Heard the Condensed/Compressed the Foam the Better for Treating? Is that true!?

L

Lakwaun

New member
Just wondering some of you guys opinion. After learning and doing research on foam I read a lot of places that the more compressed or condensed the foam the better for treating a room for music production/booth reflections?

Whats your opinion on it!??
 
yes material density, mass divided by volume, is the key to absorption.

if you have 1'x1'x2" panel with a density of 1kg/m^3, it will be the equivalent of a 1'x1'x1" panel with a density of 2kg/m^3

The latter would obviously take up less space in an already small vocal booth.
 
skip foam I didn't know any better back in 2002/2003 and brought about $1000.00 of pro acoustic foam absorption panels/bass traps and Diffusion panels from Auralex

it's best to build some rockwool panels
make sure to double up your gloves and wear a mask
 
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Foam or panels, density still matters, and is the reason why insulation filled panels are far superior to foam when it comes to absorption.

On the other hand, foam, due to its contours, has some diffusion characteristics.
 
mycbeats said:
Foam or panels, density still matters, and is the reason why insulation filled panels are far superior to foam when it comes to absorption.

On the other hand, foam, due to its contours, has some diffusion characteristics.
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also makes better bass traps
placement is very,very,very important
and tuning your room with your monitors is very important!!!!
in this video the information from 2:28 on the mirror trick also very important information

 
here a video on tuning your room
make sure your studio monitors are ear level between the tweeter and driver
get your sweet spot right


 
for your mic they have those wrap around sound proof booths like soulja boy gots for like 150 ' for mixing have high quality headphones for a reference , and monitors for the final mix or master ' but when recording vocals a booth is essential ' all other treatment is only needed to block sound leaking towards neighbors and other people whom you dont want to annoy with your mixing or mastering
 
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BlazenHotTracks said:
all other treatment is only needed to block sound leaking towards neighbors and other people whom you dont want to annoy with your mixing or mastering
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What a load of nonsense. I don't think anyone in their right mind would acoustically treat a room to prevent sound "leaking" through to your neighbours or anyone else who might be bothered by it because it makes little difference unless you were sound-proof your room, which is something else entirely.
 
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it's alright wallengard - blazen is obviously young and does not know anywhere near as much as he seems to suggest in his posts

In this particular case he is suggesting getting something like the portable acoustic isolator and forgetting about all other treatment. He obviously does not understand about room resonance issues nor room reflection issues that can cause unwanted problems during mixdown sessions issues. He is also confusing soundproofing with sound treatment, but he is not the only one who does that....
 
Yeah well it's all good, I wasn't really upset about it in the first place anyway. Just wanted to point out that it doesn't make any sense.
 
I haven't ever felt the need to treat my workspace.
I've always worked in rooms with plenty of furniture, bookshelves, mattresses, and other absorptive and diffuse materials around.
The laws of physics don't care whether what you're doing is intentional or not -- they act the same regardless.

As far as the OP regarding foam -- denser materials tend to be better at absorbing lower frequencies.

-Ki
Salem Beats
 
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Yes I have heard this too. But I am more focused on mixing and mastering instrumentals and I dont have those things present in my small studio. Im in a old warehouse with all types of problems like old vents, wholes, old wall panels and different elements.

Salem Beats said:
I haven't ever felt the need to treat my workspace.
I've always worked in rooms with plenty of furniture, bookshelves, mattresses, and other absorptive and diffuse materials around.
The laws of physics don't care whether what you're doing is intentional or not -- they act the same regardless.

As far as the OP regarding foam -- denser materials tend to be better at absorbing lower frequencies.

-Ki
Salem Beats
Click to expand...
 
Forums must be acting up because I only got 1 email saying I had a reply to this post! I just wanted to thank everybody for the help and answers. Im watching the vid's later on my pc. I was asking to treat a production room, not a sound booth because I know the production enviroment is more important and if you treat that correctly the booth will be easy as it is just for treating for reflections! Correct!?! I think im right! Lol

The reason why I asked this is because I was going to buy some foam which I had bought off amazon before where it came compressed in a envelope where I was like this couldn't be the foam once it came in the mail, but once opened and let sit for a while it fluffed back out.

I was looking to buy more foam but came across a add on craigslist using a old android app called "craigsnotifica 1.70" (search google and check it out it's the best) searching foam I found a warehouse giving away free "STYROFOAM" panels that must of been like from lcd or plasma boxes and they all were the same size like 1.5" thick, 12X12, were you'd have to pinch together hard to even get it to go down to 1" thick. So I was wondering was it better then that expensive acoustic foam they sell on Amazon. After reading and watching a bunch of videos from what I was told yes the styrofoam was actually better then that expensive stuff I had bought for $200 because off the thickness. In the styrofoam it actually looks like layers of the expensive stuff glued together in layers if you look at it from the side.
It was like 10 gay lords of Styrofoam. So like enough to isolate a 2 car garage but I couldn't fit it all in my van!
 
