Auralex Studiofoam Designer Kit

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JacobShah

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Just wondering what every body's thoughts on the Auralex Studiofoam Designer Kit. I have some flutter and echo problems in my tracking room. I pretty sure it's about 12x8, with a 11ft ceiling. And my control room is identical, with a window between the rooms. I was hoping the Studiofoam could resolve some of the acoustic problems, giving me a more dead room sound. Most places price it at $99. But if you can live with charcoal gray(anything but gray!!! ;-) instead of the purple or burgundy, it's $60 at musiciansfriend.com. Any thoughts?
 
Yes, this stuff is excellent for relieving flutter echo. It mainly absorbs upper-mid and high frequencies, which is where flutter echo lives. (Leave some bare wall showing or the room can become too dead. A checkerboard pattern will do nicely.)

It is so-so for first reflection points as long as it is thick enough. (2" or more)

It is not that great for lower frequencies or for bass trapping in corners. It is just not dense enough for that.

Them's the facts.
 
RawDepth said:
Can you back this up with facts?

(...And remember, the man wants to resolve flutter echo, not bass problems.)
Click to expand...

Fact: OP is a newbie

Fact: OP is not specific about acoustic issues, other than to say he wants to address "flutter" and "echo" issues in a room he belives to be 12x8x11.

Fact: Without significant acoustic treatment, this room is going to have real issues - far and away outstripping flutter echo in terms of difficulty to treat. Foam ain't gonna cut it.

Fact: OP asked specifically for our thoughts on Auralex. They were provided.

Fact: OP provides no details about current acoustic treatment, construction, or budget.

My answer is as good as can be expected, given the above FACTS.

-SC
 
Foam works for upper mids and high end. Rigid Fiberglass will do the same but with added low mid and bass absorption. I would at least put some fiberglass in the corners and then use foam for walls and ceiling in a checker pattern.
 
RawDepth said:
Can you back this up with facts?

(...And remember, the man wants to resolve flutter echo, not bass problems.)
Click to expand...

Sure, here is the acoustic absorption data from 4" Auralex Studiofoam Wedges.... http://www.auralex.com/testdata/test/4wedge.pdf
Most notably, at 125hz Absorption Coefficient = 0.31 and at 250hz Absorption Coefficient = 0.85.

Compare that to 0.86 and 1.25 @ 125hz and 250hz respectively for 4" OC703 and 1.03 and 1.07 @ 125 and 250hz respectively for 4" Roxul Safe rockwool and you can clearly see that rockwool or rigid fiberglass is far superior in the low range. http://www.bobgolds.com/AbsorptionCoefficients.htm

Couple that with the fact that you can get OC703 for about the same price as foam and rockwool for way cheaper than the foam and its really a no-brainer for me. My educated guess would be that if OP is in a room in his house, then the bass response is just as big of a problem as flutter echo. Beside that, foam looks tacky. :)
 
1st: I wasn't exactly sure how specific you guys wanted me to get:
Thin layer of carpet, and drywall with expensive paint primer(my relatives own a construction business;-) Very cheap 38" x 82 3/4 door.
2nd: Not being arrogant, but i have been in the biz for quiet a few years now, so to some guys on here I'm probably a newbie, but I have budgeted for $20k church audio systems. And I have engineered quite a few demo and worship projects. Even so the less I know, the more I know! Thanks for your advice guys! Keep it coming!
 
I actually bought 2 of those kits in Charcoal Gray (price for gray was definitely a deciding factor).
I attached the foam sections to peg board that are attached to support units (that I designed and built of course ;) ) that are of different heights/depths.
This gives me a multi-layered effect for the "Auralex designer kit".
Of course the holes in the peg board do a certain amount of sound wave break-up :D
Photos below:
Bob G.
PS-I have a ton of compressed fibreglass in my room and will be buying some lenrd bass traps soon.
I also have 9 inch thick walls with double layer drywall on walls and ceiling plus R-25 insullation throughout.....

AuralexMultiDepthPanelGroup.webp

StudioFacingSE.webp
 
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Supercreep said:
Fact: OP is a newbie

Fact: OP is not specific about acoustic issues, other than to say he wants to address "flutter" and "echo" issues in a room he belives to be 12x8x11.

Fact: Without significant acoustic treatment, this room is going to have real issues - far and away outstripping flutter echo in terms of difficulty to treat. Foam ain't gonna cut it.

Fact: OP asked specifically for our thoughts on Auralex. They were provided.

Fact: OP provides no details about current acoustic treatment, construction, or budget.

My answer is as good as can be expected, given the above FACTS.

-SC
Click to expand...

Your facts seem to contain a lot of assumptions. We don't know that he is a Newbie and it has nothing to do with his question. The word flutter alone is descriptive enough to clearly understand his problem. It only has one meaning in room acoustics. The existence (or non-existence) of other treatment in his room was not given and it didn't matter. Even if he had fifty bass traps already in the room, flutter is still treated in the same general way...using thinner, lighter weight treatments on parallel flat surfaces. Foam fits the bill. The fact that he made no mention of budget implied that it was not a concern worth mentioning.

Jeff_D said:
Sure, here is the acoustic absorption data from 4" Auralex Studiofoam Wedges.... http://www.auralex.com/testdata/test/4wedge.pdf
Most notably, at 125hz Absorption Coefficient = 0.31 and at 250hz Absorption Coefficient = 0.85.

