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DIY Quadratic Diffuser

Quadratic diffusers are commonly installed inside recording studios to minimize internal reflections and standing waves that can be picked up by sensitive microphones and recording equipment. Parallel surfaces allow sound waves to bounce back and forth, creating unwanted resonance. Quadratic diffusers are wall coverings with specially shaped surfaces that significantly reduce these reflections and resonances. A number of different styles and designs are available, and they can be produced at home from simple materials.

Things You'll Need

  • Plywood sheet (same size as your wall, 1/4-inch thick)
  • Ruler
  • Hardwood strips (3 mm thick, 3 inches wide, same length as the wall height)
  • Hardwood strips (3 mm thick, 1-inch wide, same length as the wall height)
  • Hardwood dowel (1-inch diameter)
  • Wood screws (1-1/2 inches long)
  • Wood glue
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Instructions

    • 1

      Lay the large plywood sheet out flat on the ground. Measure out and mark, from top to bottom, the strips that will form the irregular panels. There will be inch-wide strips laid flat, parallel to the plywood, with 3-inch-wide strips standing on their edges, separating each one.

    • 2

      Cut some sections of dowel that will act as spacers, raising each of the flat strips up off the backing plywood to create grooves of different depths between the side walls. Cut pairs of dowel spacers at 3 inches, 2-1/2 inches, 2 inches and 1-1/2 inches. Number them 1, 2, 3 and 4. The depths of the wells in a quadratic diffuser are calculated to minimize resonance.

    • 3

      Place a pair of identical spacers in each flat strip section marked on the plywood. From left to right the sequence should follow "1, 2, 4, 3, 3, 4, 2" and so on. Repeat as many times as necessary to fill your board.

    • 4

      Glue the spacers down onto the plywood board once you have the sequence correct. Screw down the inch-wide strips through the spacers into the plywood backing. Take the 3-inch strips and pipe a strip of wood glue down the thinnest edge; then stand them up on that edge between the flat strips.

    • 5

      Allow the glue to dry, and your diffuser is ready to be hung on a wall in your studio.

Recording Music

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