BASSTRAPS AND ACOUSTIC CHAMBER

Wood basstraps

Deep basstraps: 10 cm thick, cause the section must be rear pannel, 5 cm of air, rockwool or fyberglass 3 cm, air 2 cm, front panel 6 mm , if wood. the front panel dumps the pressure vibration by compressing the air between it and the rockwool pannel. the sound goes thorugh the rockwool then, and the energy of the sound pressure is trasformed in HEAT by the rockwool. The air on the back cools down the hot air. Fyberglass is better than rockwool, like 30% more effective, same pannel measures of course, but here is for industrial use, not legal in the house. I don t care I use fyberglass. That s only a market thing.

High Bass Traps: 5 cm thick build like the deep bass ones but no air on the back. front panel 4 mm and not 6. For measures in inches check the links in the first message. Mid high Traps: like the High Bass Traps but no front pannel. textile or I prefer acoustic foam.

Plans
http://ethanwiner.com/BTPlans.gif

Part list and measures in inches
http://ethanwiner.com/BTParts.html

Ethan Winer
http://ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

I wanted to add that wood is expensive, so you can find cardboard, carton boxes that have the same measures of Winer's plans and use it for such pourpose. The wood would sound better, but you know... Money. then you d have to buy rockwool. Fyberglass would be better, a good 30% more effective with the same measures. In my country rockwool is for civil use and fyberglass for factories, industries. There are laws to regulate that. but you know you don t have to call the cops and show it to them. It s up to you, choose what you prefer. In Europe: KNAUFF. In UK: Owens Cornill, also spanish URSA is very good. There are many from the expensive ones to the cheapest.

Panels specifics: 70 kg/ m3 or model 703 FRK for Owens Cornill. It s the density, pressure of the material. you d need acoustic foam to threat mids and highs. It must be not more of the 40% of the overall volume of walls and ceiling. German Thoman sell them for 10€/m2, 3 cm thick or 20€/m2 5 cm thick, 20€ for the shipping but only for Italy, for free in Europe. Acoustic foam can t threat lows below 125 Hz, basstraps can go down to 70 Hz. Think it as an equalizer. With 4 poles. Deep bass, high bass, mids and highs. the phsyco acoustic impression of a threated room is... More space, litterally like moving the walls 1 mt back. it will change in better your way and style of mixing, solving you so many problems. The basstrap are placed in a LEIDE system. It means a scheme. Deep Bass traps, hi bass traps, and mid highs traps and acoustic foam. Placing many basstraps side by side is not correct, according to this scheme I ve learned. I spent one year moving things around. Acoustic foam is ok, you need it. For mid highs. Not more han the 40% of the overall surface. The floor must be reflecting and the ceiling absorbing this cause human hear has a natural reaction to the floor, but goes crazy with the ceiling. A wooden floor is reflective but in a nice way, that makes a good effect on the brain reaction. but the ceiling must absorb this reflection. Use wood for the basstrap, if u can. i know... Money... A lot, but better sound. Owens Cornill 705 for deep bass traps and 703 for hi bass and mid highs traps... Good move ! yes people fulfill their rooms with pyramidal acoustic foam , resulting in a boomy not clear room, of course. No threatment on lows and all mids and highs tamed... Can you picture that? A kaos. CHEAP

BASSTRAPS MADE OF CARDBOARD AND ROCKWOOL

1) FIND A CARDBOARD BOX. 120 x 60 x 10 cm, or 240 x 60 x 10 better, 2 panels BUY ROCKWOOL, 120 x 60 x 3 cm, 70 Kg/m3 density OPEN THE BOX (The one in the pic is too thick, it s 160 x 60 x 24, for big rooms, for thicker panels or double panels)



2) CREATE SPACE ON THE REAR OF THE BOX BY USING 5 cm THICK STRIPS OF POLYSTEROL, CARDBOARD, WOOD, WHATEVER YOU HAVE. AS LONG AS THE BASSTRAP IS, OR MORE PIECES TO REACH THE BASSTRAP LENGHT. SAME FOR ALL THE SIDES. 4 LONG PIECES OR MORE IF SHORTER. THEY WILL HOLD UP THE ROCKWOOL PANEL.



