[Garbz]

I do think violin. And I think that rich full bodied sound that a violin has even in it's high areas. Also absobs != eliminate. Better make that destinction before this breaks into a war (curses opposing views).

Yes fibre glass works, the reason I didn't mention it is because personally i'm semi alergic to it (nothing sivere I jsut break out in pins and needles when near it), and the fibres are a pain in the arse to deal with, thus I never use it. The only time I would mention it as sound proofing is to go into walls inbetween plasterboard sheets, but as this is not your appartment you've got buggery chance of using that as an idea. Maybe you can find some sealed battons, this would do wonders for soundproofing.

Also foam is mainly used for mids and highs too, but when put near a wall with a gap behind it, or in a corner at 45degrees with a triangular space behind it, it forms a bass trap which i'm not quite sure of the physics of but it seems to work quite well at my old school's studio where it was used often when loud bands (us

) crammed into the small room.

With the sound proofing, if you can kill some resonances and standing waves then the sound will be more attenuated on the outside.

 

[sumone]

I keep forgetting things...on my windows are blinds...do these create a surface that defracts the bass waves?


As far as the subwoofer being isolated, it is on the floor under the computer desk, so I guess, yeah it's isolated? (It's not on the computer desk).


For foam in the corners, does it have to reach all the way to the ceiling? And is it only used on the walls opposite the subwoofer? (In my case the back-left & back-right if back = bottom of rectangle on my picture)

So if all I did was grab some BassTraps that would solve my bass problems? In other words, I won't get standing waves with bass <100hz?

 

[TWIFOSP]

A buddy of mine has his listening station enclosed in VERY HEAVY velvet like fabric curtains. He set it up in a corner of a room, and then sqaured off the corner with hanging curtains to make for a small cube with speakers. He also has bass traps and baffles hung in the enclosure. It's not exactly sound isolating, but the accoustics seem pretty damn nice all things considered. It's not nearly as nice as an accoustically treated room, but it's obviously better than just having the speakers in the open living room. The curtains can be swept aside to open the room back up.

That is, if you MUST listen to speakers. Headphones would offer you a myriad more options, and as a bonus you won't piss off your nieghbors. If you can hear them walking and talking, you can bet for sure they will be knocking at your door if you choose to do any late night listening.

So if you need complete sound isolation, I would instead suggest getting a nice pair of custom IEMs (In Ear Monitors) like sensaphonics or UE10s and just bliss out with headphones instead of spending a bunch of time and money on sound improvements.

 

[pne]

double post

 

[pne]

your solution is fiberglass plain and simple. it's the best bang for buck absorber out there, search DIY bass traps and absorbers, and you will find a lot of designs that use rigid fiberglass (owens corning 703 if IIRC) it's a bit hard to find the dense stuff though. I used normal housing insulation and i only have a bit, but it absorbs a lot! there is also a certain thickness it must be in order to absorb the bass reverb. think 6-8 inches to be effective. blankets, rugs, etc are great for mids/highs but don't do anything for the bass. treat the first reflection points first, which are the side walls usually, use the mirror trick with a friend to find out where the soundwaves will bounce. Homemade diffractors can also be done as someone has mentioned, eggcartons work very well, bed foam, styrofoam blocks, bookshelves, etc. Another thing i used to do, since i have a small room like you, is use large pieces of cardboard against the side wall, prop them at low angles like 10-15 degrees. this messes up the parallel wall effect which will improve that sonic imaging.

edit- saw your room diagram. you'll want to move that speaker out of the corner! the corner is the worse place for it, move it to the other side of the desk, by the tv. pull them away from the back wall too if they are rear ported. if you dont have room then block the ports with balled up socks. a throw rug will help the floor reverbrations, hardwood is quite bad. i suggest moving your sub out from underneath the desk too, it's not a good spot for it. beside the bed might work better, to absorb excess waves. you can try moving the bed directly behind your listening chair, right now it's the biggest absorber in your room so put it to good use.

 

[Garbz]

That is a good point. Where is your door? Moving your bed which is a giant cloth thing may have a huge impact. It's a pity you can't sleep on the wall otherwise we'd have the perfect solution

The bass traps help a lot but it won't elminate ALL of the bass problems. It's fundemental physics which can't be avoided. e.g. My listening position is about 1.5m from the back wall. That means a wavelength of 3m which with the formula length=speed/frequency. gives a fequency of 110hz. That's my problem area. A 110hz wave at my listening position will exactly cancel when it comes off the back wall. And of course the harmonics will also form a problem like 220hz, 440hz, etc.

The only way to completely eliminate the bass problem is to somehow completely defract the sound.

Just had an idea for the perfect listening room. A 45 degree wall direction all reflections out the door