DIY Basstraps project

[F5D]

This is how I just spent my summer holiday...

I finally decided to build my own bass traps after I found out how much it would cost to order proper bass traps from USA.

The biggest problem was to find proper wool for the traps. Because I live in Finland, the choice was Paroc rock wool. I chose FPS14 wool (66kg/m^3) which should be good enough for bass absorption. I bought 20 pieces (1200x600x50 mm) of the wool which was enough for building 4 corner traps and 3 basic flat traps (2x 6" thick and 1x 4" thick).

I used polyester cotton and felting to avoid rock wool dust and fibers from escaping the traps. The traps were finally coated with simple white fabric.

I decided to post some pictures of the project so here they are (only 4 pics per post was allowed):

I have not yet tested these in action. I will move to a new apartment in August and will install the traps there among other acoustic panels. I will report then how they work.

[F5D]

[F5D]

[F5D]

[nvisibl]

Tidy.. good goin

[F5D]

2 more pics...

[Doc Jones]

very, very cool F5D!

Definitely interested in hearing back from you regarding how they work out.

[waketek]

How much for materials? and How much time to build? Just trying to figure out total savings...and if I should go this route.

[F5D]

Parts for 7 traps (4 corner + 3 basic) cost about 300 euros. It took about 30 hours to build these but alot more time to search information about the basstraps, design them and search places where you can buy the right materials. It can also take alot more time if you don't have much experience in such a work. You also need several tools and a place where you can build the traps.

If I had ordered the same kind of basstraps from USA, it would have cost me over 1000 euros including shipping. IMO nobody sells good basstraps in Europe. Almost all traps which are available here are made of foam which doesn't work as well at low frequencies and the ones which are not made of foam are overpriced and small. The only good basstraps which I found are made by Realtraps and GIK Acoustics in USA.

So, IMO it was worth it altough I had to spend over half of my summer holiday planning and building them. The other route was simply too expensive for me and I really wanted to have basstraps. I am very satisfied with how they look and I can barely wait to hear my new treated room in September.

There are alot of good articles about building your own basstraps in the internet, just google them. However, I can say 2 things which are the most important imo:

1) Use wool which has a density of at least 48kg/m^3
2) Seal the traps carefully that no wool dust or fibers can enter the room air where you're working. A simple fabric coating may not be enough alone.
3) If you live in USA, buy your traps from GIK if you don't want to spend too much money.

[Tomer=Trance]

Very nice work,
I still have 2 corners of the room untreated ,and still not sure if to build them super chunk style,use a smiler design to yours or do the the same way i did the 2 other corners with flat panels and 10cm air space.

So far i have treated 2 corners,built a mix cloud and did 2 large broadband each at the wall beside me for treating early reflection. the results are clearly audible.
Its funny for me to see people spending top money on gear and monitors yet their room is left completely untreated.