Are rubber walls a bad idea?

[LoudAsFudge]

I came across some 72"×42×3/4 rubber gym/stahl mats for $40. My idea is to hang em with 2 hanger bolts apiece, a few inches from drywall. Probably put absorption material in between. Limp mass to the max(70lbs. Ea. ). They're corrugated on one side. Is this patent pending or crazy? I can't get picture size file small enough...

 

[LoudAsFudge]

I came across some 72"×42×3/4 rubber gym/stahl mats for $40. My idea is to hang em with 2 hanger bolts apiece, a few inches from drywall. Probably put absorption material in between. Limp mass to the max(70lbs. Ea. ). They're corrugated on one side. Is this patent pending or crazy? I can't get picture size file small enough...

 

[j_garcia]

It depends. Rubber still has a surface, so it will still reflect sound at probably many frequencies. It will absorb likely only specific ranges, which is why you don't see rubber sound recording rooms. Random surface area is better at diffusing sound.

 

[LoudAsFudge]

The corrugated side should scatter mids and highs. Flexible limp mat should absorb pressure, especially with the spring effect from absorbant material behind it, helping with the low end. Density should keep sound in room. 3 in 1. But I'm probably missing something because I haven't seen it done anywhere. Was hoping it was cost.

 

[j_garcia]

I think it will depend on the frequencies you are trying to control and whether you are trying to keep it from transmitting to other rooms or just minimize in-room reflections. Rubber will contain/damp bass most likely, but not the upper octaves.

 

[lovinthehd]

Generally I'd consider rubber more a reflective substance than absorbent.....If you have that much space from walls use proper stuff

 

[LoudAsFudge]

Pressure absorber ( i think a powerful one). Like 1/2 dry wall on those isolation brackets+hat channel. I dont think they'll absorbe like a fibre board. I think the corregations will also trap sound. Plus scatterer. Plus keep the sound out the rest of the house. Again, probably missing something but an engineer I've been talking with said it should work.

 

[Eppie]

Bass traps do have material designed to absorb sound energy, but they are engineered for specific frequencies. A random size mat will maybe absorb one certain frequency if you're lucky. Likewise, the spacing on the corrugated side is fixed. That means it will affect different frequencies in different ways; scatter some, reflect others. If your only goal is to prevent sound from traveling through the drywall, the mats may help, but they will make an acoustical mess inside the room. Acoustic panels are not new science and have been around for decades. There are reasons that they are designed a specific way.

 

[DigitalDawn]

Rubber walls make the most sense when you are nuts.

 

[LoudAsFudge]

The idea is any frequency that can generate enough pressure to wiggle a suspended, 3/4" thick mat will be reduced. Corrugated wall panels are a thing, especially when they're perforated. The areas where I don't want corrugations I can cover with dry erase board or anything else. All I'll need is a straight jacket!

 

[Kingnoob]

Imo I don’t know if it will do anything but worth a shot . Do you hear any difference?

Rubber walls make the most sense when you are nuts.

Just hang random things in your room until you find something that’s cheaper than an acoustic treatment panel.

 

[TLS Guy]

Room treatments are largely a futile endeavor. You should never try and make a room dead. The problem people are trying to correct is as usual poor speakers. Specifically the problem is the off axis response not matching the axis response. Occasionally a rear wall may need some attention to curb slap echo.

 

[LoudAsFudge]

They smell like rubber. Don't think that will work. Smell too strong, I would need to coat these in Kilz paint or something. 1 mat decreased 10 dB on other side of wall. With a couple of mats up, response inside room didn't change much. I think I need to do the entire wall to see a difference but I don't think I can handle the smell. I was hoping someone had heard of flexible wall systems

 

[highfigh]

Room treatments are largely a futile endeavor. You should never try and make a room dead. The problem people are trying to correct is as usual poor speakers. Specifically the problem is the off axis response not matching the axis response. Occasionally a rear wall may need some attention to curb slap echo.

Acoustical room treatments aren't generally used for making a room dead, they're used to limit reflection time in order to make speech intelligible and to allow the perceived location of sounds to be correct or to come close to matching their locations in the mixing/mastering room. While it's almost impossible to truly match that sound, coming close is a goal some people choose, for better or worse.

The first reflections in narrow/small rooms cause a lot of problems, especially when the walls are similar or the same length. If that room has hard surfaces, it's very hard to achieve good sound, never mind great sound. High SPL compounds the problems and equalization will never tame them. Flutter echo is a bad problem in small rooms and if nothing is done, nobody will enjoy the experience. It's easy to hear flutter- walk into a room and clap your hands- it's very easy to hear and any sound of impacts in music or sound form videos will show it. This also emphasizes the frequencies that reflect most and when they're in the range where people are most sensitive, the level can be decreased using EQ, but the duration can't be adjusted using any controls in the equipment. Slightly lower SPL in those frequencies will decrease the duration to some extent but that can't be considered a 'cure'.

Go into a lecture hall that hasn't been treated and try to understand what is being said, then treat it- huge difference. Restaurants are a prime example of spaces that should be treated, whether they have music or not.

Anyone who has been in a place that has terrible acoustics may find that their mood changed after they spent time there- noise levels and bad acoustics are often called 'sonic pollution' and after having dinner at a restaurant last night, I can give you another specific example of this- we were in a small booth with less than 4' between any of us and it was very hard to understand what was being said. We could, however, hear people across the room very clearly because of the 45° angles of the ceiling causing the sound to reflect directly to our booth. The din was very annoying. Open concept houses with high ceilings suffer from this, too. Without treatment, home theater or even dinner, would be a terrible experience.

