Looking for acoustic treatment tips for small rooms in living apartments

[recursive one]

I have a small room in my apartment (about 10 square meters) which I can dedicate to production and mixing and I want to make some acoustic treatment. Basically I'm looking for some advices from people who had done some treatment in their living rooms which actually resulted in an improvement. I'm making purely synth music mostly ITB, so I don't record anything, and I have preference to bass-heavy music, like trance/psy/goa trance, progressive breaks and similar, so I need as good control over low frequencies as I can practically afford.

For what I know, the best room treatment solution is mineral wool, such as Rockwool, which can absorb enough low frequencies if it's thick enough, but assembling bass traps and acoustic panels from such wool in a living apartment may be troublesome because of smells and waste (I have two kids living in the same apartment). So I'm also looking for alternative solutions.

I know there are some foam-based products called "bass traps" made by Auralex for example (we have also similar domestic products in my country),which seem very convenient but I'm not sure foam can actually trap much in the bass area (below 300 Hz). TBH, i don't have any experience with it myself, but people actually experienced in mixing and mastering to whom I have talked about this, are of the opinion that foam generally works quite poor, if at all, especially in the bass area.

Is there anything else I could consider? I mostly lean towards premade products as contructing big bass traps of potentially hazardous materials at home seems to be quite awkward for the above reasons, but I don't mind some DIY.

[recursive one]

This is a serious question I'm doing my own research and I have some ideas of what I can do and buy, but I assume not everybody at KVR has their own big and professionally treated studios, for that matter any advice what can be practically done in a small living room to improve acoustics would help a lot. Not actually looking for a professional consultation here, just kind of "I've done this and that and it helped (or didn't help, or I think it helps, or I like to believe that it helps)"

[e@rs]

Wait, no soft synths here? I'm out.

Seriously now, I'm in a similar position. It appears the first thing to do is cover all four corners from top to bottom in pressed mineral wool with high density (30-60 Kg/m3) and enclosed in a textile fabric (avoid plastic and don't use any glue). It should be between 60-100 cm wide. Unfortunately that's all I know so far.

[recursive one]

Thanks a lot!

Yes, for what I know, 60 kg/m3 density is optimal. There is Rockwool RW3 in Europe with such density, or Rockwool Acoustic Batts Ultrathin in my country.

Rockwool seems to be ideal for pro studies, but assembling bass traps and panels at home seems a bit complicated, it will smell and there will be many waste, you need good ventilation, this is what I have been told by people who actually did this.

[e@rs]

Will look for Rockwool, thanx! And yeah, I'm also a bit scared of starting the process. In the meantime my living room just sits there, empty...

[recursive one]

For that matter you may find this article useful, it explains in detail what you need and why.

http://www.masteringmastering.co.uk/che ... ixing.html

[a_Scientist]

Increase the amount of items, things, paintings in frames, soft pillows, and so on, as long as they don't resonate - I think this works. Worked for me!

[recursive one]

Increase the amount of items, things, paintings in frames, soft pillows, and so on, as long as they don't resonate - I think this works. Worked for me!

Thanks! I've read advices like that, seems to work as an auxiliary measure. For what I know also big curtains help to some extent (like basically everything which is big and soft), while glass surfaces like mirrors should be avoided.

[camsr]

Foam is a great option, but it's pricier than rockwool and other stuff. 4" thick foam will work good above 125hz, and it works better below that with an air gap between the foam and wall.

[recursive one]

Foam is a great option, but it's pricier than rockwool and other stuff. 4" thick foam will work good above 125hz, and it works better below that with an air gap between the foam and wall.

Thanks! Actually if it's safe for use at home and is easily assembled/mounted I don't mind higher costs (if it's not crazy expensive like 500 USD for a small bass trap )

Are there any specific brands/products you could recommend?

They sell these foam bass traps here
37x37x100 cm (so I understand it must be about 27 cm/10 inch deep)

This is an absorption graph for these, the Y axis is an absorption coefficient, the X axis is frequency in Hz



Looking at that graph, how do you think, are these traps worth considering? There are no measurements below 100 Hz but with my room size/dimensions I'm not sure I could properly control these frequencies with any material, for that matter I think I'll stick to 5 inch monitors and rely on high quality kick samples and bass presets without doing much equing/tweaking below 100 Hz myself.

These guys also sell panels filled with mineral wool but these are only 6 cm thick, there are no graphs for these, just a statement "absorption coefficient up to 0.98 within 100-8000 Hz range", I don't like this "up to"

I'm sorry if I'm asking too much questions, this is will be the first room treatment effort in my life and I want the results to be as good as possible, considering my a bit awkward situation.

[camsr]

I can't recommend any "brands" simply because I don't know them (well there is Auralex but I hear that it's expensive in comparison). What you want is called "polyester polyurethane foam".
Those corner wedges are fine if they are what your room needs. They don't do much for bass, but they do work in the midrange. Most corner mounted absorption panels are much larger to fulfill the necessary depth for bass range frequencies. You could get a 4" thick foam and "straddle" it across the corner and it would be over twice as effective as that corner foam cut.

But before anything, it would be prudent to take an acoustical measurement of your room (with the RoomEQ Wizard or such) to see just what is going on acoustically.

[recursive one]

Thanks! So when I straddle an absorption panel across a corner, the air behind the panel also traps some energy?

I don't have a microphone but getting something like Umik-1 seems a minor investment compared to all the other stuff

[andymcbain]

If you have the budget perhaps pay someone to make the panels for you in a dedicated workshop. Assembling a panel isn't difficult DIY but yes, you don't want you or your kids to be breathing in that mineral wool.

Foam isn't worth bothering with for bass. And yes it's a good idea to do some tests with a measurement mic first if possible to see what the room actually needs (it's possible to go overboard and make your room sound boxy or dull if you're not careful)

[camsr]

The airgap behind a panel helps to improve it's low-frequency absorption, kinda like how a ported speakerbox helps to extend the bass.
The UMIK-1 is a good choice. Check Cross-Spectrum Labs for a UMIK-1 with a calibration. http://www.cross-spectrum.com/
Although if you have a decent preamp with balanced input, I would forego a USB mic and get something else.

[recursive one]

Thanks, Camsr and Andy!

Indeed, making measurements beforehand is a good idea I have 2-3 months before I can actually start anything so I will read something about this in the meantime.

Hiring someone to make the panels in their place may be an option.

Foam seems a bit polarizing matter I guess everyone agrees about mineral wool though.