Recommended fabric for acoustic panels

Roadrunner

Power User
I'm finally taking care of the acoustics in my home studio, currently building panels (wood frame with acoustic foam inside).
Anyone can say if there is a specific cloth recommended to be used on these kind of panels?
Not looking for something fancy, just plain color (off white or dark red).
Thanks.
 
No such thing as “acoustic foam” despite what the crooks at auralex marketing department tell you. You should be using oc703 or rock wool for acoustic treatments. Burlap or muslin for covering fabric. Anything else is a waste of time and money.
 
No such thing as “acoustic foam” despite what the crooks at auralex marketing department tell you. You should be using oc703 or rock wool for acoustic treatments. Burlap or muslin for covering fabric. Anything else is a waste of time and money.

Yes. I'm aware of rock wool but don’t want to mess with that.
I might consider OC703 (looks less messy to work with).

We did actually a very good job over a friend studio using same method (foam in panels), we used polyurethane foam at a density of 30 kg per cubic + the sealing was covered with Melamine foam panels (no frames), the results were sufficient, the room is dry enough and quiet.
Both his room and my are made of concrete walls, the bass waves and overall feel is not good and you need to play loud to hear the guitar well, when practicing over a backing track it's even worse, all sounds like a mash.
Since it worked for his room to my taste and the rooms are more or less the same size, I decided to go with the same solution over my place..
I'm not looking for a recording studio quality, I'm not recording any vocals over there, this is only for practice / sketches.
Thanks.
 
Muslin breaths well. I used it to build some panels with 703. They work great and weren't too expensive to make. You need a fabric that breathes. I bought it at a fabric store.

BTW 703 is semi-rigid and is not a problem at all to work with.
 
I am building a new studio and have quite a few Owens Corning 703 rigid fiberglass panels wrapped in readacoustics.com cloth that I am selling.

Located in North Alabama.
 
Good call. What you were planning on doing was just gonna make it worse. Start with the corners, then do first reflection points. You need to get the low end under control, that means mass in the corners.
 
Start with the corners, then do first reflection points. You need to get the low end under control, that means mass in the corners.

Interesting…..even if all the corners in my studio are packed?
I got the working desk on one corner, a 2 door closet on the other, the door to the room is on the left side of one of the walls (that’s the 3rd corner) and all my amps and cabs on the other side of the wall (the 4th corner).

There isn’t any corner exposed, unless you mean the sealing?

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I used Ready Acoustics to provide an acoustics analysis of my room. I can't recommend this service enough. Especially for the low fee they charge.

Why invest all of that time and money only to be left with a sub-standard result. Assuming your knowledge on the subject is less than theirs of course.

https://www.readyacoustics.com/room_acoustics.html

They can sketch it up for you using images, dimensions, etc that you provide. I opted to sketch my room using Google Sketchup Free and send it to them. They then analyzed my room and sketched in the panels I would need for my room.

I then built my panels using Ownens Corning 703. I would second Matt's suggestion of purchasing their fabric. In fact, anything from RA that your budget will allow will make the project much easier and less time consuming - if not more effective (depending on the materials you purchase and use yourself).

Here's a snapshot of the Sketch they provided. Keep in mind, the Sketchup file you would get from them is 3D and modifiable. That program is very user friendly.

Studio.JPG

Here's a couple of pics of my treated room using the design they provided. I did not hang the 2 panels by the window on right so I can access window. I just position them when mixing.

Studio 1.jpg

Studio 2.jpg
 
Looks very nice and inspiring.
I'm not located in the US so buying their panels and importing it, make no sense for me.
I love doing these things by myself, the results are not always 10/10 but still it's something that looks good and hopefully will be effective.
I'm on a tight budget and as the materials are cheap, I prefer to do it by myself, I enjoy it so why not.
However, I might use their service for designing the panels according to my room data, I think I will give that a try.
Thanks.
 
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Looks very nice and inspiring.
I'm not located in the US so buying their panels and importing it, make no sense for me.
I love doing these things by myself, the results are not always 10/10 but still it's something that looks good and hopefully will be effective.
I'm on a tight budget and as the materials are cheap, I prefer to do it by myself, I enjoy it so why not.
However, I might use their service for designing the panels according to my room data, I think I will give that a try.
Thanks.

Thanks Roadrunner.
I understand, not being in the US does make purchasing from them more costly. I agree, using their design service would be beneficial to your project.

If you find it helpful, here's how I built my panels.

http://vivretteguitaracademy.com/studio-remodel-february-update-week-2/

http://vivretteguitaracademy.com/studio-remodel-february-update-week-3/
 
I purchased the fiberglass boards today, the frames are ready too so tomorrow I will get the fabric and the plan is to finish all the frames during the weekend.
I gave it some thoughts, the front of course will be covered with some good light / breathing fabric but what about the back of the frame?
I saw a lot of good examples where they cover the back with a simple fabric.
Does is matters which material you use for the back?
I have a lot of thick nylon sheets which I can use for the back, what do you think? would it effect the results compared to a fabric back?
 
IMG_2534.jpg Here's a pic of one I made with 703, muslin and attached with staples. This one is about 10 years old. The frame is 1x2.
 
Just use the same fabric, it's much easier to get it taut. Are you using staples?
The fabric cost $$$ and the nylon is free, I already go it.
Using the nylon will reduce the fabric cost into half, I have 12 frames to build (I might build few more), most of them are 1 x 1 meter, thats alot of fabric :).
Yes, using staples, i got a good electric gun for that, doing the job fast and tight.
 
The fabric cost $$$ and the nylon is free, I already go it.
Fair enough. To answer your other question, Yes the nylon will make a difference but what difference I don't know. ;)
Have fun with it. I always enjoying doing these type of projects.
I forget how much my fabric was. I did 12 panels too. I don't recall it being a lot. But every $ counts.
 
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