Topic: Room Mode calculator?

[RebelRebel]

Chuck, treatment is the best money youll spend... (few more links for info below).... after having treated a couple rooms now, and having spent several hours listening in the spaces both pre and post-treatment, I firmly believe that there is nothing, save the actual source that is playing, that makes as much of an impact as properly treating the enviroment. After getting the treatment installed and hearing the night and day difference, I could have launched myself out of the window for having invested as much money as I did in speakers/amps/ cables/etc without putting any towards getting the myriad issues with the room squared away..couldve honestly put an all in one 50 dollar panasonic boom box with bass boost technology in there and had very similar results to the much more expensive array of stuff that I ended up with(in fact, the room played such a dominant role in the listening experience that shortly after treatment(and listening sessions that followed), I promptly returned the speakers as I did not like hearing them at all in their naked /unveiled state..) ... before the panels, traps, carpeting, etc...My situation was akin  to me putting a 427 in a rust eaten brown 1982 pinto with no headlights, 3 bad tires/ (and one 1 doughnut) and using  tailored garbage bags for destroyed windows. my room now is small, and square(two wrenches in the gears!/// the one in my flat in Germany was fairly sizeable and rectangular), but with Glenns help and some of my own research coupled with trial and error( though I still dont know dick in the scheme of things), I have navigated those obstacles and am very happy with what I have accomplished(Now I have to tackle the room that I mix/master in)....anyway, sorry to ramble, but  treatment is so, so important...( I realize too that sometimes the Frau can be an issue, Glenn and others(maybe, in part, due to struggles with their own better halves ) have designed treatments that integrate very well into the room visually(GIK has around 15 or so color schemes for his panels I believe). I really want to cry when I see a quarter of a million dollar system in a room with empty walls, nothing for absorption/reflection, etc.

http://www.acoustisoft.com/

http://www.realtraps.com/art_room-setup.htm

 http://www.musicplayer.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=26;hardset=0;start_point=0;DaysPrune=0

[Chuck]

+T. Thanks Teddy. I am definately not going to spend 1G on this room. If I was making $$ doing this it would make sense. I first want to find a spot in the room that sounds good, then try to deal with the room modes etc... with some room treatments.

[Chuck]

Chuck, check out www.realtraps.com

www.ethanwiner.com

www.gikacoustics.com (I just treated my entire room for well, well less than 1G).. the guy there, Glenn Kuras, is a great person, and if you send him some pictures, he will tell you exactly how to outfit your room. The auralex stuff, in my opinion, is way overpriced, not as effective(I have used Auralex products in germany and here) , etc.... GIK is the way to go for treatment, without question. Top notch products for  small change..


john l sayers(very well known acoustic expert and room designer) forum is outstanding for info as well...  http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php

Teddy:

It looks to me like the GIK prodcuts are more expensive than the Auralex stuff. Am I missing something? At least for now, I'm hoping to find a solution in the $300 or less range.

[RebelRebel]

Chuck, give Glenn a call, he will square you right away. He sells his panels/traps in 3 packs, and they are very well priced. Auralex is much more expensive, at least for the majority of the products I looked at.

Chuck, check out www.realtraps.com

www.ethanwiner.com

www.gikacoustics.com (I just treated my entire room for well, well less than 1G).. the guy there, Glenn Kuras, is a great person, and if you send him some pictures, he will tell you exactly how to outfit your room. The auralex stuff, in my opinion, is way overpriced, not as effective(I have used Auralex products in germany and here) , etc.... GIK is the way to go for treatment, without question. Top notch products for  small change..


john l sayers(very well known acoustic expert and room designer) forum is outstanding for info as well...  http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php

Teddy:

It looks to me like the GIK prodcuts are more expensive than the Auralex stuff. Am I missing something? At least for now, I'm hoping to find a solution in the $300 or less range.

[TNJazz]

Chuck,

Another good option is to call a local insulation contractor and buy some 703 panels.  Then just get some breathable fabric (burlap is excellent and cheap) and cover them with spray adhesive or something similar.

Here are a couple of pics of my room taken a few months back after I finished painting.  I'm still adding absorption pieces as needed, but the panels  I've put up already has made a HUGE difference.  I can actually mix again (everything was fine until I put in the wood floor, then it all went to hell!)

The 703 and fabric is much cheaper than anything else, and you seem to be pretty big on DIY anyway.  I'd give that a try.  No question it will be the best thing you can do.

IMO, Auralex and similar products are not worth the money.  The only thing worse is "foam by mail" or those stupid egg crates. 

GIK and Realtraps are excellent though, if you're not into the DIY thing.

Good luck!
Dirk

[Chuck]

I actually did some tests and figured out a better spot in the room for everything. It helped tame a big low frequency bump, but it's still not that great. There was a time when I was researching the DIY panels. I still have all the notes I took. I may go that route. I just need the time, which is eluding me...

My wife has just about had it with me over this room, too. I'm not getting much support.  Maybe, if I covered the absorber panels with some nice designer fabric, that might change her mind. 

[RebelRebel]

those look really nice, Dirk...

[TNJazz]

those look really nice, Dirk...

Thanks man!  Next step is to frame them better (nice stained wood frames with holes/slots for absorption) and add true bass traps in the corners.  All good things in all good time though!  Gotta paint the entryway and the living room first. 

[goodcooker]

that room mode calculator is pretty nifty but I have a weird problem.

My listening/DAW room is my spare bedroom in my apartment (like I'm sure many others are) which is a "loft" space in an old renovated plumbing warehouse. Really just a big rectangle with 15 ft ceilings. The "walls" that divide the rooms only go up 7 ft so they are more like drywall partitions dividing up the space.

What values for height should I use in the calculator?

Entering 7 ft then 15 ft as height really changed the results drastically.

Any ideas other than bass traps that I can use to deaden this room on the cheap?
TNJazz - those are some nifty panels in your studio ! Might use a few of those. In designer colors even.