What do u guys think of my improvised sound proofing?

[ShayneBishop]

Hey everyone,
I came across this box at work that had the egg crate foam with pretty deep craters on all 6 sides (4 sides, top and bottom). So i rigged it into a spot for my mic. I tested it out it out and it makes a huge difference in sound quality, theres def. less echo. What do u guys think of it? Is it hindering me from a specific sound or is it ruining my sound? I know u havent heard it but for those of you who know acoustics - is it hurting or helping me?

Thanks,

 

[Jeff_D]

It probably not hurting, but its also not addressing the real and much more pressing problems your likely to have in any home recording space. There isn't a single piece of foam in my treatment scheme and I think I have a pretty decent sounding tracking and mixing space.

Also, a technicality, but a big distinction; your concoction would be considered acoustical treatment as opposed to sound proofing. I'm not point that out to be a smart ass, but to lead you into kind of the first lesson of acoustics as it applies to HR; the difference between treatment and soundproofing. Acoustic treatment is a matter of creating a more acoustically pleasing or accurate space. Soundproofing is a matter of stopping the sound from one space from entering into another. The degree to which you need to do either of those things will be determined by your space, specific needs and budget...

 

[Rod Gervais]

if you found this lining the 6 sides of a packing crate - then it is packing foam not acoustic foam..

To begin with it is a lousy foam for acoustic treatments........ BUT - even more importantly it is a monster of a fire hazard.

It was packing foam that was the fuel source for the Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island that killed 100 people....... you should not be using this material for acoustic treatments.

Rod

 

[moresound]

if you found this lining the 6 sides of a packing crate - then it is packing foam not acoustic foam..

To begin with it is a lousy foam for acoustic treatments........ BUT - even more importantly it is a monster of a fire hazard.

It was packing foam that was the fuel source for the Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island that killed 100 people....... you should not be using this material for acoustic treatments.

Rod

So lets be safe!!! NO open flames near this stuff ~ period.

 

[Weasel9992]

Also, a technicality, but a big distinction; your concoction would be considered acoustical treatment as opposed to sound proofing....the difference between treatment and soundproofing. Acoustic treatment is a matter of creating a more acoustically pleasing or accurate space. Soundproofing is a matter of stopping the sound from one space from entering into another. The degree to which you need to do either of those things will be determined by your space, specific needs and budget...

Great post. I also agree with Rod. This stuff bears no resemblance to proper acoustic foam AND it's a significant fire hazard. I hope you're not smoking around it...

 

[Rod Gervais]

So lets be safe!!! NO open flames near this stuff ~ period.

This stuff bears no resemblance to proper acoustic foam AND it's a significant fire hazard. I hope you're not smoking around it...

Let me try to be a little more explicit - don't use this product for room treatments unless it is flame proof............ you can test by taking a small piece of the product and setting it on fire - once it is burning freely remove the flame source - if it continues to burn without the flame source it should not be used for any purpose.......

This is not an issue of being careful around it - it should not be used - period.

Rod

 

[TeyshaBlue]

It probably not hurting, but its also not addressing the real and much more pressing problems your likely to have in any home recording space. There isn't a single piece of foam in my treatment scheme and I think I have a pretty decent sounding tracking and mixing space.

Also, a technicality, but a big distinction; your concoction would be considered acoustical treatment as opposed to sound proofing. I'm not point that out to be a smart ass, but to lead you into kind of the first lesson of acoustics as it applies to HR; the difference between treatment and soundproofing. Acoustic treatment is a matter of creating a more acoustically pleasing or accurate space. Soundproofing is a matter of stopping the sound from one space from entering into another. The degree to which you need to do either of those things will be determined by your space, specific needs and budget...

Indeed. I owned a couple of commercial studios back in the 90's. In my favorite, my large ensemble room was completely dead because it was built that way...decoupled from the floor, with properly constructed walls and subframes. But it was overdone and just vacuumed up sound like an evil anechoic chamber. I would routinely move dry erase boards around in that room to liven it up somewhat. I sure as hell wouldn't have added any foam to it. My drum room had similar problems as well, but the 3 large panes of glass helped a bit. My control room was anything but soundproof. But it had not an inch of foam on the walls or flat surfaces..instead I relied on bass traps where I needed them and baffles hung from the ceiling. It was an old industrial building in downtown Abilene, Tx and had a 16 ft. ceiling. Now, that was a challenging room to tame.
My home studio also has not a square inch of foam anywhere, but my control room is very easy to mix in...very tight and seemingly very accurate.
Your space would have to be extremely lively to warrant anything like a foam treatment IMHO.
As to whether the foam is hurting or helping you, it's hard to make that judgement unless we heard the space before you treated it. I suspect it's killing alot of hf material which will make it sound "better" or more "controlled". However, that's kinda fools gold for ears. However, I can see where it might be less reflective, assuming that was a problem to begin with.

