# Absorbers and Trap attachment



## DavidRVoorhees (Nov 24, 2015)

Hello,
I recently joined and started posting. Presently I am working to add acoustic treatment to my studio control room. It is a small room 15' wide x 20' long with a ceiling that slopes from 9 feet in front of the listening area to 10.5 at the rear. There is a lot of glass: bay window at the front, French doors and larger pane of glass on the left and picture window and flanking sash windows on the right. The rear is floor to ceiling shelving of albums and CDs and books. The Genelec monitors are just in front of the desk spaced 4' apart and 3.5 n from the front wall. (Note bay window behind).
I know the room needs acoustic treatment. I would like to be able to hang and remove as necessary any absorbers or traps. There is a shelf that wraps around the left, front and right side of the room at 7' above the floor. I would like to suspend panels on hooks, perhaps on Lexan with any absorbers attached from the underside of that shelving. That way I can completely remove them if I am not performing any critical mixing. 
Since these would not be rigidly attached to a wall I question if the effectiveness of the panels will be compromised. 
I will continue to educate myself by reading the Master Handbook and other resources. In the meantime any suggestions from the group will be most appreciated. 
I understand I can not upload any images until I have made 5 posts. A few more to go.

Best regards
David


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Welcome. Any chance of some pictures so we can better visualize things?


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## DavidRVoorhees (Nov 24, 2015)

I have taken many but seem to be restricted in what I can upload until I reach a posting minimum. Almost there. Let me know if there is a way to do it that I have not learned on this site.


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## Talley (Dec 8, 2010)

The slope helps but you'll still have first wave reflections. 

Cloud the ceiling area at that point. you can always put stuff on stands. GIK acoustics has products that freestand that you can place in front of these windows and move them later.


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

I believe you still need 5 posts. There used to be a post padding thread.


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

DavidRVoorhees said:


> I have taken many but seem to be restricted in what I can upload until I reach a posting minimum. Almost there. Let me know if there is a way to do it that I have not learned on this site.


I believe you can post a link to the pics if you have uploaded them on-line...like to photobucket or other image hosting sites (free).


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## Blacklightning (Nov 22, 2011)

just post one more time and you can add pictures. we are looking forward to seeing your room.
Do you have a mic and REW?


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## DavidRVoorhees (Nov 24, 2015)

I have been using REW to baseline the room starting with it nearly empty, then with things rearranged to what should be the final configuration. While I have many microphones for my studio I procured an Audix TM1 which has been working quite well. 

I attached 5 images that I took earlier today. 

The suggestion was made to use free standing panels. However, I prefer to not take up precious floor space. THat was the impetus to consider suspending panels from hooks on the underside of the shelf that wraps around the room at a height of 7 feet above the floor.


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## Talley (Dec 8, 2010)

Honestly I think just some really thick heavy curtains on the front/left/right is all you would need and then install some GIK cloud panels above the MLP on the ceiling. All those bookshelves with all that stuff really acts a a great diffusor.


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## Lumen (May 17, 2014)

Talley said:


> ...All those bookshelves with all that stuff really acts a a great diffusor.


I've heard that too, but I've also heard the opposite; so not really sure what to believe. Some say diffusion isn't needed in small listening rooms because of short reflection distances involved. Again, I'm not agreeing or disagreeing - just putting it out there. In any case, here's an excerpt from GIK's Education and Research article "How Diffusion Works":

_There are a great many myths about ‘home brew’ ways to provide diffusion. Most do not work at all and many work poorly or only over a very narrow range of frequencies. Let’s take a look at one – a bookcase with books set at randomly varying depths.
First of all books, if anything, will be more absorptive than reflective at any but the highest frequencies. Second, random depths do not generate random reflections over a predictable and controllable area. The width, height, spacing, and pattern of the wells of a diffusor are carefully calculated to make sure they generate a smooth and even scattering of the waves over a 180 degree angle. Third, without this carefully calculated spacing, we can cause frequency related aberrations due to constructive and destructive wave interactions from various reflections. We’re in effect getting very little of the benefit of a diffusor while creating more issues in the frequency response._


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## DavidRVoorhees (Nov 24, 2015)

Brian,
I was able to attach a few images of my Control Room for reference. I am still very interested in attaching any absorbers or traps on lexan 'plates' that I can suspend from the underside of the shelf that rings the room at 7 feet above the floor. This will allow me to detach them and set aside for access to shelves or views out my windows. I don't want to create a dungeon environment. 
My main question is if this compromises the effectiveness of the absorber/ diffusors since they are NOT rigidly attached to the walls. 
I like the looks of the Alpha wood series but need to be mindful of cost.


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

The books will absorb some, the CD's may break up higher frequencies a bit but do nothing in the mids and lows which is where the big problems occur in every room - especially smaller ones since the difference in a good vs bad seat position can be a matter of a couple of inches.

I would agree with the cloud - at least 4" thick and spaced down from the ceiling.

There doesn't appear to really be any other place to put much of anything.


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## DavidRVoorhees (Nov 24, 2015)

It is a cozy but small room adjacent to my mixing room. However I do hope to install bass traps in the 4 corners, some kind of cloud above and at least absorber/ diffusors on the left and right walls that will be most effective at my listening point.
Still have not gotten an answer on whether suspending elements on panels will be ineffective.

Best regards
David


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

DavidRVoorhees said:


> Still have not gotten an answer on whether suspending elements on panels will be ineffective.
> 
> Best regards
> David


Bryan, said to do the cloud panels...Not sure what else you are asking for.


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

If you can find space for some corner absorbers with left to right symmetry in mind, that would be a nice addition.


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