acoustic treatments

[billg]

I ran into these & noticed they were a lot less expensive than some of the other similar products out therehttp://www.modtrap.com/Has anybody ever used these or know anything about them?

[flood]

I know a lot of people who have spent a fortune on tuning their room. I also know a few people who tuned their rooms with cardboard egg cartons, and even a few who record in different rooms of their home to suit each situation.The product you linked looks primarily like it is designed to cut down on room or ambient noise. There really isn't any isolation, near as I can tell. I only looked briefly, though, so I sure may have missed something.One of the most successful schemes I ever heard of for vocal mics was this: A friend of mine in the San Fernando Valley, where space is at a premium, records all of his vocals this way:Mic is set up at the door to his very small closet in his bedroom. He sings into it and the weight and odd shapes of his suits and other clothes serves the exact same purpose as any very well designed acoustic treatment.His sound is crystal clear and carries all the low end and sparkly highs you'd expect from a very good studio that has been treated properly.I haven't tried his method, but it might work for you too.Another friend of mine coated his walls with the cardboard egg cartons. His studio sounds amazing. Looks like crap though, and is probably a terrible fire hazard.What I mean, I guess, is that you can accomplish the same thing using a variety of inexpensive or even free methods. If it's a matter of aesthetics, I would go with the one you linked or something similar. If it is simply a matter of expedience and/or cost, I would explore the other ideas.If you're concerned about room noise, you may want to look at a good gate. I use and swear by the TC Electronics Finalizer Plus. It is no longer made in that form, but you can get em on Ebay for 400 or so. It has the most natural gating I have ever heard. Clients around the world constantly remark on it and ask how I got such a quiet studio (I don't have any vocal booths). Truth is my room is quite noisy, but the TC makes it disappear.Now, that doesn't remove the room reflections from the recordings, just makes them invisible in the parts where there is no vocal, guitar, etc. The room harmonics are still there, mixed with the hot tracks. In my case, it's a pretty good sounding room, so I don't concern myself with it.If you want to deaden the sound of the room, I doubt a small mic stand treatment like the one you reference will be satisfying.Done rambling, and hope you can make some sense of all of it.Best wishes,Leon

[gitarrero]

acoustic treatment is a science of its own.first you need to analyze what areas are problematic in your room.as a rule of thumb: the lower the frequencies, the harder one can controll them / respectively the more "mass" is needed.I solved several problems in my studio this summer, it's not inexpensive (all in all about $ 1200, self-made) but it was worth it. the time I safe when recording acoustic instruments & mixing (..and not second guessing) weights it up easely.also, one need to differ: if you want a room to SOUND good, is completely another thing if you don't want the sound to go out (soundproof).to answer your question regarding this product: it may help or may not, depending on what the problem is in your room. it may hold back reflections and the like, but if you have a problem in bass frequencies it won't help that much I guess.cheers,martin

[christig]

I don't think they're intended to treat a whole room but act as a gobo where some isolation is needed or to cut down on unwanted reflections. They look kind of cool for the right application. Clever to use a mic stand as the mount. If you end up trying them, let us know.

[matthoggard]

Really cool idea.I like the one over the cymbal. Talk about killing that evil cymbal sibilance.Nothing beats the old egg crate and carpet tricks IMO. Some of the new mattress foam is very acoustically friendly and VERY cheap. Wally World has it and it works well at my house. I have all woood floors so I HAVE to treat the room.I like the closet trick Ill try it.

[flood]

I recall a magazine article recently about a new company who were making and manufacturing something similiar but in a small enclosure with even greater isolation. Here is a link to a do-it-yourself version:http://www.ehow.com/how_2288669_build-p ... th.htmlThe manufactured version looks the same. I cant remember exact price or even the company name, but $200-$300 sounds about right.The DIY item looks virtually the same. Sound is a different matter, but I suspect they're not far off.

[mojobone]

There's a lot to know about room acoustics, and education is cheaper than bass traps. You should get a decibel meter, a measurement mic ('bout $50 each|) and some software to shoot your room (there's shareware that'll do this) after you git edjicated. here's a good place to start:http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.htmlHe's not the only guru, and he's got stuff to sell, but once you know the basic principles, you can custom fit a DIY solution to nearly any room, by which I mean you can optimize, it won't be perfect unless you can build it from scratch, and even then, perfect is maybe too much to ask...

[gitarrero]

Sept 14, 2008, 5:58am, matthoggard wrote:Nothing beats the old egg crate and carpet tricks IMO. Some of the new mattress foam is very acoustically friendly and VERY cheap. Wally World has it and it works well at my house. I have all woood floors so I HAVE to treat the room.I like the closet trick Ill try it.egg crate can work as diffusor (to diffuse the sound/reflections) but they definitely don't work (due to physical reasons) with lower frequencies.in most rooms that are not builded as recording studios from the ground up there are at least some issues with lower frequ. (ie low mid's, bass). in order to controll/"kill" them you need mass - any thin material won't help much.martin

[wodinlord]

There many aspects to acoustics, but if you just need to deaden the bounce of an overly live room, here's a tip. The studio I worked at for years, where everyone from Stevie Ray to Stevie Nicks recorded, had great acoustic panels that are very easy to duplicate. They were sheets of Pegboard with 1"x 2" wood strips nailed around the 4 edges. Then, fiberglass insulation sheets (no paper backing) were cut to fill the area in between the strips and then felt or burlap type fabric (available in many colors) was stretched over the entire board and stapled to the back. Of course, in the studio these were on frames with a space behind them to act as a bass trap, but they work well in a home situation on the wall, too. You can build these any size to soften a room and they work really well. The holes help diffuse any reflection from the board. I have these in my home studio and they really help to deaden and soften the liveness of the room. They do need to be placed properly in the room and that is something that will vary by situation. But are much more aesthetically pleasing than egg crate or the like if done right.Wodinlord

[mojobone]

Sound On Sound does a reader room makeover every month and a great deal of good and useful info can be gleaned thereby. Articles are on a year long hold for e-subscribers, but the audio truth never expires. Here's a sample:http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug07/a ... S_0807.htm