STACK #232 February 2024

TECH FEATURE

visit jbhifi.com.au/stack

to

continued

THE SOUND OF SILENCE It’s time to fortify against noise invaders! If your space is partially open to another room, has high ceilings, or is otherwise not very cosy, we have a few tips to hoick your recordings up into professional territory. What you’re looking to do is minimise external noise and control internal reverberation. You can get super-deep into the world of bass traps, but for house share and dorm situations you’ll be most focused on sound-absorbing tricks.

Check out these top 5 tips from Lilith Lane! TIP 1: Use soft furnishings to counter reflections

Photo credit: Focusrite

TIP 2: Treat the corners of your rooms for bass build-up ”To absorb bass frequency build-up – which commonly happens in the corners of rooms – you could build your own bass trap. A few yoga bolsters, some rolled-up carpet or a rug, or that four-wide stack of egg cartons you’ve been collecting could do the trick in soaking up unwanted bottom end.”

The Egg Carton Question Lilith says: ”Some basic sound physics to consider when treating your room is that sound waves bounce off hard surfaces, or reflect. Denser materials will absorb sound waves. Rooms with hard surfaces will sound ’messy’ and ’noisy’ because sound waves are bouncing all over the place. So, if your room is lined with mirrors and your speakers face a window, you might be able to get some use out of those old egg cartons that will help limit harsh high frequency reflections. You’d need so many that, for most people, it would be a waste of time. Unless of course you live on an egg farm! Although cardboard absorbs frequencies, you’d be better off with something denser like rugs, thick foam, or mattresses. Angled wood can also deflect and absorb sound waves.”

”If you have lots of hard surfaces in your space (bare walls, laminated floors, tiles, mirrors, glass windows) use rugs, carpets and soft furnishings to soak up those nasty high frequencies. Lean old mattresses against the walls (these can be masked by using drapes or curtains to cover them). If your ceiling is reflective, and you are really keen, you could hang absorbent panels from the roof.”

Photo credit: Audio-Technica

Photo credit: Anna Pou - Pexels

TIP 3: Place your speakers off the wall, and centrally located ”Symmetry in your space is your friend! If you want consistent signal in your left and right speakers, it pays to have them an equal distance from the side and back walls. And if you have the space, position them at least a few feet off the wall so the reflections don’t confuse your ears.”

Photo credit: Matthew Burpee - Unsplash

26 FEBRUARY 2024

jbhifi.com.au