i dont know a whole lot about proper room acoustics, but im pretty sure mine is not ideal. i currently have the Owens Corning basement system, for those of you who are not familiar, the walls are made out of a insulation type material, then covered with cloth.

I know that people put up cloth type materials in there rooms to help with the absorption of sound, but is there a such thing as too much absorbtion? (since my all my walls are cloth and insulation) it seems like my music is too "flat"??? and not lively enough.(movies sound "ok")

my question to you all is, what can i do to help this situation?

btw, i have your typical cieling tile, i painted it black (which i know affects the original acoustic qualities of the tile) but i couldnt stand the amount of light the white tile was reflecting onto my screen.

here is a pic of what im dealing with. any help would be appreciated.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n116/leov36/PB210646.jpg

yes there is such thing as too dead sounding. You have a rare problem. Most people you have to drag them kicking and screaming to treat their rooms.

I would put up some medium sized pictures or artwork. movie posters are popular but I fear 27x40" is too big. Don't put at primary reflection points. Anything with a reflective surface could add some sparkle. Others with more experience might ask you to hire a pro to test the RT60.

BTW, your center seem to be pointing up way too high from the pic.

your whole basement is basically one huge broadband basstrap.... and YES there is a such a thing as too much absorption. you need to reflect some mids and highs around you could try some diffusion behind you as well. Ill get more indepth later

Hang some movie posters around the rear sides and back of the room behind the surrounds ( if you can't hang a frame - tape up a poster). The CEDIA guidelines are for 25% absorptive surfaces (absent doing RT60 measures and calcs). Usually carpet is 50% absorptive and ceiling is 0% absorptive - so that leaves your walls - just leave the front and side reflection points with your wall system exposed. So if you cover the back half of the room with 2'x4' high posters on an 7' wall - it still leaves half the wall exposed for a total of 25% walls absorbed. Surround speakers don't like dead walls surrounding them - they want live walls.

The other problem you have is that you don't have a huge bass traps for walls - the OC basement system is using 1" fiberglass over cement block correct? So adding bass traps would also help - drop ceiling is a handy place for that - but you will also want spot bass treatment to cocoon your speakers in the corner.

the OC basement system is using 1" fiberglass over cement block correct? So adding bass traps would also help - drop ceiling is a handy place for that - but you will also want spot bass treatment to cocoon your speakers in the corner.

Yes, and this is the same problem as when people stick foam all over ever surface. The room is too dead at mid and high frequencies, and the bass is left untamed and boomy.

--Ethan

I have this same basement. It is amazing how much sound it absorbs. Basically everything. There is absolutely zero echo.

wow, seems like there is alot i need to learn about acoustics, but for now, i hang up some posters in the rear and see how that helps, thanks guys for your input

Instead of flat reflective surfaces, you might want to spring for some diffusers. I'd put some in the ceiling, and some on the back wall to start with.
Also, if it's 1" thick with cement backing, then you may actually need bass trapping as well -- while there is no audible "echo," the bass resonance is not perceived as "echo" even if it's still there.
However, I think you're already better off than 99% of people, so not too shabby :-)

Diffusors:
http://www.auralex.com/c_sound_diffusion/c_sound_diffusion.asp
http://www.realtraps.com/products.htm#DIFFUSORS

The SpaceArray (Auralex) looks nice.
The RealTrap diffusor also doubles as bass trap, which is great for additional treatment.
Can't go wrong with either one. The Auralex products are sold by zzounds.com and others.

This stuff is 2" thick but is compressed from something like 2' of fiberglass. Trust me on this one, if you have not experienced it, nothing comes back off it. It is a very weird effect. You actually have to speak a bit louder to be heard from one end to the other in mine (about 35') than you do at the same distance anywhere else. Mine is also up against concrete and it does seem to make any difference. This stuff is a a sound sucker. My son plays electric bass. If he points his amp (130 watts) away from me and plays, it sounds very, very different then when he points it at me.

Try playing your music using DPLIIx and see if that gives you a substantial improvement.