Acoustic Panel Air Gap - Should you leave an air gap behind your acoustic treatment?

[@timeiseverything4]

I just spent 7 K with gik and after watching this video I just stuff up them in a Stonehenge shape design in the middle of the room. That way their is a giant air gap to the wall in every direction. Sounds great so far.

[@GIKAcousticsLLC]

That is awesome!

[@RikHelsen]

I had a panel against an outside wall and had condensation / moisture issues within 2 weeks. I'll need to implement air gaps just to get warm air behind it, so i don't get the cold wall area behind the panel where all moisture condenses.

[@DmitryMyadzelets]

That's an excellent point I never thought about.

[@andynonimuss6298]

For small rooms, 4" thick panels should always be the minimum. Using 2" thick panels and a 2" air gap is more mounting work than it's worth.

[@skatterpro]

There may be reasons you need the air gap however. I've opted for 4" panels, but I need to create an air gap to access a few light switches behind them.

[@andynonimuss6298]

@@skatterpro I have four 4" GIK panels on the front with floor-to-ceiling bass traps and six 4" GIKs on the sides. I'm now adding six 6" panels to the back wall.

[@jeffrey.a.hanson]

@@skatterproThat’s when you get really flashy and buy a few smart switches.

[@ctrlbooth]

The improvements in performance can be overstated related to low frequencies. Riverbank test data shows that 2” fiberglass panels offset by 1”& 2” do improve absorption and the NRC of the panels. However the absorption coefficients in the testing indicates the performance increase is not at 250hz, 125hz and below. This I believe is because the sides are not closed and the air gap sealed or incased allowing larger sound waves inherent in low frequencies to escape and not be absorbed (trapped) again. IMO.

[@dougleydorite]

I’m layering alpha 6” in front of monster flex range with gaps. More traps is more gooder 🤪

[@raehza]

Awesome video. Thank you! I filled out the room treatment form 3 days ago and haven't heard back yet. Excited to read about your suggestions for my pretty terrible dimensions space at home.

[@Alexandra-Rex]

I've been thinking about this. How would a few floor standing panels with maybe a 4 inch panel that you basically move around you where you record instead of covering the walls with it. Or how are they to use in rooms where the walls are covered with shelves and stuff, and you can't really mount things cause it would make the landlord annoyed, so instead, use floor standing panels that you move to where you need them. This is mostly for voice recording, to minimize reflection into the microphone when streaming or recording.

[@roman2374]

First of all, yes free standing panels are amazing - especially on wheels. Then again, to record vocals it is still better to keep the panels closer to the walls and not directly by the microphone. If you put a panel right by the mic you deaden your signal not in a pleasant way, as you only filter out the high frequencies. Vocal booths are a bit of a misunderstood concept, as they were never built to make the vocals sound better - just to be able to have a clean vocal recording in an environment that has outside noise. Meaning - in a nicely treated studio vocals won’t be recorded in tight booths with absorbers around the mic, but rather in the middle of a good sounding room

[@ReyHolliday]

Hey guys, what about when dealing with a high ceiling? Ive got a small 12x12 room but ceilings are very high (16ft) ive been pondering to just make a false ceiling at 10ft high.

[@ROBERT-ml7ml]

Cool.

[@leandrosilva6414]

Great Video with very useful insight on acoustics concepts as always!

[@GIKAcousticsLLC]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@xfloodcasual8124]

I have 4 corner traps and when I float them a couple inches I get more sub bass, not less.

[@studiosingyourstyle]

Oh my

[@studiosingyourstyle]

After reading that, I won’t float my corner traps

[@pabloelguera1161]

Hi! My celling is 8 foot from the floor, and my main issue in my room right now is at 100 - 200hz . Is it ok to mount a 2" lets say 4" away from the celling? I know there is a compromise but that 100 - 200hz region is so anoying. thanks

[@timoheinrich8763]

I feel like you left a lot of questions unanswered. So thin panels should be as far of the wall as they are thick. But until what point is it a thin panel and when does it start to be so thick that no gap is necessary? And most of all: What happens in between? Atm I don't feel smarter than before watching this.

