Hello all, Following the acoustic panels I made, I came across a great opportunity to make diffusers (like the one above) pretty much for free. The builder that is working on our house has a shitload of 30mm x 30mm sticks left over and he would be glad to give them to me, and even cut them to the lengths I want! This means I only need to worry about the backing board, which is something like 5 bucks. The thing is, I can't put a diffuser in the studio, because the back "wall" is a big sliding door and I'm putting a fat curtain on it, so I'm thinking of building the diffuser for the living room because a) it would probably help with acoustics of the room (it'll also have two acoustic panels); and b) it looks cool. I've done a bit of reading online and it seems diffusers are quite useful in studios and home theater rooms. Following this grid I've google-found everywhere: My questions are: 1. Can I make them with 30mm x 30mm pieces of wood? if so, what would the lengths have to be? Are the lengths strict, or can I just do something like 0mm, 2mm, 4mm, 6mm, 8mm? 2. Can two diffusers be placed side by side, and if so, is the alignment of the grid the same or a mirror image? 3. Can/should the wood be stained and/or sealed? 4. Is this bullshit and I'm just wasting my time? As always, thanks in advance guys.
I'd build them just cause they looks cool as you say. I mean, look at those walls Sorry I can't add anything worth to this subject, never made one so I don't know. I can just say I never seen such a big size for the "sticks" (30x30), always about 15-20mm). But I seen just a couple different models in two studios where I live. I remember reading lot of talk on the subject on an italian forum about engineering, and if I remember well the length is very important, it must follow a given proportion. maybe on GS you can find some more technical data about measures Having the material for free I would try to make them, good quality wood is really expensive nowadays. Good luck!
That's true. Worst case scenario, they sound like shit and I just wasted 5 bucks... That's a pretty good worst case scenario! I'd really like to know how to calculate the lengths... Thanks mate.
yeah its a win/win case. Worst case is still good as you end up with a couple of cool modern furniture pieces Maybe they makes your living room sounding like a crypt, but who cares, they're cool. I hope one day to be able to build something like 2/4 1mx1m panels like the ones in that picture. I have an idea like painting only the exposed part (the face where you cut the pieces, sorry for my crappy english hope I explained the idea) and leave the sticks natural wood, they will look great ! That day is probably far though, yet to move to a room with a shape that don't fight against all acoustical decency standards Also, I have no monitors at all atm, I'm going to build soon a very interesting DIY project for nearfield monitors, heard them at a studio and they're just insanely good for the price. I was really skeptical cause they use pretty cheap hi-fi car components, but then I listened to them, the crossover is really well thought and they sound like many monitors in the 800-1000$ range for a fifth of the money I will post a tutorial about building them in case Good luck with the build, let us see the result in case
1) If you are on PC, download this (2.2mb, freeware): http://www.mh-audio.nl/user/acoustic%20calculator.asp It has alot of tools for calculations (QRD, Helmholtz resonators, skyline, etc). There you can insert the frequency range you wish to focus on, and it will calculate the lengths of the wood/columns. Over here in sweden we have 4,5x4,5cm wood at most stores, ready to be cut up. 3x3cm might yield a different result (diffusion- and spectrum-wise). 2) You can place as many diffusers side-by-side as you wish. Basically the more, the merrier. 3) natural, stained, sealed/covered (thin breathable fabric), painted. Doesn't really matter. 4) Not bullshit. edit: Tip! If money is an issue, ask for "screwed/twisted/bent" wood, as they usually go for cheaper (since it's harder to build porches/verandas/etc with them and people tend to see them as garbage/waste). Since you will cut it up into smaller pieces, you will most likely not notice that they are twisted/bent. edit2: You can also place diffusors in the ceiling (a bit afront of your head position) and/or reflective walls (left of your left speaker [and right/right], reflective to your left ear).
I read a lot about this and decided to never use because some engeneers said that its an artificial ambient and no one listens in artificial ambients except with earphones. The priority I think is buy a neutral microphone (I buyed one really cheap from behringer) and look for frequencies that your environment boosts or abosorv. Since my studio is very polluted with toys, decoration and panels I do not think it can fits... For wood shops you can find a lot with carpenters and places that sell wood
Exactly why I am checking here first, mate. it's one of those things that if I end up not knowing what the hell I'm doing, I just won't do it... and hey... I like hell! :p
Well, after following a lot of advice here (thank you very much), and a further and long PM chat with a forum member (mega thanks, you know who you are), it seems the diffusers are out of the question for the living room/home theatre. But it opened possibilities for ceiling diffusers in the studio/study. So might go ahead and make them and see how those go. Thanks everyone.
