ASC or GIK - Opnions Please

Ritmo

Ritmo

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I'm adding acoustic treatments to my music room. Will start with corner bass traps and several art panels. I have been looking at both ASC and GIK products.

Would like to get a perspective from those of you that have experience with either or both of these companies. So far I have seen that pricing is higher with ASC; however, I also I want to take into consideration product performance and quality of construction.

Opinions please...Thanks!!!
 
Mike - my friend Bart is obsessed with room treatments (he went to RMAF just for that).....he has started designing and building his own treatments as well, and he measures rooms and all that jazz. He seems impressed with GIK. I noticed at RMAF, or should I say, Bart pointed out, that a lot of rooms used GIK.

I bought ATS acoustic treatments and they were good value.

Good luck with the project!
 
Mike,

Acoustic panels was one of my key items at RMAF as well.

I visited with GIK and had a good conversation with them. I liked the art panels - very well made. I was less impressed with the quality of bass traps they had in the room. That is why I started this thread.

Look forward to other comments from you guys.

Thanks!
 
I went with GIK panels. Great customer service, very detailed in answers and great tips on installment, saving a few bucks, etc. Panels are very good quality. I don't know about their bass traps as I don't have them as they would be a waste of money in my situation. However, I could probably make a safe bet that they are good quality. I also like the extra support of GIK they have on the website and they even go so far as to teach you to do your own REW room evaluation if you want and they will even help you with deciphering the data you get if you ask. Very friendly group of folks.
I don't have any experience with ATS, so I can't speak to that.
 
Measure your room before you buy. Don't rely on any acoustic treatment company to give you acoustics advice. You'll get what you pay for.
 
GIK do provide good customer service. However, of the nine panels I had, none were uniform in size/appearance and I found them to be overly damp. To be fair, I probably could have removed a few with better sonic results. Their bass traps (which I still use) have a better fit/finish and work as advertised.

I echo Dallas in that you do get what you pay for.

Good luck.
 
I do like the RPG BAD panel imitations that GIK sells. I've had a lot of experience using fiberglass panels. If possible, fiberglass panels should never just have the cloth covering. Bare fiberglass absorbs HF too much which can make the room have a "dead" sound.

RPG is the king of the hill but very expensive and offers no customer service. I mostly use RPG. Primacoustic makes excellent corner traps with membrane. If you want to use fiberglass, I would recommend covering the front of the panel with something like an Auralex t'fusor. I do this a lot in my room and it's great!

If your bass problems are partly due to length mode ringing (most likely), there's no better bass trap available than the RPG Modex Plate. You won't ever take them down.
 
dallasjustice said:
Measure your room before you buy. Don't rely on any acoustic treatment company to give you acoustics advice. You'll get what you pay for.
Click to expand...

I echo this. I was assuming that was done. Yes, do testing first before getting treatments!!! Do NOT take ANY acoustical treatment company at their word!!! I've tested this myself. I had one company flat out tell me that I needed a 12 piece kit at a cost of well into the four digits for a room that would not accommodate more than 4 pieces! I have GIK panels and I find them to be just as good as the others only with good customer service to boot. In treatment world you do not "get what you pay for", you get what you order, period. That's why testing is so important. By testing I mean not only measuring the room (if you can), but also finding things around the house to put in places of question to see if there is significant enough effect.
 
Thank you guys. I always do research before making a purchasing decision.

I am looking for a well made and effective solution. And, I do not intent to fill the room with bass traps and panels. While my music room is in a separate part of the house, I want it to look as much as possible as a regular room. However, I do realize that a few traps as well as panels will be needed - but they have to be well made and look good - and, ultimately, work well.

Mike
 
Mike - I recommend checking out RealTraps as another option. I use them for my Bass Traps (Mini Traps and Mondo Traps, as well as RFZ panels) and they are much higher quality than my friend's GIK's in terms of construction, fit and finish, and consistency. I do like GIK's art panels very much, and I do believe GIK is improving their quality from what I have heard and read, but the RealTraps, while more expensive, were the right choice for me. I am using a combination of those and ASC cinema panels in my room currently and I'm very happy with the results!
 
