Egg cartons on wall

[chewbaccula]

Hello, I am thinking about doing a recording soon, nowhere near a professional recording, but hopefully alittle better than the standard basement recording.

My question is, I've seen people put egg cartons on their wall, I think to dampen the sound or something? Please correct me if I'm wrong. Is this done to help the recording process? If so, what does this do to help the recording process? Is it just to prevent the sound from leaking outside? I've seen people do similiar things with foam and rugs, is this to achieve a similiar effect?

Egg cartons are a good way to make your room extremely flammable. And to make things worse, they do absolutely nothing for room treatment, much less sound proofing.

But go for it.

[bennychico11]

it does absolutely nothing for your sound. Don't waste your time with it.

http://www.acousticsfirst.com/eggc.htm


something that HAS been tested and proven reliable: http://ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

[chessrock]

I strongly disagree with the above statements.

If your refrigerator is getting crowded; i.e. there was a big sale at the nearby grocery store, and you are running out of room ...

Then I think it makes a very practical means of clearing out space in your refrigerator. Also, if you get hungry, you can just grab an egg or two off of your wall, whip it up with some milk, dunk a piece of bread in it, fry in a lightly-greased skillet over medium temperature for 5-10 minutes, flipping when golden-brown spots appear ... then you have a very tasty breakfast known as french toast.

.

[jonnyc]

It's not egg cartons you're seeing on the walls. It's most likely some type of auralex foam that has that similar pattern. Not even close to the same thing though. Even auralex isn't great.

[Sonixx]

Originally Posted by jonnyc

Even auralex isn't great.

with an understanding how to apply it for a given application, Auralex works very well.

[yoyo]

Originally Posted by Sonixx

with an understanding how to apply it for a given application, Auralex works very well.

what he means is: If you're a professional, you don't even need any wall treatment, you just have to tell the sound waves waht to do and they do it for you

[bennychico11]

Originally Posted by jonnyc

It's not egg cartons you're seeing on the walls. It's most likely some type of auralex foam that has that similar pattern. Not even close to the same thing though. Even auralex isn't great.

actually...egg crates are used in a lot of low budget home studios. There was even a movie recently that had some rapper in it who had egg crates all over the wall. I laughed. They think if you put anything on the wall that has that bumpy pattern, then it'll be the same thing.

[fraserhutch]

Originally Posted by Sonixx

with an understanding how to apply it for a given application, Auralex works very well.

Absolutely. It has its place.

[SonicAlbert]

Egg crates might dampen the sound somewhat, but I think they would mostly be functioning as a diffuser.

[69 SG]

I thumb tack panties all over the walls the girls throw up on stage.

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by 69 SG

the girls throw up on stage.

Not a good sign...



G.

[69 SG]

It only takes a few if your fans are the right size.
Ethel, Margarete, Big Bertha etc.

[Micter]

Originally Posted by SonicAlbert

Egg crates might dampen the sound somewhat, but I think they would mostly be functioning as a diffuser.

Exactly what I was thinking.

[bennychico11]

Originally Posted by SonicAlbert

Egg crates might dampen the sound somewhat, but I think they would mostly be functioning as a diffuser.

that's true for just about anything you put on the wall though. You just have to consider how MUCH it's diffusing or absorbing. And with eggcrates I'd have to venture that there's not much to warrant use as acoustic treatment.

[The Axis]

IMO: Wall treatments are a waste of time; unless you are really going to change the dimensions of the room....something that goes beyond "home recording".

[bennychico11]

Originally Posted by The Axis

IMO: Wall treatments are a waste of time; unless you are really going to change the dimensions of the room....something that goes beyond "home recording".

depends on what you're trying to accomplish. And technically wall treatment does change the dimensions of the room. Broadband absorbers on the walls and bass traps in the corners can do wonders. And it doesn't take much effort

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by bennychico11

depends on what you're trying to accomplish. And technically wall treatment do change the dimensions of the room. Broadband absorbers on the walls and bass traps in the corners can do wonders. And it doesn't take much effort

Agreed. It doesn't take much effort or money at all to put some removable bass traps in the corners, a few small diffusers to stop first reflections off the sidewalls and ceiling, and proper desk/monitor placement within the room and you have the dfiierence between a disaster and a very translatable room. Half the time much of that can be halfway decently acconplished with the intelligent placement and selection of furniture, window dressing and a bookshelf or three.

G.

[Robert D]

Back in the 80's I saw egg cartons (flats actually) used a lot in practice spaces. They do seem to add additional transmission loss to a sheetrock wall. But I agree they have no usefull purpose in a recording environment, and they do make great bonfire accellerators.

[Ford Van]

Egg cartons did MUCH better than I thought they would in that test!

With the peak of absorption being between 500-800 (about 80% absorption!!!), I think they could be VERY helpful in controlling that troublesome PA feedback range during band rehearsals.

Originally Posted by Ford Van

Egg cartons did MUCH better than I thought they would in that test!

What test?

[Ford Van]

Originally Posted by danny.guitar

What test?

http://www.acousticsfirst.com/docs/egg.PDF

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by Ford Van

Egg cartons did MUCH better than I thought they would in that test!

With the peak of absorption being between 500-800 (about 80% absorption!!!), I think they could be VERY helpful in controlling that troublesome PA feedback range during band rehearsals.

True enough.

But as for their use as "room deadeners" in studios by coating an entire wall with egg cartons, I don't think that even the authors of that test would consider anything close to that as a good idea. They do nothing to affect the room's bass modatlity, and that test only discusses absorption, not diffusion or reflection, especially in the high frequencies. Considering bass modality and HF reflection are the tuo biggest issues in home studio acoustic design, that test does nothing to address the usefulness of egg cartons in studio treatment.

Plus, what about the difference in material? In my area there are just as many, if not more, egg containers made from some form of styene as there are the old-fashoned pressed paper. I assume that test probably was on the pressed paper, and says nothing at all about the styrene ones.

G.

If you want to use egg cartons, go for it. You only live once. Just put a really big "No Smoking" sign on the door of your studio.

There are plenty of other materials that can be had for pretty cheap that will do a much better job of treating your room than egg cartons.

[Lt. Bob]

Back when I was a teen (in a galaxy far far ago ) we wanted to deaden our practice room so we completely covered all the walls and ceiling with regular corning owens 4" fibreglas and then covered that with sheets so the fibers wouldn't get all over us. It was pretty funny putting it up since we covered every inch of skin and ducttaped our sleeves etc. Even then we were itchy for days.
That room was the deadest thing I've ever been in ...... it was so dead that it was kinda weird to be in. I slept there one night and I could clearly hear my heartbeat because there was absolutely no other sound to mask it.
I feel pretty sure it would have sucked for recording although we never tried it.
But that was one dead-ass room!