DIY room treatments/bass traps

[chris357]

Ok, since I cant afford any new electronics at the moment.. i've decided to work on my room..

I have an 18' x 18' loft my system is on a wall with no windows to the right (as if i'm sitting listening) is a larger alcove style window behind over my right shoulder is a small window and the left is open railing along steirs and hallway to rooms.

I'm adding that so you know what i'm over all working with. and can give sugestions along the way.

my intent was to do the base fram with burlap, add 1 or 2 layers of OC 703. However since getting the idea to do this i've found that this oc703/5 product is hard to get and maybe a bit over priced because of this.

my first question is can I use basic room insulation ?

next should it be compressed or loose in the frame, if I choose not to order the oc703?

next i was planning on starting off with 4-6 of these depending on budget and materials. I have alot of plywood scrap i was planning on making the frames out of so thats basically free, my only cost of the insulation and fabric i was kinda thinking of using some nicer fabric on the outside of it to give it a more pleasing look in my room rather than just plain burlap or cloth.

if anyone has pictures of their own i'd love to see them and if there is a thread that expalins this please direct me to it.

Thank you in advance.

chris

 

[WmAx]

Regular insulation is a bad idea; you must use much more (per thickness) to get the same effective bandwidth of say the OC 70x or 6-8lb rockwool board. The rock wool board can be found for very low in cost.

I don't recommend burlap; it will reflect upper mid and treble frequencies. As an easy way to gauge the bandwidth of cloth, simply get a headphone and place the material between your ear and headphone, and the treble roll off will be obvious. Try to find a material that has just a little high frequency blockage, not the nearly complete blockage that something like burlap produces.

-Chris

 

[chris357]

thanks Chris,

i was using the burlap for the back of the frame, do you still think that is bad for the back of it?

so rockwool or biting the bullet and ordering the oc703 is the most effective.. any other sources for it other than the the places that come up on google searches? I think I read that home depot will order it? any idea on cost per panel?

also, is something like a 24"x48" panel a bass trap or just a sound absorber or is this one and the same?

 

[lsiberian]

thanks Chris,

i was using the burlap for the back of the frame, do you still think that is bad for the back of it?

so rockwool or biting the bullet and ordering the oc703 is the most effective.. any other sources for it other than the the places that come up on google searches? I think I read that home depot will order it? any idea on cost per panel?

also, is something like a 24"x48" panel a bass trap or just a sound absorber or is this one and the same?

rockwool is just as effect as oc703. And is much cheaper.

I was unaware of a problem with Burlap. Many folks use it to line their traps. Jamie actually has recommended it before.

 

[vilbig]

This is the source I use. Great service - quick Fed-Ex ground shipping.
atsacoustics dot com.

 

[chris357]

This is the source I use. Great service - quick Fed-Ex ground shipping.
atsacoustics dot com.

they seemed a bit pricey to me, but I admit I don't know what this stuff should cost

 

[exojam]

If you look for local distributors of OC703 you can find it allot cheaper than online. I picked 3 three boxes (12 pieces in each box) of 703 for about 250 dollars. These were the 24 x 48 x 2 inch ones.

 

[chris357]

if I go with rockwool does it need to be compressed or loose in the frame?

 

[chris357]

bump,

does the rock wool need to be loose or compressed in the frame?

 

[annunaki]

Please clarify what you mean.

www.mcmaster.com has mineral wool sheets available as well (same thing as rockwool). Shipping is pretty reasonable. They have it in 24"H x 48"L x 1" & 2"D thickness.

 

[chris357]

when I first looked at the package it looked more fluffy. Now after buying it its much more solid than I thought it was. so I guess it answered the question for me.

it was a good deal.. at menards(chicagoland area) for 30 bucks for 4 ea 4"x24"x48"