Though I use GIK and have successfully for years, the biggest tip I can give any of you on this subject is to apply this stuff sparingly in a way that it can be easily moved or removed. They don't call it "room tuning" for a reason. I had another company come in at the beginning of the year, take measurements and install treatments based on a computer model. Completely DESTROYED my listening environment and it took every bit of spare time I had this year to make it right again. Went back to my basic GIK setup and couldn't be happier.

While I always hate to make "rules" about this stuff, whatever you think you need for your room, get a third of that. Apply it gingerly in the corners and the first reflection points and go delicately from there.
 
GIK represent great value for money IMHO. As others suggest takes measurements of your room and then supply them to several acoustic treatment suppliers to get their input on whats needed.

The room is the biggest determinant of overall sound quality. Nothing distorts audio more than how the speakers interact with the room.

I presently use products from GIK, Realtraps and Vicoustic. All quite good. No experience with ASC.
 
Ritmo said:
Thank you guys. I always do research before making a purchasing decision.

I am looking for a well made and effective solution. And, I do not intent to fill the room with bass traps and panels. While my music room is in a separate part of the house, I want it to look as much as possible as a regular room. However, I do realize that a few traps as well as panels will be needed - but they have to be well made and look good - and, ultimately, work well.

Mike
Click to expand...

Well, of course. You never want to fill any room with traps and panels or you'll throw things off in another direction, not to mention waste money. The secret is getting only what you need, which you already know.:)
 
Ritmo said:
Thank you guys. I always do research before making a purchasing decision.

I am looking for a well made and effective solution. And, I do not intent to fill the room with bass traps and panels. While my music room is in a separate part of the house, I want it to look as much as possible as a regular room. However, I do realize that a few traps as well as panels will be needed - but they have to be well made and look good - and, ultimately, work well.

Mike
Click to expand...

Hi Mike,

I think the folks here have given you some very good advice. I'll chime in as well.

The GIK products are effective and very cost effective. I have 4 of their corner bass traps called Tri Traps. I would tell you that they work as advertised, but as others have mentioned, they lack the absolute best fit and finish compared to products from ASC or RPG.

I also have products from RPG - I use a variety of their BAD panels which I find very effective as well with generally high quality fit and finish. I also use their Skyline diffusors on my ceiling, painted by RPG with the same paint used on my ceiling so they blend in better. The downside of RPG is that they are on the expensive side of acoustic treatments and they take a while to deliver your order once it is placed compared to the some of the other acoustic treatment companies.

I also use bass traps from Real Traps - specifically their corner Mondo traps. Again, a very effective product with good fit and finish. Another company that hasn't been mentioned yet is called Kinetics Noise Control. They make a variety of acoustic products for all types of solutions including for home audio/theater usage. They make a specific product called a TAD panel. It is basically identical to the RPG BAD panel both in terms of looks, function and fit and finish and about the same price. I use some of these as well. The advantage of Kinetics compared to RPG is that they deliver your order once it is placed much, much faster than RPG: 2-3 weeks versus 2-3 months from RPG. I have ordered twice from each of these companies and the delivery times were consistent.

I have been in several rooms of friends who use ASC products. Again, they are effective once you have dialed them in properly. But, you need to realize they generally sit on your floor and extend out from the wall quite a bit depending on which size you get so they tend to eat up your floor space versus wall or corner mounted panels.

Bottom line, there are a good number of companies to choose from - which one to use for me was a decision based on which one had the product that fit the problem that I was trying to solve - both from an acoustics point of view as well as the look of the treatment itself. Take the advice as already given - start slow - bass traps in your corners and treat your first points of reflection and learn from that. You may need to add additional treatments beyond that depending on your room and system, but add them sparingly as you do not what to over dampen your room.
 
babybear said:
Hi Mike,

I think the folks here have given you some very good advice. I'll chime in as well.

