How to Save Money with Acoustic DIY Skyline Diffusers, QRD Panels

If you own a home recording studio or have a practice space for your band, you probably have some experience with acoustic treatment. Acoustic treatments are how we control sound wave reflections to minimize the negative side effects of working in a less than ideal environment. This can include a lack of audio clarity and ear fatigue.

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The most common forms of room treatment for home studios include:

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What is Acoustic Diffusion?

Acoustic diffusion is probably the most overlooked method of room treatment in home recording studios, project studios, and practice spaces. A lot of home audio engineers haven’t really considered it. Instead they tend to focus on sound absorption instead.

Diffusion, in architectural acoustics, is the spreading of sound energy evenly in a given environment. A perfectly diffusive sound space is one in which the reverberation time is the same at any listening position.

Wikipedia

What this means to you, the home studio owner or owner of the band’s rehearsal space, is that the room should sound the same no matter where you are standing. This is achieved via sound diffusion, not sound absorption.

Why are Acoustic Diffusion Panels so Expensive?

The Auralex Acoustics Sustain Metro Diffusor 2 pack (23″x23″) will set you back $428.99 at Sweetwater Sound. But why are they so much more expensive than filling a wall with sound foam? Simply put, they are far more complex, contain more materials, require more labor, and are designed to scientifically disperse sound. There is some serious maths going on here.

I Tried to Save Money and Built My Own QRD/Diffusion Panels

Okay, so you need diffusion panels to get that even sounding room. Why not just build your own acoustic diffusion panels? I did just that. Here’s what I found.

My own QRD panels turned out alright, but there’s a lot of room for improvement.

So did I save money compared to buying a commercially produced product from a company like Auralex? You bet I did! I saved a small fortune, honestly. But if I were to take my time into consideration, and the quality of my build, I got ripped off.

The Best of Both Worlds: Acoustic DIY Skyline Diffusers

Buying a DIY kit will save you hours of math, frustration, and stop you from cutting your fingers off with a table saw. You may need that hand to make music!

Photo courtesy of Acoustic DIY Skyline Diffusers

Acoustic DIY Skyline Diffusers sells DIY kits on Ebay for you to build your own panels at half the price of an assembled panel! They have a 100% positive satisfaction rating, are hand made in Michigan. Each acoustic diffuser kit contains everything you need to complete your build.

The advantage here is obvious. The most difficult part of building a QRD, or diffusion panel, is doing all of the math, measuring, cutting, and schematic building. It’s a very lengthy, time consuming process. If all I had to do was assemble it, I would be done in a relatively short amount of time.

Follow These Steps to Get Your Acoustic Diffusion Panels

  1. Decide how many panels you need and where you need them. If you don’t know, they can help you figure that out!
  2. See if any of the ready to order DIY acoustic diffusion kits will fit where you want them to go! If not, custom kits can be made to order!
  3. Assemble your DIY Acoustic Diffusion Panels using only the included materials.
  4. Wait for the glue to dry and hang!
Rich Smith creates your DIY acoustic diffusion kits by hand.

Conclusion

  1. Buying fully assembled diffusion panels is expensive and not really an option for most of us.
  2. Making your own panels from scratch is time consuming, difficult, and may not produce quality results.
  3. DIY acoustic diffusion kits provides the best of both worlds, giving you a professional product at a substantial savings.