acoustic design - alternatives for rockwool??

[gitarrero]

hi folks,I need to solve a problem in my recording (and mixing-) room which is located at about 125 hz.I know that rockwool is quite efficient as a broadband-absorber but it's debatable for health-reasons.so I thought I use a natural absorber instead of rockwool, and used hemp. the bad thing is that it's not efficient at all - my problem with the bass is still there.so what I'm looking for now is a good, fast & efficient method to kill that bass-resonance in my room - without taking any risk on my health.do you have any tip for me?thanks,martin

[sgs4u]

Google is my friendhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyYUpkpL0gwDo It yourself Bass trapand of course Mazz and Stick know how, likely Ann too.Jun 26, 2008, 1:58pm, gitarrero wrote:hi folks,I need to solve a problem in my recording (and mixing-) room which is located at about 125 hz.I know that rockwool is quite efficient as a broadband-absorber but it's debatable for health-reasons.so I thought I use a natural absorber instead of rockwool, and used hemp. the bad thing is that it's not efficient at all - my problem with the bass is still there.so what I'm looking for now is a good, fast & efficient method to kill that bass-resonance in my room - without taking any risk on my health.do you have any tip for me?thanks,martin

[mazz]

www.readyacoustics.comThey have a lot of do it yourself solutions that work really well and look decent too. With the dollar in the toilet, even with shipping this might be a good deal for you. I bought a kit of three broadband bags and the OC 703 panels, put them together and hung them in about 2 hours tops. it made a big difference.Good luck!Mazz

[nickbatzdorf]

This the shizzle:http://www.bondedlogic.com/ultratouch.htm

[devin]

Hey, that's cool stuff! It sounds like it's hard to cut though, from what I've just been reading.Looks like Ultratouch's Transmission loss is 21db at 125 Hz for the R13 product. Not bad, except it's more than twice as effective at killing 1000 Hz. The best bet might be to build bass traps with it (as opposed to covering large areas of the room as a surface treatment?).http://www.chemicaldesigncorp.net/PDF_F ... ting.pdfAt the bottom of this thread, Ethan Winer chimed in, and didn't denounce the use of Ultratouch, so I guess it's a good plan:http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads....4654880f d184cbI'd be really interested to hear how it works out for you Martin!P.S. I wouldn't be too scared of Rockwool...as long as you're protected when handling it, and the finished installation doesn't leave it open to the room:

[mojobone]

http://www.quietsolution.com/html/quietrock.htmlHaven't used it myself, wonder if any of the bigears around here have? Here's a relevant thread:http://studioforums.com/eve/forums/a/tp ... 7384Course, that's more on a soundproofing tip, not specific to any particular room modes.

[mazz]

There's a difference between acoustical treatment and soundproofing. Soundproofing requires mass and is expensive, particularly if modifying an existing space. Acoustical treatment is, by comparison, less expensive, but easy to mess up if you don't know what you're doing.There's tons of information (some of it conflicting) out there on both subjects.Unless you're building a facility from the ground up and/or have tons of money to burn, treatment (and a good pair of cans) is a much better alternative to soundproofing.Mazz

[gitarrero]

thanks for all your posts.ultratouch doesn't seem to be available in europe/switzerland.I think I will go with rockwool & simply packing it airproof; I want to go back and record, not try 1000 of methods of acoustic treatment... aaargh.. thanks!martin

[devin]

Jun 28, 2008, 3:23am, gitarrero wrote:thanks for all your posts.I think I will go with rockwool & simply packing it airproof; I want to go back and record, not try 1000 of methods of acoustic treatment... aaargh.. thanks!martinHere's a really quick way to test it out...and I know the die-hards are going to smoke me for suggesting such an un-scientific approach. Buy two bales of rockwool, and don't open it (leave it in the bags). Just prop it up in the corners where bass likes to hang out...the low frequency will go through the plastic covering (and the round shape of the rockwool package won't introduce any coherent high frequency reflections). This way you can move the stuff around, and still return it to the hardware store if you can't find any difference.If you find some spots that work, then think about opening the packages and building something custom. You can wrap whatever creation you like with some plastic, and then fabric over top of the plastic.The package from the store is fairly thick, so it's going to start eating up the low bass too...getting the thickness right for 125 Hz shouldn't be too hard though...I'll do some searching tomorrow morning to see if I can find out a good way to do it. (I have a mix of 8", 6", and 4" traps in a non-symmetrical room).Jun 27, 2008, 9:09pm, mazz wrote:Unless you're building a facility from the ground up and/or have tons of money to burn, treatment (and a good pair of cans) is a much better alternative to soundproofing.MazzLike you mentioned Mazz...these two goals are pretty exclusive, but most folks starting out do get the two concepts confused. "Whaddaya mean egg cartons on the wall won't let my neighbors sleep? Dang!".The soundproofing is time consuming, which adds to the cost significantly (even doing it myself it took away many hours of composing!). In my case though, with two kids in diapers at the time, I needed a soundproof room (my wife jokes "Is that so we don't hear you...or so you don't hear the kids?!?!").

[stoney]

Try UK basedwww.studiospares.com I'm pretty sure they ship to Europe.Really great website and they will probably be able to recommend a solution to your problem. They have a great range and prices vary greatly to match (look for the Acoustics tab). Their bass traps are brilliant and it might be worth looking at Panel Membrane Absorbers which go on the wall to absorb bass freq. Their range of sound diffusers (something often overlooked) will help with the standing waves that all rooms have to. You can buy those for next to nothing Hope you find a solutionRegards