3) PLACE THE ROCKWOOL PANEL (SORRY IT S A CARDBOARD PANEL, DON T WANT TO TOUCH ROCKWOOL NOW)



4) CREATE SPACE ON THE FRONT OF THE BOX, BY GLUEING 2 cm THICK STRIPS ON THE FRONT PANEL. AS LONG AS THE BASSTRAP IS, OR MORE PIECES TO REACH THE BASSTRAP LENGHT. SAME FOR ALL THE SIDES. 4 LONG PIECES OR MORE IF SHORTER. THEY WILL KEEP THE ROCKWOOL PANEL IN PLACE. STAY 2 cm AWAY FROM THE SIDES. TO CLOSE THE BASSTRAP WITH NO PROBLEMS.



5) CLOSE THE BOX AND SEAL ALL WITH VYNILIC GLUE AND TAPE, NO AIR MUST PASS THROUGH, TAPE ALL SIDES AND CORNERS, SIGN WITH A PEN THE FRONT AND THE REAR OF THE BASSTRAP


6) BUY TEXTILE, CUT IT AND GLUE IT TO THE BACK OF THE BASSTRAP WITH HOT GLUE

7) IF YOUR BASSTRAP IS HIGH ENOUGH (THAT S WHY I SAY 240 x 60) YOU CAN SIMPLY PLACE IT ON THE GROUND

8) IF YOU WANT TO HANG THEM GLUE TWO 10 x 10 x 2 cm PIECES OF WOOD INSIDE THE BOX, ON THE REAR PANEL. THE WOOD IN THE ABOVE EXAMPLE IS TOO LONG, SORRY, I DON'T WANT TO CUT IT.



9) FROM THE BACK OF THE BASSTRAP, SECURE THE WOOD PIECES WITH 2 SCREWS

10) USE SOMETHING LIKE A HOOK SCREW TO HANG THEM, SCREW IT TO THE WOOD THROUGH THE CARDBOARD

11) TO ANOTHER ONE ON THE WALL

12) USE A PLASTIC CHAIN TO HANG THEM, SHORT PIECES LIKE 2/4 RINGS LIKE THE ONES ABOVE So, meaterials: the boxes must be of two types: 120 x 60 x 10 for the deep bass 120 x 60 x 5 for the high bass Rockwool: 120 x 60 x 3 with a density of 70 kg/m3 very important this tape, glue, textile to cover the cardboard, for the look, and hot glue to fix the textile to the back of the basstrap

YES BUT WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS INSIDE A BASSTRAP TO TAME LOWS? THE FRONT PANEL, CARDBOARD OR WOOD, WILL VIBRATE AND THE VIBRATION WILL BE DUMPED BY THE 2 cm OF AIR CONTAINED BETWEEN THE FRONT PANEL AND THE ROCKWOOL ONE. THEN THE SOUND PASS THROUGH THE ROCKWOOL PANEL, WHICH TRASFORMS THE SOUND PRESSURE ENERGY INTO HEAT, COOLED BY THE 5 cm OF BACK SPACE AIR (FOR THE DEEP BASS)

 

Last edited: Jan 18, 2016

Wood basstraps, Acoustic Chamber, tubetraps. Sorry low cost textile, my set up, I ve built it.

 

Last edited: Jan 20, 2016

 

Last edited: Jan 20, 2016

Actually old pics, now it s a bit changed, measure your room and move tubetraps around, or out of the room, to find the best flat response

the first room is completely treated for the sound external leak out, too.
Actually 3 rooms one inside the other, in section:
bare walls, 2cm air, 3 cm rockwool, second floating room with walls, 10 cm thick with rockwool inside, both wall sides pannelled. Double door and window. Floating floor, 15 cm thick, wood and rockwool.
Then inside the final room, the acoustic chamber is hanged to walls and ceiling.
Reflective floor, wood, with carpets in the speakers zone, absorbing ceiling with pyramidal foam above the desk... etc

External Leak Out is a different topic, maybe I ll discuss it sooner or later.

