I’m looking to buy some Acoustic Foam to treat a small box room. I’m going to record a live drum kit (just for writing demo stuff as I’m very aware the size of the room is too small to get brilliant results) and also use the room as a Vocal Booth (for which it will be perfect). I have two Bass Traps that I built with Rock Wool and due to the small size of the Room, have no more real estate to place any more. Foam is the only option at the minute.
I’ve seen this foam on both ebay and Amazon and just wondering whether its worth the money?
Any advice would be welcome and thanks for your time
i`ve got that same stuff in my little room and it definitely works good ,before i put it up my ears would ring due to all the reflections in the room, i tried hanging curtains all round the room but still no good, so i worked out how much of the foam tiles i would need and i covered all the walls ,my room is only 6ft X 6ft and it cost me £90 to cover the walls and ceiling it might be a bit too dead now but i like it .
using rockwool diy like you have always yields a much better price/performance ratio but as long as you’re ok with the foam only capturing highs and some mids it should work (so the question is, what is your room lacking at the moment. for cancelling flutter echo it will work, for anything else - not really). personally i’d get some thinner rockwool-based panel instead.
My box room is about 7 foot x 7 foot so its similar. The room rings horribly. I used to have bare floorboards, rough plaster on the walls and a dirty mattress standing in front of the Window but actually had to decorate it haha! Now it sounds rubbish (such is life)! So, because the room is this small, I don’t want to lose any real estate of the room with DIY Rock Wool Panels like I have in my Control Room so I think I will buy a pack or two and try the foam out!
Yes! Thanks for your advice. If I can cancel flutter echo then that would be a great start. I am going to use this room for recording demo Drums (just for song writing - go elsewhere to record drums properly) and as a Vox booth (Singing and Voice Over stuff). I’m gonna give the foam a chance as Polgara has said it works/deadens the room and go from there!
If you want to ignore the good advice you’ve been given, and waste money on foam placebos, go ahead
Perhaps some thick carpet on the floor and some egg cartons as well. At 7 x 7 (you don’t mention how high) the room is an acoustic nightmare anyway.
I already have 2 Massive Rockwool Bass traps in this box room and I still need to deaden the room. Foam doesn’t take up hardly any real estate, which is a good thing as the room is so small and I have been advised that it certainly deadens the room. If the foam helps then brilliant. If not, I’ll sell it to someone that wants to buy some foam. This room is just to lay down demo ideas so I can write songs (without having to program drums) and then go and record properly at a mate’s pro studio. Since using many Rockwool bass Traps in my Control room, I love my Adam monitors even more. Just wish I had a Massive live room with 6+ metre high ceiling.
Oh I have French Pine Flooring in the room and the height is 8 ft. Small room. Also, I keep the Egg boxes in my refrigerator (holding Eggs).
Ha Ha ,we used to have a rehearsal room with egg boxes stuck over the wall ,cant say if it helped .all i can say is the foam tiles arent a placebo, it defiantly works ,i am speaking from experience of knowing what the room was like before and after ,i dont know if anybody else can say the same.the only pro set up i have is my guitar gear ,the little recording room is where i do eveything ,record and mix, its not an ideal room but here are some samples .Stream Fluff Fortune music | Listen to songs, albums, playlists for free on SoundCloud
Rockwool Absorbers (Basstraps) are good, especially when set off from the wall a bit, but the foam affixed directly to the walls just doesn’t have what it takes to deal with the acoustic energy. Energy cannot be destroyed, only absorbed - i.e. converted to non-acoustic or heat energy, or vented out of the room. It will have an effect on what you hear just as a carpet does, trouble is it’s making you think the room sounds better. Run a program like REW, and you see the real story. Perhaps your room is not particularly “soundproof”, that will help (more acoustic energy escaping).
Make more RW or FG absorbers (face them with acoustic foam if you like to handle the higher frequencies) and concentrate your absorption around the primary listening position including some oriented as overhead clouds.
I’m attaching a pic of a this technique being used in a particularly poor acoustic room (The acoustic foam behind the monitors and at the side is backed with a few layers of rigid fibreglass )
I would recommend some sound blanket or cheaper solutions. Foam can add up and be very expensive.
I’ve seen good quality blankets used in vocal booths, in pro studios. Carpet is also a good choice, I’ve seen it also in pro studios, Save your money. You can also visit your local fabric store / factory buy by the roll and cut to size. Another solution could be acoustic foam inside the fabric.
I came across a few videos maybe you should check them out:
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