 

[highfigh]

The idea is any frequency that can generate enough pressure to wiggle a suspended, 3/4" thick mat will be reduced. Corrugated wall panels are a thing, especially when they're perforated. The areas where I don't want corrugations I can cover with dry erase board or anything else. All I'll need is a straight jacket!

Rubber mats are usually used for impacts, acoustical treatment materials are more likely to be porous and for wide-band attenuation but if low frequencies are a problem, a heavy panel or mat could be used. If it moves because of the energy from the sound, it's reducing the energy that continues in the space, or going outside of the space.

Most construction materials have been tested for their effect on sound absorption and/or transmission- the NRC (Noise Reduction Coefficient) and STC (Sound Transmission Coefficient) are shown on web pages for these materials, including fiberglass (batts, ceiling panels with decorative surface and rigid), woven wood fibers, mineral panels, stucco, etc. The charts show the NRC and STC at various frequencies and these stats are used for treating spaces, based on recommended percentages of area to be treated in order to achieve a desired result.

No paint should be applied to materials that have visible open holes and porous surface, like ceiling tiles- as soon as the paint creates a new surface, a large % of its effectiveness will be lost.

 

[TLS Guy]

Acoustical room treatments aren't generally used for making a room dead, they're used to limit reflection time in order to make speech intelligible and to allow the perceived location of sounds to be correct or to come close to matching their locations in the mixing/mastering room. While it's almost impossible to truly match that sound, coming close is a goal some people choose, for better or worse.

The first reflections in narrow/small rooms cause a lot of problems, especially when the walls are similar or the same length. If that room has hard surfaces, it's very hard to achieve good sound, never mind great sound. High SPL compounds the problems and equalization will never tame them. Flutter echo is a bad problem in small rooms and if nothing is done, nobody will enjoy the experience. It's easy to hear flutter- walk into a room and clap your hands- it's very easy to hear and any sound of impacts in music or sound form videos will show it. This also emphasizes the frequencies that reflect most and when they're in the range where people are most sensitive, the level can be decreased using EQ, but the duration can't be adjusted using any controls in the equipment. Slightly lower SPL in those frequencies will decrease the duration to some extent but that can't be considered a 'cure'.

Go into a lecture hall that hasn't been treated and try to understand what is being said, then treat it- huge difference. Restaurants are a prime example of spaces that should be treated, whether they have music or not.

Anyone who has been in a place that has terrible acoustics may find that their mood changed after they spent time there- noise levels and bad acoustics are often called 'sonic pollution' and after having dinner at a restaurant last night, I can give you another specific example of this- we were in a small booth with less than 4' between any of us and it was very hard to understand what was being said. We could, however, hear people across the room very clearly because of the 45° angles of the ceiling causing the sound to reflect directly to our booth. The din was very annoying. Open concept houses with high ceilings suffer from this, too. Without treatment, home theater or even dinner, would be a terrible experience.

Absolute nonsense. Room treatments are for lousy speakers period. I have used speakers in a huge array of different environments and have never used room treatments, or been inclined to do so.

 

[Kingnoob]

Absolute nonsense. Room treatments are for lousy speakers period. I have used speakers in a huge array of different environments and have never used room treatments, or been inclined to do so.

I haven’t bothered with Room treatments i figured it would cost more than my speakers themselves. I’ve only had acoustic issues in the upstairs rooms downstairs no issues. I had bad echo issues once but I no longer have a system in that room. I also possibly broke a window pane with a 15” sub but dono. I still think winter time did it.

 

[lovinthehd]

They smell like rubber. Don't think that will work. Smell too strong, I would need to coat these in Kilz paint or something. 1 mat decreased 10 dB on other side of wall. With a couple of mats up, response inside room didn't change much. I think I need to do the entire wall to see a difference but I don't think I can handle the smell. I was hoping someone had heard of flexible wall systems

Maybe a period of time outside or out in the garage or something until the chemicals dissipate....

 

[highfigh]

Absolute nonsense. Room treatments are for lousy speakers period. I have used speakers in a huge array of different environments and have never used room treatments, or been inclined to do so.

Do you have any experience measuring rooms and treating the acoustical problems? I do- I also have college-level acoustics in my background and the professor wasn't a TA or someone "who knows about this stuff", he was a real Physics PhD. who was recruited for the Manhattan Project.

Denying the effectiveness doesn't make your opinion fact.

How would you deal with bad acoustics while people are speaking with no amplification? Which local concert halls are your favorites? You might look around- I can almost guarantee that most have acoustical treatments.

 

[Eppie]

They smell like rubber. Don't think that will work. Smell too strong, I would need to coat these in Kilz paint or something. 1 mat decreased 10 dB on other side of wall. With a couple of mats up, response inside room didn't change much. I think I need to do the entire wall to see a difference but I don't think I can handle the smell. I was hoping someone had heard of flexible wall systems

I think the op is more concerned with sound traveling into the adjoining room than with treating the audio room for acoustic properties. If that's the case, then he is going about this the wrong way. Acoustic isolation is very different from acoustic treatment. First and foremost, the wall and doorway between the two rooms must be completely sealed. Any opening will allow a surprising amount of sound to leak through. You then need to isolate the drywall from the studs to prevent sound transmission through the wall. This can be done by offsetting and alternating studs for either side of the wall or using isolation clips to float the drywall. The wall should also contain the appropriate type of sound insulating material. Plenty of YouTube videos on doing this.