I don't see any benefit of having a semi reflective surface directly to the side of your ears. You may want to try putting a moving blanket or some acoustic foam over the front of the panels. Also id consider placing the custom panels directly to your sides in landscape orientation centered more or less at ear height. This would keep the semi reflective surfaces further away from your ears.

Hi Kyle,

Thanks for getting back.

Ah, got you. Only went with the 4a's as everyone keeps saying thicker the better, these a 4".

Would 2" panels be OK at 1st refection points? I have 4, so can place 2 at the sides, plus means I could hang the other two on the oppiste side with g clamps on the curtain pole as their light! The 4a's are heavy so had to raise the left side one on a crate, and lean it at an angle against the window frame, not ideal!

Thanks.

There's a balance between thickness and GFR (gas flow resistivity) which is kinda like porosity. If you used a very dense, very thick sponge is wouldn't absorb water well, it would reflect it. If you used a very porous, thin sponge most water would go right through it. That's analogous to how sound works in a panel. You need the right proportions of thickness and GFR.

So it comes down to what your 2" panels are made of. If they're not optimal as is you could add an airgap behind them and/or thicken them with more insulation.

If you want my opinion on the a4, it's sell them and get some rockboard 40, safe n sound, or fluffy insulation. They sell them as bass traps/diffusers, yet post no data on the diffusion aspect. The test data sheet shows that effective absorption doesn't start until above 125hz and ends at 2.5k. Bass starts around 250-300hz depending on who you ask. So you end up with a panels that leaves tons of bass and lots of highs in the room.

Look at the rockboard 40 data sheet. Notice it's nearly even across the tested frequency range. (Technically comparing tests done at different labs can have a pretty high variance, but without knowing tendencies of each lab it's not possible to compensate) for your purposes face value is good enough.

Thanks for the info!

I didn't pay too much for the 4A's as it was through GIK's eBay store here in the UK. Pretty much two for one, as one panel has a slight damaged face.

I think I could flip them around as the back is like a normal 244 ect. Just means screwing into the wooden face. I only have 2 though, where as the 2" custom builts I have 4 . Not sure what material was used in these, but the person who got them made runs a local well respected studio and rehearsal rooms.

The window to the side of me is tricky with the 4a. Their around 10kg so can't hang one from the curtain pole, and no way to fit them to wall that side without being off 1st reflection. Resting it on the floor is too low, easing it on a crate and leaning at an angle is dodgy.

2" panels are a lot lighter.

Without knowing what's in them it's impossible to say. Your best bet is to try different configurations and test it. It's reasonable to expect that none of the options are going to be effective for bass. Your going to need dedicated bass treatments.

For the window thing you could make a floor stand for the panel, or possibly use a speaker stand lighting stand. Or a couple of eye bolts and braided steel cabling could possibly work to hang it from the ceiling.

Hi,

Cheers Kyle.

I have fitted the 4, 3x2 custom made 2" panels to the sides. I had to go with the best I could for the left side 2, due to the window and radiator. Both sides are covering ear level now and I can still open the window ect.

I am trying to think what to do with the 2, 4A Alpha's I have left. I don't have much room in the back wall with new layout what with a bed, small window. Would they work on the front wall, or no point as their semi reflective?

I did think of turning them around (so reflective face isn't an issue) and just stacking them against tri traps in the front corners, make those areas thicker?

I also have a spare monster trap left. Unfortunately I busted one of the sides a bit when moving everything 100 times these last few weeks! Just lost it's shape a bit now. I could just put it up on the ceiling, but not sure there's any point as it can't go near my cloud, mix area due to space and the way the joists and lighting run. Could go at the back of room ceiling?

With the alpha's maybe turning them around and putting them in an area where there's a reflection in their effective range. The "string method" using an ETC as a guide would probably be most accurate. But you might be able to play filtered pink noise so it's only between 500-1k and walk around near the boundaries using an RTA app and find a peak.

