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Post by khoivuong on May 7, 2018 15:46:31 GMT
So I have a small bedroom (think of college dorms) and I have a 5.1 system with my PC system in it. I'm thinking of placing acoustic panels on the front wall (behind the front speakers and PC monitor) and rear wall. The distance between me and the front/rear walls is around 1 to 1.2meter. I mostly listen to music (various genres) and gaming. I do not do any music production. I do plan to stream games with live commentary in the future, however. My questions are:
1) Some internet individuals suggested me to use absorber panels for the front wall and use diffusor panels for rear wall. Is this recommended?
2) if no to the 1st question, should I use absorber panel for both front and rear wall? I have seen a full diffusion setup before, but I dont know about full absorption.
3) I cannot do acoustic treatment to my left side wall (due to it being where my bed and a large window is) and my right wall has my closet door. I wonder if only doing acoustic treatment for front and rear wall would still give me a much better experience compared to bare walls?
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Post by Ethan Winer on May 7, 2018 16:04:31 GMT
The front wall is the last place that needs absorbers. The wall behind you is much more important, and so are the side wall reflection points. If you can't hang an actual panel on the left, drape a doubled up bath towel there. Or get a panel you can remove when you're not listening / watching. Left-right symmetry is important. Diffusers are great behind you, but good diffusers cost more than good absorbers whether you buy commercial products or make them yourself. This short article explains the basics: Acoustic Basics |
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Post by khoivuong on May 7, 2018 16:35:02 GMT
I have checked some articles on your site and I'm intrigued at a certain technique to determine reflection points, namely the one where you mentioned imagining a mirror image of the room, then draw a line from the phantom speaker to the listener position. Is that applicable looking for reflection point on the rear wall too for a 5.1 system?
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Post by Ethan Winer on May 7, 2018 16:53:42 GMT
The entire rear wall reflects all of the sound from the speakers in the front of the room. So ideally you'd have 100% absorption in the entire wall, but even having just bass traps in the corners, and something thick (absorbers) in the middle will help a lot.
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Post by khoivuong on May 7, 2018 17:57:45 GMT
Regarding the window on my left side, it currently has a curtain to prevent light in. Do you think I need to replace that curtain or can I keep the curtain and buy a huge acoustic panel (or multiple panels) and put it between the curtain and the window (theres a platform underneath my window that I can put stuffs on)? Would that have the same effect as putting putting up double folded bathroom towels like you suggested?
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Post by Ethan Winer on May 8, 2018 15:41:37 GMT
Yes, a real acoustic panel behind a curtain is perfect. As long as the curtain isn't a highly reflective cloth like silk or a synthetic equivalent.
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Post by khoivuong on May 9, 2018 3:47:23 GMT
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Post by rock on May 9, 2018 13:55:53 GMT
Those vertical blinds look like they are made of some kind of plastic. (If they are fabric, they may work better). I have plastic vertical blinds with an absorber behind it like Ethan suggested (well he actually suggested putting the absorber behind a non reflective curtain). In my case, it's for reflections into mics for recording. Since the reflections are at 90 deg, when the vanes are open, the sound path is directly into the absorber and back to the mic. It really would be better if the blinds were not there but they only cover a smaller window, about 2'x4'.
I can tell you when the vanes are closed the sound is reflected and not what you want. BUT if you open the vanes, it may work somewhat but it's still not optimum. In your case you want to absorb on an oblique angle so it you'll probably find you need to aim the vanes at the speaker.
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Post by Michael Lawrence on May 29, 2018 1:11:35 GMT
That blind system is likely very reflective at HF. If you open it, it's still reflective, but in a different direction. Imagine it's made of strips of mirrors. That's how it's going to behave acoustically above 4 kHz or so.
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