Studio Foam Question vs. Egg Crate Foam

[Recluse NP]

Is there a notable difference between 'authentic' studio foam and the cheap egg crate foam that you can buy to sleep on? Isn't the material generally just... well... foam???

Because studio foam seems to cost like $50 for a sheet the size of a twin bed, while the egg foam costs $15.

I just wanna know if it's worth the extra bucks to buy the 'real' stuff.


Thanks for any advice.

 

[Recluse NP]

Also, is there a design that gives optimal sound absorption?

I see ridges, egg crates, & some weird stuff.

 

[CubaseRox]

Is there a notable difference between 'authentic' studio foam and the cheap egg crate foam that you can buy to sleep on? Isn't the material generally just... well... foam???

I think the difference lays between the fact that the studio foam is non-flammable and the egg crate foam is flammable. When something becomes flame resistant it usually jacks the costs up significantly.

Like when they add the word 'marine' to an engine for a boat, it costs twice as much.

 

[MadTiger3000]

I think the difference lays between the fact that the studio foam is non-flammable and the egg crate foam is flammable. When something becomes flame resistant it usually jacks the costs up significantly.

Like when they add the word 'marine' to an engine for a boat, it costs twice as much.

I know that the density of the studio foam is a big difference.

 

[TripSta]

Yeah its to do with absorbtion coefficients.

Good studio foams can absorb lower freqs or higher depending on the grade.

Egg boxs just kinda deflect the sound, but dont absorb anything, cause its to thin

 

[RobEko]

first im confused are you taking about egg crates or the egg crate foam ~~~> http://www.foambymail.com/Eggcrate.html
second why is that you need foam ? to soundproof or acousticly trating your room

also you dont have to use foam read this ~~~~> http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html this guy talks about using fiberglass cause its cheaper and better than foam

 

[TripSta]

Sorry, I was talking about egg boxes. The egg form is good, but again only certain frequencies.

Fibre glass is for creating bass traps i believe.

Foam should be used as treatment for mid-high frequencies, to absord and stop them reflecting back.

 

[Giganova]

Is there a notable difference between 'authentic' studio foam and the cheap egg crate foam that you can buy to sleep on?

I can only hope that you are kidding! Egg crates have absolutly NO effect on sound waves.

 

[Giganova]

You'all have to be very careful here:

Putting thick acoustic foam on the walls only makes sense in your tracking room where you want to get rid of all sonic properties of the room, so you can add, for example, reverb later in your DAW.

In the monitoring room, however, this would be a huge mistake: if you have foam all over your montoring room, you'll absorb most of the high mid frequencies (where your vocals sit, for example). If you do that, you'll crank up your monitors coz the high mids are so soft all of a sudden. However, since acoustic foam doesn't absorb the bass/sub-basses at all, you'll get a totally distorted image of your sounds, and your mixes will sound like sh1t! In your monitoring/mixing room you only wanna do some 'surgical' acoutic treatment, like putting bass traps into the corner, and hang wall panels to the walls & ceiling to get rid of standing waves. If your room nodes are OK (= the ratios of length/width/height of the room), its perfectly OK to have many untreated walls in your monitoring room.

Bottom line: if you don't do it right, you'll make huge mistakes and your mixes will sound horrible!

 

[wqq34]

Yes, studio foam usually uses melamine foam, for which exhibits both sound absorption and fire retardancy properties, of course the pricing of melamine foam is higher than other studio material foam.

If you are insterested in melamine foam for studio project, you can visit SINOYQX for mor detailed information

I think the difference lays between the fact that the studio foam is non-flammable and the egg crate foam is flammable. When something becomes flame resistant it usually jacks the costs up significantly.

Like when they add the word 'marine' to an engine for a boat, it costs twice as much.

 

[OneOff]

If you are recording at home you can simply use the yellow foam that you will find in the bedding section of Target. It will give you the same result as the pro acoustic foam when recording vocals. Pro studios have to use the fireproof pro acoustic foam for insurance reasons. The minor sonic differences will not be noticeable unless you work with top microphones in a pro studio room.