[@studiosingyourstyle]

Is anyone going to mention best way to install hanging from ceiling leaving gap- using what method to install?

[@dan_hitchman007]

They mentioned ceiling brackets that leave a gap for panels hung from above. It's in the video. GIK provides these brackets.

[@KyleGushue]

Interesting they tried to recommend 1:1 spacing since Galaxy Audio used 2:1. I would love to know how they arrived at their conclusion. Especially since galaxy had a huge budget, but both used a bigger space, and didn’t fill the gap with material. This goes against two of Gik’s suggestions in the video.

[@hansmaul9575]

Generally speaking, 2:1 is correct. If 1:1 is used, you will loose efficiency in higher frequencies and gain little in lower ones. Search for "porous absorber calculator" and you'll see it for yourself.

[@jcdcolumbus]

What finish is on the Impression Corner traps?

[@mikeuk4130]

Particals? Very interesting as always.

[@doctorpatient519]

visit the web site for articals about particals :)

[@mekore]

so air gap would only work if there is no board behind the trap right?

[@dan_hitchman007]

Correct. The back of the panel needs to be acoustically transparent like the front.

[@teamsleepnine]

my room is drop ceilings, cloud panels making me nervous.

[@GIKAcousticsLLC]

Hi @teamsleepnine, We have a few products specifically designed for drop ceilings: Drop Ceiling Acoustic Panels and our GridFusors. Here they are if you'd like to check them out: www.gikacoustics.com/product/acoustic-drop-ceiling-panel/ www.gikacoustics.com/product/gik-acoustics-gridfusor/ And we have a handy guide on hanging cloud panels: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJvPlXaiqcdmjqs

[@TBURNATV]

my air gap is ca 20 cm ..is it too much ?!?!!

[@odra873]

Air gap should only be as thick as the absorber

[@pierre-claudemeriot6562]

@@odra873 true. More than that and you get dips in the mid-range. Go watch Jesco's video from Acoustics Insider about that very topic

[@Mope333]

@@odra873 but do I have to or can I leave it to anything below my panels thickness? Like for 4 inch panels for example, I’ll can leave it to anything below 8 inches ?

[@2adamast]

Checking random incidence on the simulator removes most dips. On the other hand if the panel is in a reflection point, most reflection is at a constant angle making the travel distance in the gap longer than the normal

[@66fitton]

@@pierre-claudemeriot6562 Yeah, "even further" does NOT improve things overall. There's a serious price to pay for going beyond 1:1 If you need/want more, build thicker panels.

[@nkenchington6575]

'Leaving an air gap behind your panel can help improve its performance into the lower ranges. This video breaks down the science behind how air gaps affect sound waves.' I just fixed three mistakes. For free. Can I have some bass traps, please? Ta.

[@GIKAcousticsLLC]

Absolutely! Visit gikacoustics.com/ or reach out to us to have one of our designers look at your space and give you advice at www.gikacoustics.com/acoustic-advice-form/

[@66fitton]

Just remember that if you go beyond a 1:1 ratio, you start losing absorption in the mid range.

[@jan_07]

Hmm cool info. It’s a little bit of a bug and creepy crawly magnet in those air gaps though. 😆

[@KyleGushue]

Agree 100%

[@victorpulos823]

Are your panels made from recycled plastics?

[@JesusPiano]

Agenda 2030? 😂. Who cares!?

[@omeee]

guys just use calculators... they are available on the internet. Also if you ever put something outside wall or hang there, leave always 1-2 inches gap.

[@zmix]

However, when you look at the behavior of a sound wave at a boundary in terms of *pressure* rather than velocity, then the "air gap" argument is less compelling.

[@dougleydorite]

They have flexrange which has a membrane for pressure. A bit of both worlds I guess

[@berkaydemiralp]

Super...

[@GIKAcousticsLLC]

Thank you

[@danielpinto6165]

Difusores

[@greganikin7003]

Doesn’t work this way. Get proper data. It’s bulshit.

[@AlexisGitarre]

2:51 so basically you provide less material for more cost just do spare the customer work of mounting the absorbers with a distance to the wall. What a rippoff....