Foambymail.com - Any comments?

[joswil44]

Im the conclusion that I need to treat my control room for mixing, I was looking into some products.

Obviously Auralex is the first brand that comes to mind if not the only one.

I was reading reviews on MusiciansFriend.com about Auralex products and saw someone mentioning Foambymail.com.

They said not to bother with it, and another person said it was great and much cheaper.

I simply checked it out for the curiousity of it.

Looks to be cheaper, but I was surprised to see that they werent just simple foam and seem to have many different selections including bass traps and such.

I read that the Auralex was thicker in density and heavier and that the Foambymail stuff was light and makes no difference.

But the NRC ratings arent too bad looking.

Anyone have experience with these guys?

[scrubs]

Foam products are ok for spot treatment and reducing early reflections, but they don't have enough mass to be effective as bass traps. Try to get your hands on some Owens Corning 703 (aka rigid fiberglass) and/or Rockwool and make your own traps. Some places sell ready-made traps (search for Real Traps), if you don't want to go the DIY route.

The Studio Building forum here will also provide you with good tips.

[Massive Master]

Foambymail.com - Any comments?

They sell foam - And they sell it via mail.

Otherwise, I'm with Scrubs. A piece here or there for HF comb filtering. Otherwise, bass trapping (no, not "foam-traingle" bass trapping).

[Ironklad Audio]

eh...i bought some of that stuff because my choices were either buy that or buy nothing

it's nowhere near the quality aurelex stuff - the good shit is stiff/dense; it doesn't squish or move when touched

the foambymail.com stuff is cheap and flimsy - it feels about like a standard egg-crate, but cut all fancy, and i'm not sure how much it really

[Ethan Winer]

> Im the conclusion that I need to treat my control room for mixing <

Good conclusion.

> Obviously Auralex is the first brand that comes to mind if not the only one. <

There are other brands you should consider.

> But the NRC ratings arent too bad looking. Anyone have experience with these guys? <

The specs Foam By Mail publishes are fraudulent. They sell cheap packing foam - not acoustic foam - and they basically stole the data from Auralex's web site and present it as their own. How do I know this? Because I paid to measure Auralex LENRD corner foam side by side with FBM corner foam in a lab, and the FBM foam was less than half as effective. Below is a graph showing that comparison, along with the "real" bass traps my company sells.

As they say, Caveat Emptor. And as they also say, you get what you pay for.

--Ethan

Click HERE to see the graph.

[apl]

Read www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

[dementedchord]

hey ethan... isn't the FBM stuff closed cell as well??

[Massive Master]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

Click HERE to see the graph.

Even *I* knew the stuff was bad - I had no idea it was THAT bad!

[tarnationsauce2]

Originally Posted by Massive Master

Even *I* knew the stuff was bad - I had no idea it was THAT bad!

Yeah that's pretty crappy. I think you'd have better luck with packing blankets on the wall.

Ethan, do you remember the thickness of that Foam By Mail stuff you examined?

[Ethan Winer]

> do you remember the thickness of that Foam By Mail stuff you examined? <

I don't know if it's open or closed cell, and I don't have it here handy. (I ended up giving it away to someone.) What I tested was the corner foam FBM sells that looks like Auralex LENRDs.

--Ethan

[dmbfan1981]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

> Im the conclusion that I need to treat my control room for mixing <

Good conclusion.

> Obviously Auralex is the first brand that comes to mind if not the only one. <

There are other brands you should consider.

> But the NRC ratings arent too bad looking. Anyone have experience with these guys? <

The specs Foam By Mail publishes are fraudulent. They sell cheap packing foam - not acoustic foam - and they basically stole the data from Auralex's web site and present it as their own. How do I know this? Because I paid to measure Auralex LENRD corner foam side by side with FBM corner foam in a lab, and the FBM foam was less than half as effective. Below is a graph showing that comparison, along with the "real" bass traps my company sells.

As they say, Caveat Emptor. And as they also say, you get what you pay for.

--Ethan

Click HERE to see the graph.

doesnt auralex's website mention something about not having a proper testing method for basstraps and therefore they have removed their specs. ???

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by dmbfan1981

doesnt auralex's website mention something about not having a proper testing method for basstraps and therefore they have removed their specs. ???

There currently is no official test method that's relevant for bass traps meant to be mounted in a corner. I can't speak for Auralex, but we publish both standard data and also informal data showing how much more our traps absorb when placed in corners. That's more to show the advantage of corner mounting than anything else, though we also show a direct apples-to-apples comparison of our products versus a few brands of corner foam.

--Ethan

[punkin]

Send them an email and ask them...what lab performed the tests, their response will tell you what kind of company you're dealing with.

[apl]

Originally Posted by punkin

Send them an email and ask them...what lab performed the tests, their response will tell you what kind of company you're dealing with.

Somebody did and no one answered.

[punkin]

Me too

If nothing else, the customer support and responsiveness would keep me away. They seem like little more than an artificial store front with a hand out and a sign that says "pay me here".

Buyer beware!