Bass traps that don't break the bank?

[Sander H.]

Hi everyone,

 

could someone recommend bass traps that don't break the bank and still look the part? I have very cheap and simple bass traps for my office, and they work fine. They're just very ugly and I wouldn't want that in my living room.

 

I have some material on the walls to improve acoustics and some more to come. But the bass traps seem harder to get. I found some that looked quite good, but someone who bought them said it wasn't very good (and roughly $1,000 for a pair). I'll see if I can find a link and post it here, so you know what I'm talking about.

 

EDIT: I forgot to mention, one side can only be 30cm because of my room (or rather, wall) layout. So the front would be 42cm wide.

 

Thanks,

Sander

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by Sander H.
Added dimension

[awayward]

I don’t think they exist, unless you go diy.

[Sander H.]

Well, that's not what I wanted to hear. I may consider DIY, though. 

 

[Guest]

Yes, they do exist

https://soundacoustics.com.au/product/bass-traps/lf70-corner-bass-trap-bear-series/

 

And unlike many other brands, there are even measurements in the brochure. Please have a look at the other panels as well.  I think Sound Acoustics products are under rated and neglected because they are not a name brand...

[Sander H.]

Thanks for that!

 

They're slightly too big, unfortunately... (I updated the original post with dimension.)

[Guest]

Cut one of these then

https://soundacoustics.com.au/product-category/bass-traps/

[Guest thethrowback]

I went a different route because I didn't want a room that looked like a recording studio.

 

I made up some timber frames which I packed with acoustic insulation and then over that I tacked oriental rugs. The end result looks like a Pasha's palace but they do trap the bass.

 

Whether they are cost effective is debatable if you have to buy new rugs.

Edited August 19, 2021 by thethrowback

[Sander H.]

I don't mind a few elements from a recording studio, but you're right. It's still a living room. Not sure I'd go for a Turkish brothel Pasha's palace look, though.  

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by Sander H.

[Guest thethrowback]

You might notice I changed that description as it could be construed as indiscreet. It does look cosy to me.

Edited August 19, 2021 by thethrowback

[Decky]

https://www.swamp.net.au/recording/acoustic-treatment/bass-traps/

 

[Sander H.]

Thanks, those are the ones that I have in my home office.  

 

But all your (combined) reactions have given me a few ideas...

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by Sander H.

[Guest]

On 19/08/2021 at 9:17 PM, Snoopy8 said:

Yes, they do exist

https://soundacoustics.com.au/product/bass-traps/lf70-corner-bass-trap-bear-series/

 

And unlike many other brands, there are even measurements in the brochure. Please have a look at the other panels as well.  I think Sound Acoustics products are under rated and neglected because they are not a name brand...

Maybe I'm reading it wrong (highly likely). There are measurements, yes, but am I right to assume the Y scale is db? As for X, as a bass trap its only doing something relatively small (with the insert) at 100Hz?

 

 

In which case, it's doing hardly anything in the region it is being promoted as for its application, IMO?

 

It's no secret I am a fan of the (albeit much more expensive, and far more complex) MSR Springtrap. The reason being I found it exceptionally able with audible improvements when compared to Dunlop (huge foam traps - 800mm wide from memory), Artnovion, Vicoustic, Sonitus etc. - which all really do jack in the actual bass regions, and what they do is similar to the above.

 

I am not singling out SoundAcoustics here by any means - as mentioned above, most of the mainstream brands have similar results from what I can tell?

 

The MSR graph, on the other hand:

 

 

I know little about all this, other than what I discovered when I measured and treated my own room - but ultimately what I found was that there is no cheap, small, and compact solution that does anything worth spending money on in the bass region. I had a significant bass peak at 79Hz in my room, so it's no wonder the expensive SpringTrap fixed that, looking at its response.

 

If I'm way off the track here, please help educate me

 

[Guest]

Answering my own question, the scale on the SoundAcoustics is obviously an absorption coefficient, vs the dB scale of the SpringTrap graph.

I'm not good enough at maths to understand or work out how to calculate it so that we can compare apples and apples. https://www.thermaxxjackets.com/noise-reduction-coefficients-and-decibel-drop/

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Marc said:

Maybe I'm reading it wrong (highly likely). There are measurements, yes, but am I right to assume the Y scale is db? As for X, as a bass trap its only doing something relatively small (with the insert) at 100Hz?

 

The Y scale is the aborption coefficient, not dB. For a description, see

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_(acoustics)

 

14 minutes ago, Marc said:

I am not singling out SoundAcoustics here by any means - as mentioned above, most of the mainstream brands have similar results from what I can tell?

 

The MSR graph, on the other hand:

I was struggling to find measurement graphs with many acoustic panels and bass traps.

 

Someone, with more knowledge than me, may be able to translate between the 2 graphs?

[jamiebosco]

3 hours ago, Marc said:

Maybe I'm reading it wrong (highly likely). There are measurements, yes, but am I right to assume the Y scale is db? As for X, as a bass trap its only doing something relatively small (with the insert) at 100Hz?

 

 

In which case, it's doing hardly anything in the region it is being promoted as for its application, IMO?

 

It's no secret I am a fan of the (albeit much more expensive, and far more complex) MSR Springtrap. The reason being I found it exceptionally able with audible improvements when compared to Dunlop (huge foam traps - 800mm wide from memory), Artnovion, Vicoustic, Sonitus etc. - which all really do jack in the actual bass regions, and what they do is similar to the above.

 

I am not singling out SoundAcoustics here by any means - as mentioned above, most of the mainstream brands have similar results from what I can tell?

 

The MSR graph, on the other hand:

 

 

I know little about all this, other than what I discovered when I measured and treated my own room - but ultimately what I found was that there is no cheap, small, and compact solution that does anything worth spending money on in the bass region. I had a significant bass peak at 79Hz in my room, so it's no wonder the expensive SpringTrap fixed that, looking at its response.

 

If I'm way off the track here, please help educate me

 

It's a shame MSR no longer make the Spring Traps, sounds like it's a good option for people looking to target a very specific bass frequency/range. 

 

I think in reality, most are best served using as many traditional,thick bass traps in there as allowable (especially in regard to $$:dB)

 

[frankn]

As Marc mentioned the Thermaxxjackets site provides the calculation of ~Db reduction given the Absorption coefficient;

Using the Coefficient to Calculate Decibel Drop

To determine the decibel drop (d) with the material at the given frequency, we can use the coefficient (C) in this formula:

Example: for a coefficient 0.78, the decibel drop is 13:

 

Conclusion

Published sound-reduction coefficients for a material are used to determine sound pressure level decibel drops. The coefficients and decibel drops are related by the mathematical formulas above.