Desk Sound Absorption

[icor1031]

Are there any thin materials that would fit this bill well?

Using 1" or 2" rockboard, fiberglass, etc. on top of my desk would look awkward. I could put a cloth over it, but then I doubt it would be firm enough to use as a desk.

Or, alternatives?

Thanks.

[jamikkim]

What kind of absorption are you after? The surface reflections or sound transmitted into the actual desk (like how bass-shakers work?) from the speakers?

For surface reflections the speakers are usually just lifted higher above the desk surface by stands, however you could try some rugs or similar "aesthetic" material just below and in front of the speakers, so the rest of the desk is still hard.

For transmission, you need to decouple the speakers from the desk surface (or try to). You can try hanging, or on springs, though you need heavy speakers for this. Also spikes may help since only a small area is in contact with the desk. Placing a thin pad under the speaker reduces mid/treble but may increase bass resonant frequency of the desk. Using a thicker pad reduces about everything but then you may have wobbly speakers, or if they are light then the entire enclosure may vibrate too easily.

These are just things I've noticed when playing around with raw drivers and sitting them magnet down on the desk. The thin pad (even about 20 sheets newspaper) is fun with larger than 3" woofers on my desk, you can get quite a lot of "wooden" bass from the desk in the small room, albeit one-note bass...

[Sydney]

IMO: Anything placed upon the hard reflective desk surface to effectively attenuate will render the desktop useless.
Fly or suspend speakers to raise ratio of direct sound to reflective sound.

[lunchmoney]

IMO: Anything placed upon the hard reflective desk surface to effectively attenuate will render the desktop useless.

Depends on what the desk is used for. If just for a computer, a mouse pad and keyboard would work just fine.

Maybe some thick felt?

[Sydney]

A felt desk? That definitely wouldn't work for me. I need every bit of real estate for printouts, reference material, graphics tablet, etc
Drape a moving blanket over the desk top

[icor1031]

I'm not drawing on the desk, a rug would probably work.

However, I can't really raise the speakers off the desk. At least, not the most important ones: front left and right. They are about 1/8" below the monitor. I can get more space as I angle them down, but then I'm off axis.

[JRT]

Are there any thin materials that would fit this bill well?

Using 1" or 2" rockboard, fiberglass, etc. on top of my desk would look awkward. I could put a cloth over it, but then I doubt it would be firm enough to use as a desk.

Or, alternatives?

Thanks.

I'm suggesting an alternative and am starting by stating the obvious... The desk is a desk, and either you need a desk or you don't.

If you need the desk, to use as a desk is normally used, then work with the acoustic nature of a usable hard desktop instead of working against it by trying to modify it into something far less useful.

You can use the desktop surface as a ground plane, putting the reflection to good use to extend the height of a line source or planar source, or as a ground plane extension of a boundary for a horn/waveguide. Likewise you can use the face of your computer monitor(s) as a smoothed extension of the baffle surface.

Make use of the surfaces. Work with them instead of around them.


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[icor1031]

I am utterly lost.

You can use the desktop surface as a ground plane, putting the reflection to good use to extend the height of a line source or planar source, or as a ground plane extension of a boundary for a horn/waveguide. Likewise you can use the face of your computer monitor(s) as a smoothed extension of the baffle surface.

Make use of the surfaces. Work with them instead of around them.


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