The GIK products are effective and very cost effective. I have 4 of their corner bass traps called Tri Traps. I would tell you that they work as advertised, but as others have mentioned, they lack the absolute best fit and finish compared to products from ASC or RPG.

I also have products from RPG - I use a variety of their BAD panels which I find very effective as well with generally high quality fit and finish. I also use their Skyline diffusors on my ceiling, painted by RPG with the same paint used on my ceiling so they blend in better. The downside of RPG is that they are on the expensive side of acoustic treatments and they take a while to deliver your order once it is placed compared to the some of the other acoustic treatment companies.

I also use bass traps from Real Traps - specifically their corner Mondo traps. Again, a very effective product with good fit and finish. Another company that hasn't been mentioned yet is called Kinetics Noise Control. They make a variety of acoustic products for all types of solutions including for home audio/theater usage. They make a specific product called a TAD panel. It is basically identical to the RPG BAD panel both in terms of looks, function and fit and finish and about the same price. I use some of these as well. The advantage of Kinetics compared to RPG is that they deliver your order once it is placed much, much faster than RPG: 2-3 weeks versus 2-3 months from RPG. I have ordered twice from each of these companies and the delivery times were consistent.

I have been in several rooms of friends who use ASC products. Again, they are effective once you have dialed them in properly. But, you need to realize they generally sit on your floor and extend out from the wall quite a bit depending on which size you get so they tend to eat up your floor space versus wall or corner mounted panels.

Bottom line, there are a good number of companies to choose from - which one to use for me was a decision based on which one had the product that fit the problem that I was trying to solve - both from an acoustics point of view as well as the look of the treatment itself. Take the advice as already given - start slow - bass traps in your corners and treat your first points of reflection and learn from that. You may need to add additional treatments beyond that depending on your room and system, but add them sparingly as you do not what to over dampen your room.
Click to expand...

Nice post, very informative! It appears this matches what I think in that there are many good room treatment product companies out there including GIK. I'm a little confused though about the whole thing with "fit & finish". Is it not function that is most important? Unless it's absolutely horrid or something, who cares what it looks like if it's at least close to what would go with the room being treated? I have two GIK panels on the wall behind the sofa and they are fine. They almost blend in with the wall, both are the same with no noticeable anomalies. Either I got lucky or the stuff about GIK product being faulty is myth.
 
MusicDirector said:
Nice post, very informative! It appears this matches what I think in that there are many good room treatment product companies out there including GIK. I'm a little confused though about the whole thing with "fit & finish". Is it not function that is most important? Unless it's absolutely horrid or something, who cares what it looks like if it's at least close to what would go with the room being treated? I have two GIK panels on the wall behind the sofa and they are fine. They almost blend in with the wall, both are the same with no noticeable anomalies. Either I got lucky or the stuff about GIK product being faulty is myth.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

I agree that function is the most important - at least to me and to you. To some folks, fit and finish might play a higher role in the decision making process as to which product to buy. If you compare the finish of the GIK Tri-Trap to the finish of a Real Traps Mondo Trap the Mondo trap has the "feel" of a higher quality product as least to me. But I am using both of these products as they perform the function that I need them to perform. The Mondo Trap also costs quite a bit more than the Tri Trap. As I said, GIK products are a very cost effective solution for acoustic treatment as products from RPG, Real Traps and Kinetics Noise control are more expensive.
 
MSR makes an extremely effective corner bass trap called a SpringTrap. Very unique design. They greatly increased listening enjoyment in my room by tightening up the bass. On those overcooked tracks when the bass just became a muddy mess in my room now I can listen and enjoy. The tracks still have overcooked bass, but my room doesn't f it up further. I also have ASC tube traps in the front corners.
 
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