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Rick Riley

Don't think I've ever seen sound diffusers discussed here. I'm getting ready to treat the walls of a new booth and want to know the value of 'Diffusers'. To answer that, it might help to know the design of the booth. Only the front and back walls are parallel. The ceiling is sloped from back to front.

Opinions on diffusers, and / or a diffuser for this application?

Thanks!

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Bailey · Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 10:32 pm Post subject:

Awhile back.... http://www.vo-bb.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15707&highlight=sound+diffuser

There's also a few more searching sound AND diffuser
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heyguido · Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2015 6:28 am Post subject:

A great idea in that space. But which wall are you describing as "front"? And where do you envision addressing the mic?
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Rick Riley · Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2015 8:18 am Post subject:

Don,

Wood floor. Carpet up to chair rail height on the walls. Sound treatment with OC 703 panels on upper walls and ceiling.

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heyguido · Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2015 11:46 am Post subject:

With that much OC703 around you, the diffuser should help to give the space a more "natural" sound. Good thinking.
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Jason Huggins · Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2015 12:42 pm Post subject:

At what room size does adding diffusers start to benefit your sound?

Rick Riley · Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2015 10:12 pm Post subject:

Thanks guys for the info. Bailey, I read the thread and there was a lot of good stuff. So I think I'm going with a diffuser as I'm going to experiment with a more natural sound rather than no room sound at all. I can always OC703 the crap out of it if I don't like the way it sounds.

SOOOOO.... part B. Any recommendations on diffusers? They're all pretty goofy looking and while some are just blocks of wood glued together, they claim to be constructed with mathematical formulas from ancient, distant lands.

Suggestions?

And thanks again!!!
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FinMac · Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 12:14 am Post subject: Try these guys

Don't know about the quality of their diffusors, but I have been very happy with their basstraps and advice these guys have given.

They have about 7 different versions to choose from.

http://gikacoustics.co.uk/product/gik-acoustics-q7d-diffusor/

The link is to their place in the UK but I believe they have something in the States.
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Yoda117 · Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 11:23 am Post subject: Re: Try these guys

I can vouch for these guys. Their diffusors (Q7d in particular) are solid pieces of kit. For the soundstage that is the top floor of my house, I've also used the GridFusors on a few builds and they're worth the cost as well.

Doesn't look like they have their smaller QRD diffusors, but those things were a great deal for the money.

Big thing about diffusion is that you don't always need it. At every step of the process you should be analyzing the environment (several tools are free) so that you can see the effect that the acoustical products have on the environment. Based on that you'll know what's needed and what's not.

(for my own place, I had a flutter echo from a sloped ceiling that diffusors handled quite nicely)
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Rick Riley · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 7:40 am Post subject: Re: Try these guys

Eddie Eagle · M&M Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Posts: 2393

do a test recording 1st before buying to see how it sounds.

georgethetech · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 5:22 pm Post subject:

I channel the late, great Mike Sommer when I say that an angled ceiling and angled wall makes for an extremely difficult to measure and predict room response. He was a big fan of rectangular rooms for that reason. Experimentation will be key here.
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vkuehn · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 6:43 pm Post subject:

I enter this conversation with some hesitation.... lest I tell you more than I know. Embarrassed

In some other forums I hang out with some folks who make their living designing and tuning "rooms" for proper acoustics and other sound issues. The guys that I consider the real pros work with houses of worship and other performance venues. When I turn the topic toward small rooms... whether small means a "booth" in our language, or a studio the size of an over-sized bedroom, these guys without exception begin the response by saying "There are no rules that WORK in rooms that small."

They tend to offer some of the same suggestions however that we discuss here: bass-traps in corners, some absorption scattered about the room, But they quickly point out that the software and methodology they use for rooms that seat 250 to 25,000 people just do not calculate and predict for rooms like we build... so we are left to listen and read, and then take our best guess and be prepared to experiment... and keep on experimenting!

Across the desk from my recording position is a high-backed office chair. I finally figured out one day that it makes and small difference (very small) whether the chair is turned so that the back of the chair bounces my voice straight back at me.... or is turned sideways and almost all of my sound goes past the chair and hits the various absorbers and diffusers that are beyond the chair

So be prepared to hang stuff HERE, then move it and try it THERE and then rearrange all the furniture in the room. And make recordings and ask someone else to do the A-B comparisons. We all have ears that work just a bit differently than the guy to our right.

georgethetech · Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2015 11:11 pm Post subject:

Good point, vkuehn.

I believe it has something to do with the ratios between the A, B1, B2, B3..., & C1, C2, C3...
A= Distance from mic to source
B1= Distance from source to early reflection point 1
B2= Distance from source to early reflection point 2
B3= Distance from source to early reflection point 3, etc.
C1= Distance from mic to early refection point 1 (you get the point)

These are all pretty small ratios in a small room.
Thats why I now realize that tuning small booths is truly an art, and something very few acousticians have ever documented properly.
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Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2279 Location: Atlanta

Two of the four walls in my rectangular studio are floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. They can be decent diffusers if you don't have them flush and stagger them. But their properties will be more absorptive than diffusive. Still, if you have loads of books, make them earn their keep!
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