DIY foam panels

[goodbyebluesky]

Lately I've been getting some foam pieces for free basically. It comes packed to protect furniture where I work and I've been taking some home. The pieces are about 1'x2' and 2" thick, and its a tad firmer than the egg-shell type stuff, if you know what I mean.
I double them up and hot glue them together to make 2'x4'x4" panels, and today I put rigid foamboard on the back and wrapped them in some off-white muslin fabric.
All together (2) 2'x4'x4" panels took me:
bunch of hot glue sticks ($2)
3 yards of fabric ($6 total)
2 foamboards ($4 total)
1.5 hours gluing and wrapping

So thats 12 bucks for 2 panels. $6.00 apiece

Question is, what should I expect from just 4" flat foam? Auralux foam seems to have wedges or pyramids..... does this achieve much in the way of "diffusion" or will my panels perform similarly but just maybe not as efficiently?
I'm so low on funds its ridiculous, I was hoping this would be better than nothing but its hard to tell results in my room from only 2 panels. Thought I'd ask opinions before I make any more, especially as long as it takes (I now know.)

[goodbyebluesky]

Btw, when I eventually make some mineral wool broadband absorbers I can hang these foam things on the ceiling since they are light. So they wont be a total waste down the road.

[pandamonk]

Rigid foamboard? If it's very rigid it wont absorb. So, you'd of been better off making a 2'x8'(wooden)frame, putting the foam in the frame and wrapping the fabric round the whole thing. The space behind this type of absorber is what helps absorb the sound. At the moment it may be good only at mid and high frequencies, but the more space behind it you have, the lower frequncies it will absorb, especially if placed in the corners. Good price you paid for it, so even if it isn't as good as rigid fiberglass or mineral wool, it'l be good for the money, lol.

[SonicClang]

All cost aside, there's a bigger issue to think about. Take one of those free foam panels you got out back in an open area and light a match under it. If it's what I'm thinking it is it'll burn so fast you'll hardly have time to drop it before it gets your hand.

There's a lot more to think about than sound absorbtion and controlling reflections and standing waves. In my opinion the biggest issue to think about is safety. Nothing ruins a session more than everyone dying in a firey blaze of toxic gasses and smoke. Remember the Great White show in Road Island? That was started because they used cheap flamable foam on the walls and ceiling of the night club. Auralex warned about this in "Acoustics 101", and I personally take it very serious, especially after that Road Island fire.

[apl]

Originally Posted by goodbyebluesky

Question is, what should I expect from just 4" flat foam?

Death by conflagration.

Read www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html and www.realtraps.com

+1 SonicClang.

[pandamonk]

Never thought about that. Get some fire retardant spray so that if a fire does occur then at least it'll tame it enough to give time for escaping.

[apl]

Originally Posted by pandamonk

Never thought about that. Get some fire retardant spray so that if a fire does occur then at least it'll tame it enough to give time for escaping.

NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[pandamonk]

AAAAGGGHHHHHH what have i done?

[apl]

Originally Posted by pandamonk

AAAAGGGHHHHHH what have i done?

Sorry, I'm just way over the top on using foam in studios. I don't like it at all. I know Aurelex is treated for flammability, but even then it'll still burn under bad conditions, and the fumes thereof are deadly.

[apl]

And a lot of times studios are enclosed spaces with very limited exits.

[SonicClang]

apl, thanks for the rep point, and the link to the wikipedia artical. That's exactly what I was talking about, and everyone thinking of using foam in his studio should read about that. The morning after that fire when they were showing the video on the news, my heart just sank when I saw the foam go up in flames. I knew right away what caused the fire. Yeah, they were using pyrotechnics when they weren't supposed to be, but it was the foam that initially caught fire and made the situation BAD.

Since we're on the subject, I think everyone should have one of these in their studio.

[Nakatira]

Originally Posted by SonicClang

apl, thanks for the rep point, and the link to the wikipedia artical. That's exactly what I was talking about, and everyone thinking of using foam in his studio should read about that. The morning after that fire when they were showing the video on the news, my heart just sank when I saw the foam go up in flames. I knew right away what caused the fire. Yeah, they were using pyrotechnics when they weren't supposed to be, but it was the foam that initially caught fire and made the situation BAD.

Since we're on the subject, I think everyone should have one of these in their studio.

Good point cant get enough of those

[goodbyebluesky]

You know, I'm actually rethinking my plans for my recording space.
Essentially, I'm only recording acoustic guitar at the moment, so my treatment should be optomized for that goal. I'm considering some type of panels with mineral wool that can be arranged in a semi-circle to form a "room within my room" very similar to this guys setup->
http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthr...ht=fingerstyle
Or, I will heavily treat one wall/corner of my space w/mineral wool to minimize reflections from the parallel walls. Can anyone tell me which wall would be the better choice to treat- the wall I FACE while playing acoustic, or the wall my MICROPHONE (cardoid LDC) faces when recording?? Seems like while I might get a lot of reflection from the wall I'm facing, the mic rejects most of that signal because of the polar pattern. Although, the wall thats behind me is further back and will not reflect as much since my back is to it..... but anything it reflects WILL be picked up for sure.
any ideas? You can see a picture of my layout by clicking the link and going to the "photos' section.
www.purevolume.com/blueskyvinyl
The 'X' is approximately where I sit when I play/record

[dgatwood]

Originally Posted by SonicClang

Since we're on the subject, I think everyone should have one of these in their studio.

No kidding. A studio without a power outlet would totally suck.