What type of math would this be considered. Im not going to lie I have been relearning all my math that I didn't really learn in school cause I was to busy ditching. lol. Just wondering. I have been going to read or watch a youtube video on anything I dont understand to grasp a better understanding!

Please read my latest post on this thread and let me know if I am still correct as far as the main topic of this thread is! Thanks!

mycbeats said:
yes material density, mass divided by volume, is the key to absorption.

if you have 1'x1'x2" panel with a density of 1kg/m^3, it will be the equivalent of a 1'x1'x1" panel with a density of 2kg/m^3

The latter would obviously take up less space in an already small vocal booth.
Click to expand...
 
Lakwaun said:
I was looking to buy more foam but came across a add on craigslist using a old android app called "craigsnotifica 1.70" (search google and check it out it's the best) searching foam I found a warehouse giving away free "STYROFOAM" panels that must of been like from lcd or plasma boxes and they all were the same size like 1.5" thick, 12X12, were you'd have to pinch together hard to even get it to go down to 1" thick. So I was wondering was it better then that expensive acoustic foam they sell on Amazon. After reading and watching a bunch of videos from what I was told yes the styrofoam was actually better then that expensive stuff I had bought for $200 because off the thickness. In the styrofoam it actually looks like layers of the expensive stuff glued together in layers if you look at it from the side.
It was like 10 gay lords of Styrofoam. So like enough to isolate a 2 car garage but I couldn't fit it all in my van!
Click to expand...

I don't think that Styrofoam will have the effects you want.
It's fairly rigid and nonporous.

The idea of an acoustic foam that's meant to treat reflections is:
1 - Absorb as much acoustic energy received as possible, and
2 - Convert the acoustic energy into kinetic (heat) energy.

The properties of a material matter first and foremost. If it reflects acoustic energy or lets it pass rather than absorbing it, it doesn't particularly help.
The thickness is a secondary characteristic that will affect the operation of a material that's well-suited in the first place.
Taken to the extreme -- a brick is several inches thick, but won't do much for absorbing reflections.

-Ki
Salem Beats
 
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Lol. Well not a old warehouse but a old building for rehearsal spaces. It's not to bad but just to many veribles for what I need. Hey it is cheap and I can build or do whatever I want in it. It is a 12' by 12' space with a professional built recording both inside the room for $200 a month and I can sleep in it if I needed. So how can I beat that. I have always gotten spaces like this over the last 10 years in the same building of about 30 different spaces but they were always just my personal hotel rooms to bring a female! lol. But over the last 2 years I have been really serious about my music.

Even released a instrumental beat cd on all the online music distributors getting a lot of little money off stream plays after learning a lot of business aspects of selling music as my first project. Search google store, itunes, rhapsody, move, deezer, friendly music, or any for "Paper Hustles". A penny a stream and I have made a decent amount of money to make me want to push harder and better!
 
Lakwaun said:
What type of math would this be considered. Im not going to lie I have been relearning all my math that I didn't really learn in school cause I was to busy ditching. lol. Just wondering. I have been going to read or watch a youtube video on anything I dont understand to grasp a better understanding!

Please read my latest post on this thread and let me know if I am still correct as far as the main topic of this thread is! Thanks!

mycbeats said:
yes material density, mass divided by volume, is the key to absorption.

if you have 1'x1'x2" panel with a density of 1kg/m^3, it will be the equivalent of a 1'x1'x1" panel with a density of 2kg/m^3

The latter would obviously take up less space in an already small vocal booth.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...


that material you quoted is cross units - it describes the dimensions in terms of inches and feet but then defines the density in kg per m[sup]3[/sup]

putting them into the same units should make it easier to view:

if you 0.5m x 0.5m x 0.05, panel with a density of 1kg per m[sup]3[/sup], it will be equivalent to a 0.5m x 0.5m x 0.025, panel with a density of 2kg per m[sup]3[/sup]: panel 1 is equivalent to 0.0125 m[sup]3[/sup], and so will have a density (mass) 0.0125 kg, panel 2 is equivalent to 0.00625 m[sup]3[/sup], but multiply by the density of the foam, 2kg, and we will get the same effective density (mass) of 0.0125 kg - both will also weigh the same under normal earth gravity

when it comes to Styrofoam I would avoid as it is
1) a fire hazard and
2) because of its rigidity is less likely top perform in the way you want in an absorptive or diffusive capacity

having a 12x12 room worries me more because your resonant frequencies are going to be so much more of a problem (they will be at double their usual reinforced intensity):

47.08 for basic room resonance on long and short walls and multiples for all other resonance issues (94.16, 141.24, 188.32, 235.40, 282.48, 329.56, 376.64, 423.72, 470.80, etc)

can't give you any more without knowing room height

check out this link and read all down the right hand side

The Recording Manual

each subpage of this master has a set of sub pages accessed by the tabs at the top
 
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