In Reply to: Acoustic absorber panels posted by sbrians on June 24, 2009 at 13:01:05:
Fibreglass is very good provided you ensure that there won't be any fibre shedding.
What do you want to use the panels for?
If it's bass trapping, then you really want a minimum of 3" thickness, thicker would be better, and you should be considering corner placement. I use RealTraps Mondo Traps which are 4" thick placed in the corners of my audio room.
If you want to treat first reflections then you can certainly get away with 1" but thicker would be better. I use Mondo Traps for most of my first reflection treatment as well.
Whatever you do, beware of using too great an area of thin absorption. Thin absorption really only absorbs the high frequencies and the result is dull sound, not because there's too much absorption but simply because you're only absorbing highs and you're drastically changing the frequency balance of the reflected sound in the room. The thicker the absorption, the broader the frequency range of its absorption and the less change there is in the tonal balance of the reflected sound so you don't get the same problem with the highs sounding dull.
Also, all absorption works best if it's spaced out from the wall by 4" or more. If you're going to mount it flush on the wall, once again you reduce the frequency range it will absorb over, skewing the absorption to the high frequency end of things. If you're going to flush mount, definitely consider the thickest absorption you can get in order to extend the absorption range as low as possible.
Accoustic treatment can do wonders for the quality of the sound you get but acoustic treatment done badly may actually be worse than no treatment at all. If you're going to treat your room, then do a good job of it or you may well find yourself regretting the time and effort you put into it.
Also, if you're going the DIY route which can be done very effectively, then I'd recommend that you buy or borrow a copy of Everest's "Master Handbook of Acoustics" and read it first. It has a good description of how sound behaves in a room and how acoustic treatment works, as well as lots of information and advice on how to treat a room and also on how to make your own treatments. The time you spend reading this book, and the cost if you buy it which I'd recommend, will be well repaid with the results you'll achieve. Another good book on treatment is Floyd Toole's recent "Sound Reproduction" but it lacks the treatment of building your own treatments that Everest's book has.
David Aiken
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Follow Ups
- RE: Acoustic absorber panels - David Aiken 13:56:50 06/24/09 (0)