 

[Weasel9992]

This is not an issue of being careful around it - it should not be used - period.

+1. Totally agree.

 

[RAMI]

That's the scariest and most useless thing I've seen in a long time.

 

[Lt. Bob]

Let me try to be a little more explicit - don't use this product for room treatments unless it is flame proof............ you can test by taking a small piece of the product and setting it on fire - once it is burning freely remove the flame source - if it continues to burn without the flame source it should not be used for any purpose.......

This is not an issue of being careful around it - it should not be used - period.

Rod

I don't see how it's so dangerous if it's only used in a box around the mic like he's done.
If he put it on the walls then yeah, that's dangerous.
But if just having that stuff in a small box around the mic is so dangerous, then are you also saying don't allow any boxes of stuff you order that come packed in foam inside the house?
I doubt you get something you ordered in and immediately frantically unpack it and get the dangerous box outside!
That's a bit of an overreaction.

However ...... it's probably not very useful for the purpose he's using it for either.

 

[Lt. Bob]

Indeed. I owned a couple of commercial studios back in the 90's. In my favorite, my large ensemble room was completely dead because it was built that way...decoupled from the floor, with properly constructed walls and subframes. But it was overdone and just vacuumed up sound like an evil anechoic chamber. I would routinely move dry erase boards around in that room to liven it up somewhat. I sure as hell wouldn't have added any foam to it. My drum room had similar problems as well, but the 3 large panes of glass helped a bit. My control room was anything but soundproof. But it had not an inch of foam on the walls or flat surfaces..instead I relied on bass traps where I needed them and baffles hung from the ceiling. It was an old industrial building in downtown Abilene, Tx and had a 16 ft. ceiling. Now, that was a challenging room to tame.
My home studio also has not a square inch of foam anywhere, but my control room is very easy to mix in...very tight and seemingly very accurate.
Your space would have to be extremely lively to warrant anything like a foam treatment IMHO.
As to whether the foam is hurting or helping you, it's hard to make that judgement unless we heard the space before you treated it. I suspect it's killing alot of hf material which will make it sound "better" or more "controlled". However, that's kinda fools gold for ears. However, I can see where it might be less reflective, assuming that was a problem to begin with.

LOL ..... in the early 70's, we had a band room where we covered every inch of the walls and ceiling with fibreglas .... we stapled sheets over it to keep the fibres from getting out.
It was the deadest thing I've ever heard. It was actually odd to be in ..... I slept in it one night and had a hard time sleeping 'cause I could hear my heartbeat clearly since there was absolutely NO masking sound of any kind.
We never recorded in it but I bet it would have sucked.

 

[stevieb]

I think Lt. Bob has a better grasp on reality than most of the other posters in this thread- I was just about to post that the amount of POSSIBLY flammable foam the OP is using is unlikely to make his entire studio a fire trap. I think all the nay-saying is having the effect of squashing creativity- not flaming anyone, or staying that was the intent, mind you, just the effect.

There are ways of treating a flammable material to render it, to some level, non-flammable. It's been decades since I learned about that, and thus have forgotten everything about it except that it would have worked for grass hay we were considering for a haunted house, and that we decided to just use a very little amount of hay and thus stay below the threshold of flammable material allowed. I suspect the OP is below that threshold, too- so I say, knock yourself out!

 

[stevieb]

LOL ..... in the early 70's, we had a band room where we covered every inch of the walls and ceiling with fibreglas .... we stapled sheets over it to keep the fibres from getting out.
It was the deadest thing I've ever heard. It was actually odd to be in ..... I slept in it one night and had a hard time sleeping 'cause I could hear my heartbeat clearly since there was absolutely NO masking sound of any kind.
We never recorded in it but I bet it would have sucked.

Wow! A sensory deprivation chamber! I wonder what became of all of those...

 

[RAMI]

I think Lt. Bob has a better grasp on reality than most of the other posters in this thread- I was just about to post that the amount of POSSIBLY flammable foam the OP is using is unlikely to make his entire studio a fire trap. I think all the nay-saying is having the effect of squashing creativity- not flaming anyone, or staying that was the intent, mind you, just the effect.

There are ways of treating a flammable material to render it, to some level, non-flammable. It's been decades since I learned about that, and thus have forgotten everything about it except that it would have worked for grass hay we were considering for a haunted house, and that we decided to just use a very little amount of hay and thus stay below the threshold of flammable material allowed. I suspect the OP is below that threshold, too- so I say, knock yourself out!

