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Original Message

1st, Wall Panels are not Bass Traps

Posted by Jon Risch on October 16, 2009 at 17:09:08:
I have been getting a lot of e-mail lately with folks completely confused about what a bass trap is.

I copy one of my responses down below:

Please realize that the wall panels and the bass traps are two different animals, they serve different purposes, and operate on different principles.

A WALL PANEL, NO MATTER HOW DENSE, IS NOT A BASS TRAP, EVEN IF PLACED IN A CORNER.

The companies that sell simple wall panels as bass traps are doing their customers a dis-service, and creating deep confusion in the marketplace.

A very FEW companies market an advanced design that utilizes a limp membrane in conjunction with a resistive panel to help boost the bass absorption over that of a regular absorbing wall panel, and IF these special types of panels are placed in the corners, they will provide more than ordinary bass absorption. But even these special panels do not match the sheer absorption of the ASC type bass traps, they just don't.

Now, if you really can't use the ASC style bass traps, which my cylindrical traps are a clone of, just a DIY version, then yes, you can beef up the bass absorption of the panel by increasing the density, up to a certain point, and as long as a lower density layer is still present on the front surface to absorb the HF's and upper mids.

The easiest way to achieve this is to compress the regular building grade fiberglass bonded to kraft paper by 2 to 1, and to really do this, you would need to use some chicken wire or animal fencing to deliberately compress the fiberglass on BOTH sides of the 1X4 frame.

OR you can use the higher density semi-rigid panels such as Owen's Corning 705, etc. as an additional layer on the rear of the frame. The more of these, the more low bass absorption UP TO A POINT.

Merely leaning a wall type panel across a corner, no matter how dense (optimally or otherwise), will only absorb so much bass, even the special panels included, although they do absorb a bit more before they 'hit the wall'. In order to absorb any more than this, such a panel would have to be "air-sealed" into the corner, around all edges, so that it created a cavity in the corner, and the only way for the air pressure to get into the corner, was through the panel.

Until you seal a wall panel into the corner like this, it is just a velocity absorber, and not a pressure based absorber, like an ASC style bass trap.

My Super Quick & Dirty bass traps work on the principle of sheer amount of absorbing material of a higher than 'loose' density, but they are still primarily just velocity absorbers. There is some pressure absorption going on, due to the sheer circular diameter of the compressed fiberglass, but not as much as the velocity absorption that is occuring.

I just want you to be aware that no mater how dense, or compressed, you make the wall panels, they are still going to be velocity absorbers, and will not match the effectiveness of the true pressure-absorber bass trap.

END