First project, looking for advice.

[D.DiAnda]

Hi,
I'm hoping to improve the sound in my bedroom studio (playback mainly, I rarely record). The images below are of my initial plans. The blue rectangles are panels to be made with Ultratouch and the green triangles will be superchunk 705 stacks.

I have a few questions...

1. I need to use one of the doors (obviously :) ). So, I can either have a bass trap over the corner one, or I can have a panel over the other one to catch initial reflections. My thinking was that the reflections would take priority since I can put bass traps in other corners.

2. If I don't have a bass trap in the rear door corner, should I have one in the other rear corner, or is that too asymmetrical?

3. Will the 3.5 in. Ultratouch be adequate for panels? The 5.5 in., along with a 5.5 in. space behind it will take up a lot of space in an already too small room.

4. How does my plan look in general? Any suggestions?

Thank you!! :)

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by D.DiAnda

1. I need to use one of the doors (obviously :) ). So, I can either have a bass trap over the corner one, or I can have a panel over the other one to catch initial reflections. My thinking was that the reflections would take priority since I can put bass traps in other corners.

Use the door furthest from the corner so you can trap both the back corners.

Originally Posted by D.DiAnda

2. If I don't have a bass trap in the rear door corner, should I have one in the other rear corner, or is that too asymmetrical?

If you're not going to use the rear door, why not put bass traps in the back corners?

Originally Posted by D.DiAnda

3. Will the 3.5 in. Ultratouch be adequate for panels? The 5.5 in., along with a 5.5 in. space behind it will take up a lot of space in an already too small room.

Meh...prevailing wisdom is that the 5.5" would be better. I mean, you don't *have* to put 5.5" of space behind them. I'd say that the 5.5" with 4" of space is better than the 3.5" with 3.5" of space.

Originally Posted by D.DiAnda

4. How does my plan look in general? Any suggestions?

Other than adding two more traps in the corners (preferably floor to ceiling), it looks like a good start. You can spot treat from there. Any reason why the book case has to stay there? It won't do a thing from a diffusion standpoint.

Frank

[D.DiAnda]

Thanks for the reply Frank,
I was planning on using the back corner door to get into the room, that's why no bass trap there. I thought it would be more important to be able to cover the other door with a panel to catch reflections. I can mount a panel on that center door securely and still use it to get in and out, but the panel winds up being off from the optimum place slightly.

I'll go with your advice and use the 5.5 in. with 4 in. space behind. It'll feel a bit cramped, but I can live with it.

So, the bookshelves on the rear wall don't help? I had the impression that they would act as a diffuser. Where should they go then?

Thanks again,
Dana

[Weasel9992]

Nope...unfortunately bookshelves make very poor diffusers for a number of reasons. Take a look at this link: http://www.gikacoustics.com/education_diffusion.html That's a basic primer on how diffusion works. Here's a quote directly from that page:

"First of all, books, if anything will be more absorbtive than reflective at all but the highest frequencies. Second, random depths do not generate random reflections over a predictable and controllable area. The width, height, spacing, and pattern of the wells of a diffuser are carefully calculated to make sure they generate a smooth and even scattering of the waves over optimally a 180 degree angle. Third, without the careful calculated spacing, we can cause frequency related aberrations due to constructive and destructive wave interactions from various reflections. We’re in effect getting very little of the benefit of a diffuser while causing more issues in the frequency response."

Frank