Studio Foammmmmm

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Anomaly Design

Anomaly Design

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I'm talking real studio foam, self-retardant, 4 inch thick stuff. I want to deck out my place with it; Should I get pyramid or wedge? Or do you have a better idea?

I hear pyramids diffuse the sound better, but then the wedges absorb better because they have more mass. Your thoughts?

Also, was there a thread on making bass traps, I can't find it. Easier to buy or make (if I'm lining 12'x20')? Thanks in advance.
 
By decking the place out I mean cover every square foot of the studio walls. The walls are plywood so its extremely detrimental to my recordings. Is it better to just set up huge patches by the instruments/anything that produces sound?

Why do you hate foam?
 
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Anomaly Design said:
Why do you hate foam?
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It's ugly, it's ineffective at low freqs, it crumbles after a few years, and when burned, it releases some very nasty gasses.

Seriously, you'd have a disaster. The room would be totally dead above 200 Hz, and would have all the bass problems it has now.

Please read the article.
 
I'm reading as I post... I think I'll check into the fiberglass, 4", starting with bass traps, I really need them. However, my room is kind of cluttered. Is it really necessary to space around 16 inches from a wall?

I have my computer desk, plus two other desks shaped as an L, kind of cutting my place into two sides, I like to keep recording on one and listen area/place for guitarist and vocals while jamming. Would you consider me stupid if I put bass traps all around the wall on the recording side, half of the listenning side, plus under those tables and the couch? lol

Seriously thanks for the help, I can only do so much reading without human interaction!

EDIT: I also have a drop ceiling, hanging about 2 ft... Would you recommend stuffing that with some bundles of fiberglass or does that 'it absorbs more low frequencies cuz its a bigger gap of air' concept apply?
 
The foam is not to bad on the first reflections in a room, but really rigid fiberglass for bass trapping is the way to go. The problem with foam is it absorbs a lot of high end but does not work as well on the low end. Most rooms have more problems in the low end then the high end.

Good luck

Glenn
 
When used in conjunction with broadband frequency absorbers like 703 or SAFB foam can be useful. It certainly looks better than carpet nailed up on the wall.
 
No foam. Rigid fiberglass soundboard is where it's at.
 
Alright sweet thanks for the replies...

So should I make panels and have spots of plywood showing or should I just cover the whole wall?

Anyone the previous bass trap distancing question I had? Thanks!
 
One more question. How do I give all you wonderful people the rep you deserve??? lol I have no idea how that works on this forum!
 
you can paypal me anytime you want!! ha ha

What you want to do is put 4" rigid fiberglass staddling as many corners as possible then put 2" panels on the first reflections in the room. Also having a 2" clowd over the mix spot works pretty well also.

Glenn
 
Okay as of right now I plan to put 4" fiberglass bass traps in all the corners, up to the ceiling, and on the perimeter of the floor. Sorry but I don't think 2" of anything will cut it in this, I need max possible absorbtion, i mean my acoustics are horrendus right now.

What if, instead of panels, I did varying degrees up thickness on the walls? Does that sound stupid? Also, whats this cloud your talking about?
 
a cloud is putting 2" panels on the ceiling.. You want to space them off the ceiling by 2".

Glenn
 
Anomaly Design said:
So should I make panels and have spots of plywood showing or should I just cover the whole wall?
Click to expand...

Covering 1/3 of the wall is the absolute maximum you need, and if you did about 20% you'll probably get excellent results.

Consider doing the traps in the corners, the first reflection points for the mixing spot, and a dozen or so 2"×2'×4' panels kinda randomly placed on the walls. Should sound sweet.

In my imagination, a plywood room properly treated would have a better sound than drywall, but it's probably all in my head. :D

Hardwood floors sound nice, though.
 
Wow thanks APL. I would have probably overspent! 20-30% will cut my total spending by more than half wooooooooo. So are you saying that its possible to overkill on absorbtion? Why do you recommend the 2" thickness over 4"? Should these pieces be totally randomly placed or does it help to get them at a spot I think monitors/amps are facing?
 
When I did my studio I first discussed my requirements with an "Auralex Consultant". He recommended covering about 60% of my walls with 2" foam, treating the ceiling above the mix position, and using the foam wedge bass traps in the corners. At the time I hadn't yet discovered this board or read the Ethan Winer stuff and figured the Auralex solution to be the "professional choice" for a studio acoustic solution. Anyway, I followed the advice (I probably have more like 50% coverage on the walls, and 40% on the ceiling - the front portion of the studio above the mix position). I believe it's working well for the most part, as I certainly don't have trouble with reflections, and things sound pretty darn good at my mix position. However, I can still sense a higher level of bass buildup in the rear corners of the room and wonder if I tamed that if it would sound even better in my mix position. Because of this I've thought about building a couple of the cloth covered fiberglass bass traps that folks seem to like around here and replace the foam wedges in the rear corners with those. From what I've read around here I'm starting to believe those might do a better job than the foam for the low frequencies. But for what it's worth, I'm certainly not dead set against the foam, particularly for killing the reflections, just make sure you use a good quality, fire-retardent foam.
 
Thanks Jeff.

But still, why 2" instead of 4"? Is it overkill?
 
JeffLancaster said:
When I did my studio I first discussed my requirements with an "Auralex Consultant". He recommended covering about 60% of my walls with 2" foam, treating the ceiling above the mix position, and using the foam wedge bass traps in the corners. At the time I hadn't yet discovered this board or read the Ethan Winer stuff and figured the Auralex solution to be the "professional choice" for a studio acoustic solution. Anyway, I followed the advice (I probably have more like 50% coverage on the walls, and 40% on the ceiling - the front portion of the studio above the mix position). I believe it's working well for the most part, as I certainly don't have trouble with reflections, and things sound pretty darn good at my mix position. However, I can still sense a higher level of bass buildup in the rear corners of the room and wonder if I tamed that if it would sound even better in my mix position. Because of this I've thought about building a couple of the cloth covered fiberglass bass traps that folks seem to like around here and replace the foam wedges in the rear corners with those. From what I've read around here I'm starting to believe those might do a better job than the foam for the low frequencies. But for what it's worth, I'm certainly not dead set against the foam, particularly for killing the reflections, just make sure you use a good quality, fire-retardent foam.
Click to expand...

I would leave the foam wedge and just put the rigid fiberglass in front of it. It is not that the foam does not work but is not working good enough..

Glenn
 
Anomaly Design said:
Thanks Jeff.

But still, why 2" instead of 4"? Is it overkill?
Click to expand...

4" is fine because you can never have enough bass trapping in the room. It is more about money then anything else.

Glenn
 
Anomaly Design said:
Thanks Jeff.

But still, why 2" instead of 4"? Is it overkill?
Click to expand...

Well, I'm not an expert and like I say I was pretty much just following recommendations, but I understand the 4" is supposed to provide a higher level of absorbtion than 2". However for just killing early reflections the 2" does just fine. And I doubt if even the 4" foam would do much if anything for bass absorbtion, you need at the very least the large foam bass traps for that, and better yet probably the big fiberglass ones.
 
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