Compare that to 0.86 and 1.25 @ 125hz and 250hz respectively for 4" OC703 and 1.03 and 1.07 @ 125 and 250hz respectively for 4" Roxul Safe rockwool and you can clearly see that rockwool or rigid fiberglass is far superior in the low range. http://www.bobgolds.com/AbsorptionCoefficients.htm

Couple that with the fact that you can get OC703 for about the same price as foam and rockwool for way cheaper than the foam and its really a no-brainer for me. My educated guess would be that if OP is in a room in his house, then the bass response is just as big of a problem as flutter echo. Beside that, foam looks tacky. :)
Click to expand...

Wrong tree, dude! Flutter occurs well above 500Hz. Compare the specs in that range and you will see that it works just as well as other products. I didn't say it was the only solution, I just said it was good.

JacobShah said:
1st: I wasn't exactly sure how specific you guys wanted me to get:
Thin layer of carpet, and drywall with expensive paint primer(my relatives own a construction business;-) Very cheap 38" x 82 3/4 door.
2nd: Not being arrogant, but i have been in the biz for quiet a few years now, so to some guys on here I'm probably a newbie, but I have budgeted for $20k church audio systems. And I have engineered quite a few demo and worship projects. Even so the less I know, the more I know! Thanks for your advice guys! Keep it coming!
Click to expand...

Sorry that we are splitting hairs at your expense. I've seen both of these guys hand out tons of great advice to tons of people over the years. They are no slouches. But in this wacky business, opinions will differ on methods and details.

After reading that your room is bare, I agree that you will need far more than just foam. Foam will only address upper-mid to high frequency "clapping noise" type problems. It will probably do little-to-nothing for lower-mid reflections and bass buildup in corners that most empty rooms have. Supercreep is right when he said, "...this room is going to have real issues - far and away outstripping flutter echo in terms of difficulty to treat. Foam ain't gonna cut it."

Even if you completely covered all of the walls with foam, acoustic problems will still exist. Once you get monitors in that room and attempt to make critical mixing decisions it will badly skew your judgment. You will need some heavy duty treatments for lower frequencies. Use the search feature here to learn more.

My point was, foam can be good, but only if you throw it at the right problems.
 
Foam can also look attractive. Place it over rigid fiberglass or mineral/rock wool in the 3.5 - 8 pcf range.

As a rule, we do not reccomend foam because it doesn't perform as well as less expensive products. Also, all foam is not created equal. Foambymail doesn't work for shit and is a fire hazard. Plus, they lie about their NRC.

We don't want you to waste money. That's why we are telling you to avoid foam.
 
RawDepth said:
Wrong tree, dude! Flutter occurs well above 500Hz. Compare the specs in that range and you will see that it works just as well as other products. I didn't say it was the only solution, I just said it was good.
Click to expand...

S'cool. I never said flutter couldn't be solved by foam. But, I did say that he'll have other problems than flutter. IMO/IME, foam is bad because while it is addressing one issue (flutter), its NOT addressing all the other issues. Couple that with the fact the rockwool and rigid fiberglass address flutter every bit as good as foam + rockwool and rigid fiberglass smokes foam in the low and + rockwool and rigid fiberglass (especially rockwool) come cheaper than foam, and I see absolutely no use for foam.
 
JacobShah said:
Just wondering what every body's thoughts on the Auralex Studiofoam Designer Kit. I have some flutter and echo problems in my tracking room. I pretty sure it's about 12x8, with a 11ft ceiling. And my control room is identical, with a window between the rooms. I was hoping the Studiofoam could resolve some of the acoustic problems, giving me a more dead room sound. Most places price it at $99. But if you can live with charcoal gray(anything but gray!!! ;-) instead of the purple or burgundy, it's $60 at musiciansfriend.com. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

It'll work fine for the tracking room, which is a real grain-silo of a space. You're right...you're going to have some flutter issues in there.

For the CR you're going to need to do A LOT more, especially if the dimensions are like the other room. Bass traps out the wazzo. You basically won't have any room left for foam by the time you're done bass trapping.

Frank
 
JacobShah said:
Just wondering what every body's thoughts on the Auralex Studiofoam Designer Kit. I have some flutter and echo problems in my tracking room. I pretty sure it's about 12x8, with a 11ft ceiling. And my control room is identical, with a window between the rooms. I was hoping the Studiofoam could resolve some of the acoustic problems, giving me a more dead room sound. Most places price it at $99. But if you can live with charcoal gray(anything but gray!!! ;-) instead of the purple or burgundy, it's $60 at musiciansfriend.com. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Hello JacobShah, I recently purchased these and i promise you, they make a great difference in an open room, it turned my reverberated room into a damp zone wich is good because recording vocals and guitar and all that was HELL. Then i got these and its been smooth sailing, they also kind of sort of improve the quality of your studio monitors, i havent noticed much difference other than it not being as reverberated.

I in fact did get the charcoal, and man, its not grey, it looks grey on musiciansfriend, but they are pretty much black in my studio, so if its the color your worried about, their black, not grey :)
 
I say again, DO NOT cover your whole control room with foam. You will not like the results. If you're going to use foam, then you need to mix it up with some bass trapping.

Frank
 
Weasel9992 said:
I say again, DO NOT cover your whole control room with foam. You will not like the results. If you're going to use foam, then you need to mix it up with some bass trapping.

Frank
Click to expand...

THIS /\/\/\/\/\

(and as a side note to the OP...acoustic treatment is what Frank does. ;) )
 
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