Regardless of the danger or lack of danger, it's a stupid idea because it doesn't help anything sound better.

I think you're the last person who should be trying to preach to anyone about having a grasp of reality. Your whole existence is based on trying to be some kind of super-hero who comes into threads to stick up for people doing stupid things, under the guise of trying to come off like the only reasonable person. You're not helping anyone by being such a pretentious phony.

Have a nice day.

 

[Lt. Bob]

well ..... how do you learn about stuff like that without trying it?

We all learned because we tried out ideas we had.
I'm not, personally, in favor of just coming to a board and slavishly doing whatever the most advanced memebers say. You don't really learn WHY an idea is good or bad. Once you try it ..... then you know.

And I think it's valid to point out that the danger factor is being over emphasised in this particular case.

I did say in my post, BTW, that it's not gonna be useful.

But it also doesn't hurt anything for him to try it and find out the details for himself.
If he had that shit all over the walls I'd be right there in the chorus telling him to remove it immediately (assuming it's not fireproof which we don't absolutely know) but a small box like this?
Just a chance for him to learn something IMO.

 

[stevieb]

Regardless of the danger or lack of danger, it's a stupid idea because it doesn't help anything sound better.

I think you're the last person who should be trying to preach to anyone about having a grasp of reality. Your whole existence is based on trying to be some kind of super-hero who comes into threads to stick up for people doing stupid things, under the guise of trying to come off like the only reasonable person. You're not helping anyone by being such a pretentious phony.

Have a nice day.

My, my, MY. No matter what one might say about NOT singling anyone out, it seems some folks are just itching to take offense... No one in particular, of course.

"My whole existence," eh? Somehow, from the 1,363 post I have made here, which probably represents less than 50 of the 473,040 or so hours I have lived so far, you can discern my entire reason for being? Neat trick- care to share how you do it with the rest of us? Or would rather keep it to yourself, seeing as how you are the only person in the whole world who knows how to do it? Heck, if I knew how to do that, I'd probably keep it to myself, too- that's gotta be one of the world's most marketable abilities, you much be rich and powerful beyond all imagination...

I'm thinking I am not the most "pretentious phony" in this thread...

And besides, I occasionally come her and post totally out-of-left-field jokes based on mis-construing the post's subject...

 

[Lt. Bob]

lol@ how quickly threads about reasonably interesting things turn into personal pissing matches around here!

 

[RAMI]

My, my, MY. No matter what one might say about NOT singling anyone out, it seems some folks are just itching to take offense... No one in particular, of course.

"My whole existence," eh? Somehow, from the 1,363 post I have made here, which probably represents less than 50 of the 473,040 or so hours I have lived so far, you can discern my entire reason for being? Neat trick- care to share how you do it with the rest of us? Or would rather keep it to yourself, seeing as how you are the only person in the whole world who knows how to do it? Heck, if I knew how to do that, I'd probably keep it to myself, too- that's gotta be one of the world's most marketable abilities, you much be rich and powerful beyond all imagination...

I'm thinking I am not the most "pretentious phony" in this thread...

And besides, I occasionally come her and post totally out-of-left-field jokes based on mis-construing the post's subject...

Have you stopped farting out of your mouth yet???? Amazing that you can accuse a whole group of people of not being in touch with reality...yet spend a whole paragraph implying one shouldn't make generalized statements concerning others. Let me know when you get your foot out of your mouth. You make an idiot of yourself every time you post...Now THAT'S a talent.

You make exposing your stupidity a very easy thing to do.

 

[miroslav]

I don't see how it's so dangerous if it's only used in a box around the mic like he's done.

If you are tracking reggae music...it could be a fire hazard...know what I mean, man?

 

[dintymoore]

... I doubt you get something you ordered in and immediately frantically unpack it and get the dangerous box outside!
That's a bit of an overreaction...

Maybe not, I had a friend who had a foam lined box with a mic in it and all they did was go "testing.... 1.....2...." and, well... here's the pic of all that was left:

There's a lot of us here that have been doing this for a long time and we forget about all the stupid shit we did. That's how you learn. I remember lining the inside of a set of Stewart drums I had with carpet underlayment - genius!

The only way you learn is by trying.

Nothing beats the time I hooked a garden hose up to my snorkel and thought I could go 20' down. At 3 feet it felt like I had steel hose clamps around my chest. But that's how you learn.

It certainly isn't worth getting all worked up and calling people names about.

On the other hand, maybe name calling is the way to go...

You lousy fuckin' stupid fuckin' fuck - suggesting it's ok to line a box with foam - fuck you!!!
FUCK YOU!!!!!!

Hmm, not so bad, maybe there's something to that.