As far as the front wall goes semi reflective isn't bad there because most speakers don't spit out much highs behind them. It's the poor bass performance that's an issue at least on paper. Front will will have modal buildup. Woryh checking the front wall to see if there's problems in the alpha's effective range on the front wall.

Maybe straddling open corners or just on the rear side walls would be viable options.

For the monster trap on the ceiling makes sense to me since it's only one unit, and might help with modal issues between floor and ceiling. I can't imagine there's much helpful energy getting reflected off the ceiling in your case.

Nice to hear things are coming together.

Cheers for taking the time on input again Kyle!

I've worked out today, sitting too close to the front wall here really adds to the upper bass peaks 110hz-150hz zone. It sky rockets! I can't get rid of it, but it has dropped now by a fair few dbs just by sitting at the 5ft 2-4" mark.

I now have my speakers backside 4" away from the front wall seems to help a tiny bit as well there. I'll take a tiny improvement in this room! Guessing it's my room length?

Interestingly, I had really big peak at 142/3hz in my old layout last week. The 180 flip around has smoothed that out, but changed the peak freq to a bit higher up. It's not as big or sharp.

I have realized, my small jazz drum kit adds a fair decay time in places too, especially shells and ride. Not much I can do due to space here and family in other rooms ect. I could just move the rack and floor tom out when serious mixing.

Here for me, the new Result6's seem to have a wide firing range. What sounds best so far to me is a narrow triangle width with me sitting further away than I normally do so I am not as close to the front wall. Toe in just a bit.

The new 2 Monster trap cloud seems to have made a few dips in the low mids/mids. Could it be the big 10" air gap I have? Had to go 10 due to it being the only spare chain and wire I had.

If I can sell the Alphas and my other spare bits, I will grab some thicker panels. I did notice the tri traps and monsters are doing something here!

Still haven't solved why my centre shifts to the left a bit. My rooms so non symetrical, I don't think I can help that. For now I'll just turn it down a few dbs, don't really want too turn the right up anymore.

Sounds like you're moving in the right direction. For the drums they make these rubber pads that fit on the drum head so people can practice on their kit at low volumes. Those might be a cheap and convenient way to damp your kit for mixing and leaving it open as you prefer when playing.

For the monster trap I'm not sure. A gap between the surface and panel does trade off mid efficiency for low efficiency so it's possible. It's also possible it's just revealing an issue that was masked previously.

You could try laying some attic insulation on top of the trap to see its makes it more effective.

Cheers

Ah, nice idea on the mute pads! I actually used to use one on my snare for practice. I will grab a pack.

Just done a few more tests. These Result6's defo like me sitting further away. I'm at around the 6ft mark now, best to date! I sort of have a narrow, long triangle. Quite different to what I'm used too with my old Adam's. I sat close to them. with the flip around in setup and new mix spot, finally starting to work nice to my ears.

I will try some rockwool ect on top of the monsters cloud. Also I'll be saving for some thicker panels.

Cheers for all the help and to others too. Really appreciated! Finally get back to the fun stuff, making music!I

Cheers again!

Hi Kyle and others,

Just a quick one,

Would this instulation be right for acoustic jobs?

I have read up on here and a few other places about UK products. Knauf and Rockwool seem to be the go too's.

https://www.buildingmaterials.co.uk/...els|Insulation

Ideally after pre cut slabs if possible. Spare cash is pretty low at the mo!

Cheers.

It depends on what acoustic job your trying to do. It looks like regular rigid/semi rigid mineral wool, which is applicable for some things like say broadband panels.

You'd need to contact knauf and get the gas flow Resistivity spec for that product line, and if they can't supply it at least get the density. I did not see that info in the data sheet on the productd webpage at knauf.

It might be here:
Common Gas Flow Resistivity numbers.

Either way the GFR will tell you what it can be used for acoustically. GFR can vary a fair bit in similar products and has a significant role in acoustic performance.