Acoustic Foam

can someone please tell me the cheapest place they know of to get 50 mm acoustic foam?

 

They have it at guitar center but it's $35 for not very much foam. I'm trying to get rid of early reflections. I am buying some bass traps also, but I think I also need acoustic foam.

 

Since I'm lousy at building things, I'm not building any bass traps or anything even though it'd probly be way cheaper.

Acoustic foam = snake oil. Save your money and get more bass traps.

+1. Did anyone see acoustics article on latest SOS ?. Like wtf, they were gluing those foam panels to walls. Total fail. Well, i got my TapeOP .

To get rid of early reflections you could make 2 fiberglass traps yourself, if you can convince someone to sell you only 2 of those:

 

http://www.atsacoustics.com/item--Owens-Corning-703-Case-of-6--1004.html

 

I think Mansville makes an equivalent fiberglass panel.

 

Then wrap them in burlap. If you want it to look nice you can frame it in wood and paint the framing. A bit of work but you'll have something that actually makes a change in your room's acoustic. If you can, leave some space between the panel and the wall. Like a couple inches. That'll only make the panel more efficient.

Edited December 18, 2009 by David Nahmani

It's not all snake oil, foam does help with high frequency initial reflections. I agree that broadband traps are a better way to go for sure, though they do cost more. The GIK 244's are fairly cheap though (only a few $$$ more than making them yourself, and much easier), worth looking into. Seen a few people recommend this place for cheap foam though:

 

http://www.foambymail.com/Products.html

 

And for heaven's sake don't glue it to the walls. You can get a pack of T-Pins from almost any grocery or craft store (sewing isle). They easily hold this stuff on the walls and leave almost no marks (literally pin pricks). A must if you rent.

Edited December 18, 2009 by Tarekith

The GIK 244's

 

That's another option, though a bit more expensive than the DYI obviously.

Not much surprisingly. I was going to go the DIY route and it ended up only saving me $10-20 for every 2 panels (after shopping around for the fiberglass). To me, that $10 -20 is worth it, just for the time it would save me and the fact the 244's likely look better (saying that as someone who really enjoys woodworking and did home construction for a few years).

It's the fabric what costs, otherwise you can get by pretty cheap. And its always nice to have right sized traps, and best of all, know whats in there .

Articles

Better Bass Traps

http://www.ethanwiner.com/basstrap.html

 

DIY Bass Traps

http://www.radford.edu/%7eshelm/acoustics/bass-traps.html

 

DIY Bass Traps, video tutorial

 

Acoustic Treatment

http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

 

Acoustics Primer

http://www.gikacoustics.com/faq.htm

 

Absorption Coefficients

http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/pages/Coefficient%20Chart.htm

 

Exposing Acoustical Myths

http://www.acousticalsolutions.com/exposing-acoustical-myths

 

Area Effect for Spaced Sound Absorbers

http://www.acousticalsolutions.com/area-effect-for-spaced-sound-absorbers

 

SPL/Weighting/Noise Levels

http://midimagic.sgc-hosting.com/spldose.htm

 

Ethan Winer: Acoustics Forum

http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/ubb/cfrm

 

Master Handbook of Acoustics, af F. Alton Everest

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Handbook-Acoustics-Alton-Everest/dp/0071360972/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216935021&sr=8-1

 

Speaker Placement

Placing Loudspeakers

http://www.genelec.com/learning-center/technology-tutorials/placingloudspeakers/

 

Monitor Placement

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar02/articles/monitors.asp

 

Subwoofer Setup

http://www.sonicdesign.se/subplace.html

 

Floorplanner

http://www.floorplanner.com/

 

Google SketchUp

http://sketchup.google.com/

 

Online Audio Calculations

http://www.sengpielaudio.com/Calculations03.htm

 

Panels etc.

GIK Acoustics

http://www.gikacoustics.com/

 

Primacoustic

http://www.primacoustic.com/

 

RealTraps

http://www.realtraps.com/

 

Valhalla Technology

http://www.valhalla-technology.dk/

(Valhalla makes some nice hard foam speaker feet for decoupling, called VT Feet)

 

Vicoustic

http://www.vicoustic.com/

Edited July 1, 2010 by lagerfeldt

Nice list, mind if I post that one some other forums (with credit of course)?

Sure.

 

I've personally read and fact checked these articles so most of the bullshit info has been weeded out.

 

I've added a few extra links in my post above.

Lagerfeldt, you amaze me everytime. Thanks for your input. I have some reading to do!!!!

Lagerfeldt thank you for the list it is very timely for me!

Thanks for all the responses!

 

I'm studying this book called Mixing Audio: Concepts, Practices & Tools and it says a 50 mm acoustic foam can be used to suppress early reflections. So I was under the impression that foam is good for early reflections, put that around your monitors, and then get bass traps also, to help with bass.

 

But it seems you're all saying not to bother with foam. Maybe I will start things off by getting some bass traps. I was going to get Bare Traps at:

 

http://www.realtraps.com/p_baretraps.htm

 

but i was wondering, are broadband traps the same as bass traps? I looked at those GIK 244s and they look like the same thing as the bare traps. thx again!

The owners of those two companies are often seen here. You can ask them any question. They are GREAT help!!!

 

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/bass-traps-acoustic-panels-foam-etc/

Very classy, comprehensive post, lagerfeldt.

Very kind of you to share that information with everybody.

Thanks,

Scott

Bumping this thread with sincerest thanks to Lagerfeldt!

Glad you guys appreciate it. Just added Vicoustic to the list.

 

Vicoustic makes this interesting VariBass tunable Helmholzt resonator

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/mastering-forum/496752-vicoustic-vari-bass-tunable-helmholtz-trap.html

 

Getting 2 pairs on trial tomorrow. It might turn out to be a dud but who knows, it should work in principle.

Wow, that's REALLY interesting.

Don't waste your time with foam, go to IKEA and buy a big shaggy rug and hang it on the wall with lots of picture hooks. One big rug covering the wall your speakers face and preferably another big rug on the opposite wall behind your speakers.