Superchunk Traps: Construction and Insulation Density

[dhanevan]

Greetings,

I'm building some superchunk traps. Nearly finished but upon more reading, I just want to be sure I'm not screwing up a couple of key factors before finishing them. I wasn't able to find specific answers upon searching.

1 - They are 16" at their thickest point. I used Roxul Safe N Sound which has a 2.5 lb/ft or 40 kg/m3 density. Is this too dense for how thick they are? I was reading about how material of a certain density at certain depths can actually reflect sound.


2 - They're 8.5 feet floor to ceiling. I split them into 3rds (approximately) using 2 MDF shelves to support the insulation. Does having a solid, rigid barrier in the middle of superchunks decrease their effectiveness?

Thank you!

[Soundman2020]

Hi there "dhanevan", and Welcome!

1 - They are 16" at their thickest point.

Can you make them bigger? A good size is 24" along each side of the triangle, making it about 34" across the front. The bigger the better, especially if the room is small. 16" is better than nothing at all, but if you can mke them bigger, that would be great.

I used Roxul Safe N Sound which has a 2.5 lb/ft or 40 kg/m3 density.

For bass traps, that's fine.

I was reading about how material of a certain density at certain depths can actually reflect sound.

Not sure where you saw that, but it isn't applicable for the type of depth we are talking about in a typical bass trap. Maybe if it was a dozen feet thick before that might be a minor issue... But sound only reflects off major changes in material density or impedance, so I doubt there would be any internal "reflection", no matter how deep the insulation is. Do you have a link to the place you read that?

2 - They're 8.5 feet floor to ceiling. I split them into 3rds (approximately) using 2 MDF shelves to support the insulation. Does having a solid, rigid barrier in the middle of superchunks decrease their effectiveness?

No problem. That won't cause any problems at all.


- Stuart -