of the spectrum. As for sweeps, did it and like I said, amazing for a room that wasn't custom built to be a control room. Stuff translates out of this room to the point where I can very comfortably master projects and have the bands be in awe when they play them on their boomboxes and in their cars. The low end in my room is rich and deep and easy to mix and control. And like I said, the corners have boxes of 703 stacked, the walls have 4 inch wall traps of 703.

Steve
www.bangrecording.com
www.blacklinerock.com