TUBE TRAPS PROJECT

All you need is wood, a net like the one the farmers use, 2 pieces of plexiglass (or cheap material), tape, screws, nails, fyberglass, textile.
LOWBASS 40 cm diameter
HIGHBASS 25 cm diameter
POINT THE TRIANGLE TO THE REAR OF THE SPEAKER TO DEFLECT THE SOUND
this is not a deflector trap btw
watch the pics and see how the triangular shaped tops fits the plexiglass.
then you cover all around the inside with fyberglass and I put a first cover of thick cheap textile to seal it all, a bit, then some nice one for the look.

 

Last edited: Jun 28, 2016

thanx to the people who liked it!

 

Sooo many toys... Drool...

 

that s cause I have 725 years, I travelled the time and space and grabbed many toyz
toyz are cool

LoL thanx

 

Looks cozy. Bump on the drool.

 

thanx superliquidsunshine, it s just old school, and I used cheap textile but it s very efficient and it sounds very well

 

anyway old pics, now it s a bit different, well the acoustic chamber is just the same, the tubetraps are less and some rack and amplifier has been moved to another room

 

Damn nice room ADog, lots of work & planning (the dogs pic is a nice touch too)...think I'll pack up my minuscule toys and go home now!

 

hello thanx man, it s a life that I collect gear, in that room I can see a lot of stuff I carry back with me since 25 years.
anyway that s not so much gear, there are way bigger studios.
most of the vintage gear is old and I purchased ot in Germany.
yes I did it all, plasterboard room for external leak out, acoustic chamber, electric system. Some help for double doors windows from a pro, and another worker for the air conditioner.
And I ve soldered some km of cables.

 

Last edited: Jul 9, 2016

I do like those and may end up needing some, not sure yet. My space is a 12x14 foot area at one end of a longer room in the basement. Two of the three walls are outer walls which are concrete with framed sheet rock inner walls which are insulated with fiberglass. The third wall is an inside wall which is also insulated with fiberglass. The ceiling is sheet rocked with about 1 foot thick fiberglass insulation. The floor has thick padding and carpet. I should mention the entire basement walls, ceiling & floor is as described above, not just my area.

You can't hear any noticeable echoes or ringing from hand claps, playing guitar, or singing. So my plan is to take some acoustic measurements of the area and find out what the low freqs are doing, at that time I may be looking into some bass traps. Depending on what I end up needing I would definitely look at making my own as long as they work & are ascetically pleasing. I'm also unclear exactly what effect the open end of my area is going to have on everything either.

 

@Adamdog wilkommen , und dang you for making me envy green... nice axes... nice everything...

and the well placed Bowie album cover... a man of refined taste I see... congrats

 

Aaaah, a Rac Pac there
... an insane mixer with so many possibilities Ideal for a small band or home recording.

 

Slider it seems to me a good enviroment where to start building a studio. In a basement the height may be an issue.

Trick for low ceilings: put basstraps on the ceiling. The acoustic effect basstraps give is that your walls litterally moves back by 1 mt , they give you more space. I hope you understand.

if you place basstraps over the Overheads mics, you avoid combo effects brought by a low ceiling.

About the resonances and ringings well sorry I don t mean to be rude but that s impossible. sorry. I have a full treated room and still the door and window are one in fron t of the other and they reflect some ringing.

With basstraps you could tame the lows reverberation in the corners, and acoustic foam for the mid highs.
For standing waves and ringings deflectors and non linear shaped panels are better.

 

Rhodes lol, it was ther for some live monitoring.
It s my old mixer... from the mid 90s... my Mom's present for some birthday... rehearsal rooms, first small gigs.
A piece of memory. Not my very first one, maybe the 4th but ... best times of the life? yes.

It still serves in the Adamdog's Army. Retired glory.

 

hahaha... I still use mine ... never had problems with it.
I love the flexibility of it.
It is about 20 Yrs. old now, and still working like the first day (except the "vintage" patina on the buttons )

 

Not a problem, didn't take it as rudeness at all. I think I over simplified my original statement, of course there's some resonances...it's an untreated room. I just meant to imply that it's not overly so, like a room with wooden floors & high ceilings might be....or a tiled public men's restroom!!
If you don't mind, I'll PM you a link to some pictures of the room tomorrow so you'll have a better visual of my situation. I'd like to hear your opinion after seeing what I have to work with. Appreciate ya!