Acoustic Reflections: Wood Slats On Top Of Absorbers? - AcousticsInsider.com

Have you seen those studio pictures lately where people cover an entire wall with wood slats?

Sometimes it’s just on the back wall, and sometimes the entire front wall behind the speakers is covered.

Usually there are gaps between the individual slats, so it’s probably fair to think that there’s absorption behind the slats.

But is this really a good idea? Surely all that reflective surface has to cause some unwanted reflections..?

Well, yes and no.

As always, it depends.

If done right, adding wood slats on top of absorption can be a great way to reduce the risk of the room sounding “dead”.

And since it’s so easy to run that risk in your typical small home studio, it’s actually a great tool for us DIY folks.

If done right.

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[GlennStanton]

i helped GIK design their first set of reflective panels for their absorber line and i've been using reflective slats and panels for many years to avoid anechoic spaces - many people with small rooms after applying significant amounts of absorption to control the room response find the "dryness" difficult to work in. so adding enough reflection back into the room to enable a "sense" of the room as well as support for "self-noise" etc can help restore the balance needed.

[highviolet]

While this channel contains absolute tons of invaluable free advice, I think it's important that people first and foremost understand that 1. You don't need a perfectly acoustically treated studio to make great music 2. The same can be said about mixing - there are ways and means around it to mix great music. It really comes down to your own needs, what instruments you are recording and how you wish to do so... if you wish you can make great demos at home and then bring it into the studio later and your studio can serve as a great jamming studio. I'm saying this working from my untreated living room but I'm perfectly ok with that and it's serving it's double purpose fine. I'm looking forward to when I do get a room to fully treat and of course use this channel then.

[giovanniiacuzzo]

Great video. I think you just forgot to mention that it can also be in some cases a whole wall that works like a slotted Helmholtz resonator with porous absorber inside. The width, gap and depth of the wooden slats have a huge importance. Tricky to build as the entire wall should be airtight...

[gadjox]

I have some bass traps (brand: megaacoustic) made like this: a sheet of perforated wood over some absorption. I think the idea is that the bass passes through the wood but the highs are sent back. I may be completely wrong, but that's how I suspect they work.

[mikemcculloch]

What about wood slats just over a wall (i.e. drywalls). For the scattering effect, does there need to be a fully absorptive material behind the slats?

[audfrknaveen]

Thanks a lot for great info on bass traps ❤😊

[weeklydoseofcreep]

What about for general noise purposes? Does this help in general for day to day noise reduction in a meaningful way?

[panca]

Please discuss the polycylindrical panels on your door😀

[Gw]

John Brandt design. Maybe have an interview with him?

[MechanizeOfficial]

I often see the bad diffuser placed on front room bass traps and side panels which I would still think are fairly close to the speakers. My room is fairly narrow, 3m, and I’m currently planning on creating some (bad diffusers) after I make some additional absorber panels (will end up with 20 panels and 16 big and small super-chunks). My question is how far away should they be from my speakers? Is the amount of panels I make just based upon my preference of room sound? And how do I decide what lower frequency to target and reflect when deciding on slat width?
Thanks! Loving your channel! Big ups 🤘🏻

[mattnelson]

I visualize sound waves as being vertical in oscillation, but know they are omnidirectional. With that in mind, I usually see the slats vertically aligned, but occasionally see them horizontally aligned (which always looks off to me). Is there any input or guidance as to the orientation? Should I alternate panels horizontal and vertically, or does it really not matter?

Thanks for the great videos, and knowledge shared.

[neilenglemixer]

Hey all! I am currently treating my room and using REW for measurements. I have achieve a super nice low end response using treatment, however I have a MASSIVE (about 30db compared to the average of the rest of the response) dip between 6k and 12k. I can find all sorts of information on low end issues and common fixes for that but I cannot seem to find anywhere where they address high end nulls. Could anyone point me in the direction of a good resource or give me some common tips/things to try to fix this? Thanks in advance!

[Hamachingo]

So... absorber with slats on the rear wall instead of skyline diffuser on the spots where it's not a first reflection?

[djhmax]

Couldn't you avoid this 'deadness' by simply getting panels that absorb the proper rate and level needed by the surface?
If the parameters are dependent on room usage, why not get it right the first time instead of using slats like these?

[robertvondarth]

Just to be OCD about it, I would use slats that are half circles, and the panels set at an angle

[TomMAF]

Could someone recommend a good free resource for designing(/copying) a 'random' pattern for slats please : )

[NewHopeAudio]

Hey Jesco, great video & content as always! Kind of a follow up to this video…

Had a question, if you haven’t already talked about it before.. is it possible to put speakers on shelves mounted to the wall (shelves would be 20” deep) and get ok sounds from this? I have foam under the monitors to decouple already. Previously were mounted on my desk but I have a new desk.

Curious for a few reasons, as this would be cheaper than high quality stands, as well as would be able to utilize the space between the wall and the desk under the shelf.

Thanks!

[jordanhayes]

Hey Jesco would you treat a vocal room with bass traps? Im in the middle of a build.

[LBJedi]

Is there any advantage to angling the slats off the panel?

[JHBrandt]

Please let me correct you here Jesco...

Slat Diffraction Frequency, both width and gap
Full 1/2 wave 1/4 wave
0.75 inches 18023.7 Hz 9011.8 Hz 4505.9 Hz
1.50 inches 9011.8 Hz 4505.9 Hz 2253.0 Hz
2.00 inches 6758.9 Hz 3379.4 Hz 1689.7 Hz
4.00 inches 3379.4 Hz 1689.7 Hz 844.9 Hz
6.00 inches 2253.0 Hz 1126.5 Hz 563.2 Hz
8.00 inches 1689.7 Hz 844.9 Hz 422.4 Hz
10.00 inches 1351.8 Hz 675.9 Hz 337.9 Hz
12.00 inches 1126.5 Hz 563.2 Hz 281.6 Hz
14.00 inches 965.6 Hz 482.8 Hz 241.4 Hz
16.00 inches 844.9 Hz 422.4 Hz 211.2 Hz
18.00 inches 751.0 Hz 375.5 Hz 187.7 Hz
20.00 inches 675.9 Hz 337.9 Hz 169.0 Hz
22.00 inches 614.4 Hz 307.2 Hz 153.6 Hz
24.00 inches 563.2 Hz 281.6 Hz 140.8 Hz
26.00 inches 519.9 Hz 260.0 Hz 130.0 Hz
28.00 inches 482.8 Hz 241.4 Hz 120.7 Hz
30.00 inches 450.6 Hz 225.3 Hz 112.6 Hz
32.00 inches 422.4 Hz 211.2 Hz 105.6 Hz
36.00 inches 375.5 Hz 187.7 Hz 93.9 Hz
38.00 inches 355.7 Hz 177.9 Hz 88.9 Hz
40.00 inches 337.9 Hz 169.0 Hz 84.5 Hz
42.00 inches 321.9 Hz 160.9 Hz 80.5 Hz
46.00 inches 293.9 Hz 146.9 Hz 73.5 Hz
48.00 inches 281.6 Hz 140.8 Hz 70.4 Hz

So for reflections from slats - look at the 1/4 wave ;)

Behind is not in front of you. Behind means the BACK wall. In front of you will be the speakers, If you are talking about behind the speakers it might apply.

And you don't know what you're talking about slats in front of you.
In your experience - you have NEVER experienced a good room.