Scatter plates?

[Trell]

You know, this is really an area I haven't done much research into. Traps, panels, diffusers... I do believe I've squeezed about as much as I can from my system and speakers with what I have. Room treatments do interest me, but I'd have no clue where to even start. Is this something you can figure out based on room measurements? It seems like something you'd have a pro come out to evaluate and figure out what/where I'd need something, if anything.

You could try GIK Acoustics for free advice and they even sell materials for DIY. There is also a lot of educational info on their home page.

If you a measurements microphone like UMIK-1 you can use REW for room measurements and they will analyze it and give recommendation.

Since I live in EU I'm buying from their EU branch, but only whole panels/bass traps with scatter/diffusion on top of them. The reason I use scatter/diffusion plates on all panels is to avoid over dampening the high frequencies, and for reducing bass ones needs quite many panels of at least 4" thickness.

 

[Trell]

Pics or it doesn't exist!

Skyline Diffuser:


Stepped and Fractal:

Sound Diffusers 101: Free Designs for DIY Diffuser Panels

DIY Sound Diffuser Blueprints—Free designs for optimized diffuser panels & fractal sound diffusers. Come download them and learn about acoustic diffusion!

arqen.com

Slats:
View attachment 44758

Room treatments are dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. I've seen too many people say they treated their rooms only to throw most of it away once they learned more about how detrimental the effects can be.
@TheWarrior is spot on by saying you need accurate room measurements before you even begin trying... and then you still need to understand what the effects of different Aborption, Diffusion and reflection can yield.
The Master Handbook Of Acoustics is a great resource if you are interested in learning about any of this.

My take from reading about room treatments it's that it is easy to overdampen the high frequencies when only using broad band absorption, and if they are thin as well your lower frequencies are not affected.

In my living room I use 4" thick GIK Acoustics panels/bass traps with attached scatter/diffusion plate, with with luck I'll get the last batch of ordered panels next week. It would have been even better with 6" thick panels, but then I felt they would take too much space from our small living room.

As for the diffusers/scatters you show above you need to sit some distance from them to be effective and to avoid hearing unwanted resonances.

 

[Trell]

Here is one guy installing new acoustics panels from GIK in his small practice room for playing saxophone. There are recordings without any treatment, with the old treatment and the new treatment.

I've got that series (Impression Pro) he has as well, but also Alpha series.

 

[Pogre]

You could try GIK Acoustics for free advice and they even sell materials for DIY. There is also a lot of educational info on their home page.

If you a measurements microphone like UMIK-1 you can use REW for room measurements and they will analyze it and give recommendation.

Since I live in EU I'm buying from their EU branch, but only whole panels/bass traps with scatter/diffusion on top of them. The reason I use scatter/diffusion plates on all panels is to avoid over dampening the high frequencies, and for reducing bass ones needs quite many panels of at least 4" thickness.

Thanks man. Now I can't say I don't know where to start. A free consult is nice to know, and I do have a UMIK-1 I use with REW for measuring my fr.

I wonder what the chances are that they'll analyze my sweeps and say "Wow. You really don't need anything...".

 

[Trell]

Thanks man. Now I can't say I don't know where to start. A free consult is nice to know, and I do have a UMIK-1 I use with REW for measuring my fr.

I wonder what the chances are that they'll analyze my sweeps and say "Wow. You really don't need anything...".

Most rooms have issues

I've ordered the panels to my living room in several batches but should be getting closer to finished when I (hopefully) receive my last panels next week. I'll make new REW measurements and consult with GIK again, and they want the REW file itself for analysis.

I can't treat the side walls in my living room and there is only one floor ceiling corner possibly available for bass traps (corner type). That leaves me the front and back wall as well as the ceiling for acoustic treatment.

First picture is of my back wall with 4 inch thick Impression Pro panels, and Demi Impression Pro Corner Trap on wall-ceiling corner. Pretty much finished (says wife) but possible a floor-ceiling corner can be used as well for corner traps, but we have new book shelves coming so that might not be an option any more.

Second picture is of the front wall that has 4 inch thick 4A Alpha Pro Series Panel Diffuser/Absorber, and I'll add corner traps on wall-ceiling corner of the same type as Alpha series. I'll get two front replacement panels as I got the wrong ones, but GIK said I got to keep the wrong ones because of Brexit.

Nothing is yet put on the ceiling.

Treatment area coverage is so far ca 19% for the front (with corner traps) and back wall. For the ceiling ca 22%, if wife agrees

Perhaps I'll make a tread later on with more pictures and measurements later on when nearing completion in a few weeks.

 

[Trell]

A good read. At the time he wrote the article GIK had not yet launched their panels with diffusion/scatter plate added on their panels (apart from the bass traps, perhaps).

https://www.homecinemaguru.com/optimizing-your-home-theater-acoustic-treatment/

"Optimizing Your Home Theater Acoustic Treatment​

​

There are many opinions about where to install acoustic treatment panels in a home theater. You will not achieve the maximum improvement from the panels you have purchased unless you position them properly. It is a fact that fewer panels installed well can yield better results than more installed poorly. One key point to consider is the panels will work best if they absorb more of the reflected sound off the walls from your speakers that would reach your ears instead of less. The second key point is the room acoustically should approximate a professional dubbing stage as much as possible. The closer your room comes to this the more likely it is you will hear something approaching what the rerecording mix artist intended for the film.​

​

Acoustic treatment will reduce the likelihood that sound will bounce around the room for an extended period of time. Sound absorbers will stop the sound that hits it at the frequencies it absorbs. A typical 2″ thick absorber is effective at absorbing sound at 250Hz to 20kHz. Sound diffusers will scatter sound at the frequencies they are effective making the sound reflections more diffuse.​

..."​

 

[highfigh]

My take from reading about room treatments it's that it is easy to overdampen the high frequencies when only using broad band absorption, and if they are thin as well your lower frequencies are not affected.

In my living room I use 4" thick GIK Acoustics panels/bass traps with attached scatter/diffusion plate, with with luck I'll get the last batch of ordered panels next week. It would have been even better with 6" thick panels, but then I felt they would take too much space from our small living room.

As for the diffusers/scatters you show above you need to sit some distance from them to be effective and to avoid hearing unwanted resonances.

Did you run REW while you were positioning the panels? That's what I did and it let me see what was happening in real time. Guesswork would have been a real pain in the tookas and I was annoyed enough by the sound of my system at the time, so I was looking for a faster solution. REW was exactly that.

 

[highfigh]

Thanks man. Now I can't say I don't know where to start. A free consult is nice to know, and I do have a UMIK-1 I use with REW for measuring my fr.

I wonder what the chances are that they'll analyze my sweeps and say "Wow. You really don't need anything...".

Probably two chances- slim and none. I don't remember the last time I entered a room that didn't need at least a little treatment and when I walked into the room in the basement of a home a few years ago, the first thing I said after clapping my hands was "Oh, my god!". I have an app that shows a basic measurement for RT60 and that room was in the >6 second range for some frequencies.

I think someone from GIK used to post here- maybe a search would show a user or posts from him. His name was Bryan Pape- I just checked my old e-mails and I had contacted him about the room with the terrible reverberations.

 

[Trell]

Did you run REW while you were positioning the panels? That's what I did and it let me see what was happening in real time. Guesswork would have been a real pain in the tookas and I was annoyed enough by the sound of my system at the time, so I was looking for a faster solution. REW was exactly that.

I did run REW while setting up panels, but that was more for new positions of the subs and tweaking the placement of front speakers, and that will be done repeated as I add more panels.

For the placement of the panels they sort of have to be where they are and it is the number of panels needed that is more open to discussion.