I'm living in an apartment now and the acoustics for my stereo and violin are terrible because it isn't carpeted and the walls are bare. I've ordered a carpet at some expense but I wonder if there's stuff I can put on the walls. I notice that at university practice rooms there tends to be some sort of light foam-like material which seems to have some effect. Because I'm only here for a year I don't want to spend too much on stuff I won't use later so I'd prefer to limit expenditure.
Any advice?
Frequency range for violin playing is 200Hz onwards and for music listening 65Hz (start of cello range).

Thanks!

Forgot to mention: room dimensions 15*17*8

A bookshelf with lots of different sized books is always a good treatment (and can contain great stuff to read).
Curtains will absorb high frequency reflections, the more dense the fabric the better the absorption.
Some furniture will disperse the sound and avoid fluttering echoes

Thanks; I'll certainly put a bookshelf in. Buying extra books of course for the purpose will be rather an expensive way of going about things though!

Something like Owens-Corning Model 703 rigid fiberglass is low cost and very effective across a broad bandwidth, though it might be a pain to find a local supplier. But this is the most effective/cheapeast way. Simply make a wood frame, place the glass in it, and then cover with an acoustically transparent cloth. You can skip the woodframe if a rougher look is acceptable. These are low weight can be hung on picture hangers. For a good article on DIY absorbers, please refer to:

http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

The acoustic foam tiles are also an option, but they are quite the eyesoar. If you go that route, please look for a very high quality acoustic foam -- as many low grade(not very effective) variants are being sold. Always look for the acoustic coefficient numbers published for such a product.

Note: a reflective floor is usually desirable for musical instrument playing/recording.

-Chris

I had the same problem in the house I recently moved into. I ended up ordering a bunch of 2" x 4" panels here:

http://www.acousticalsolutions.com/product...s/alphasorb.asp

They work great, but they're kind of expensive. I got them in gray and figure I can use them for a long time. However, you could also buy the materials and put them together yourself.

Thanks for the advice Chris, it's a lot of help. Any idea where to order the fibreglass? Do you use this yourself?
I'm not sure about reflective floors. I've played in good rooms with and without carpets. I'll just be practicing, not performing or doing any serious recording, so I think deadening will be good in general.

Check your local yellow pages for heating & cooling supply houses. They are the ones who will stock the specific product I mentioned above. There are also equivalents by other brands, so they should be able to offer you alternatives if they don't carry the corning branded product. If you live in a smaller area that has few supply options, it may be difficult to find this type of product. Unfortunately, I don't know of any online retailers for this product.



I do not use this product. The majority of my current treatments are high grade acoustic foam products. The high density fiberglass as I have suggested is actually slightly better, so far as the low frequency absorbtion vs. thickness.

-Chris