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Post by angelface on Jun 17, 2021 23:43:23 GMT
Hi There, I am new to this forum  . Just wondering if I might glean from the experience of others regarding room treatment for a small space?! My home studio space is pretty compact at 6ft x12ft. Ceiling height is 7ft! The thing I would like to know is, as I already have some acoustic treatment in place i.e. front wall, front wall corners-(foam traps), side walls-1st reflection points, but I have no other treatment anywhere else for e.g. on the ceiling.should i add more especially to the ceiling? I have used acoustic foam up until now as it is lightweight, cost effective and readily available, but since doing more recent research I have seen it isn’t really recommended. I have used a thickness of 100mm on front wall. On 1st reflection points (side walls)I have used 50mm thickness but have left an equal air gap. i keep feeling that it would be advantageous to treat ceiling and perhaps to treat other side walls too, but as I know better I now would like to treat the remaining places in a better choice of material-adding/enhancing what I already have! The dilemma I face is how do i this when it requires quite thick materials of say 6inches to really be effective? But I simply cannot accommodate this in such a small space-especially as such thick material would mean lowering the ceilings much more and then it would begin to feel a little claustrophobic I fear😏. Therefore, what is the minimum thickness I could use to improve overall stereo image? and also what type of material is best? Is foam a definite no no? Is there any particular material that can be used that is quite lightweight? as my walls are plasterboard and don’t think they’d do so well with heavy panels. Any help advice anyone might be able to provide would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance. 👍🏾😄 |
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Post by Hexspa on Jun 18, 2021 13:29:30 GMT
4" rigid insulation will suffice, assuming you have at least 15% coverage. Foam or 2" rigid will improve stereo image but to what frequency? Double the thickness, double the octave. 8" should absorb most frequencies down to 65Hz. That's not stereo imaging, per se, but it will help your center channel.
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Post by angelface on Jun 22, 2021 8:50:55 GMT
Thanks so much Hexspa fro your response- sorry I had not realised you had replied,as I am used to receiving notifications when a reply comes through on other forums, but I am new here:-) Maybe it’s something I need to activate! Okay so your not totally opposed to foam? But material such as rigid rock mineral would be better? 8 inches sounds greatt, but in reality would cause me to lose ta bit too much of my room, so I guess a compromise will need to be made here with say a combination of 2 & 4 inch panels perhaps?! Oh the joys of trying to treat a small space!!!
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Post by Hexspa on Jun 23, 2021 18:59:14 GMT
I'm not sure how the notification system works. I think it's all there in your profile settings to include email notifications.
All I can say about insulation thickness is that 4" and up seems to be better for music whereas 2" will kill your highs without the benefit of tightening your bass.
Foam is ok, it's just that, for a given thickness, it's less effective than rigid insulation. Therefore, to get the most out of a small room, which seems to be many a person's concern, it makes sense to use the more efficient material. I think foam also costs more although it's more readily available from the likes of big-box music retailers.
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Post by rock on Jun 24, 2021 0:15:44 GMT
Foam does have some advantages: 1.) The pyramid or wedge design can be effective from wider incident angles for mid/high freqs 2.) They come in cool colors.
The disadvantages of foam compared to Fiberglass or mineral wool panels are: 1.) The "sculpted" designs greatly reduce average thickness reducing LF performance. As Hexspa also noted, as well as... 2.) Greater cost is more than you might think especially when you account for that you need a much thicker foam unit to equal the LF performance of FG or MW. 3.) You really need to get acoustic specs for the foam you buy. It is possible to buy foam not suitable for acoustic use. Caveat Emptor.
IIRC, one forum member used (or at least considered) foam over DIY FG or MW panels. This way, he would get the greater incident angles of sculpted foam for mid/highs plus the LF performance of thicker FG / MW
For full range music, I would not recommend foam but as you see, it can be useful. If you already have some foam, you can put it to use somewhere.
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Post by Hexspa on Jun 24, 2021 16:48:55 GMT
That's the best explanation of foam vs insulation I've ever seen. Thanks, rock.
The terms to look for when shopping for foam are: closed-cell, open-cell. The former is not an acoustic absorber.
Foam might have cool colors but will I wrap it in a fabric of my choice? Can I move it around to use it as a gobo? Will it feel as substantial as big, fat, framed insulation?
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Post by angelface on Jun 26, 2021 21:43:15 GMT
Thank you so much rock for your excellent explanation, which is really helpful and so cannot thank you enough . The foam I have for reflection points is by ‘universal acoustics’ it states as being as follows “ high density flame retardant Polyester foam“ I have used 100mm and 50mm variations but mostly have 100mm on front wall.
There is a lot of confusion out there surrounding this topic and I for one have really struggled to understand what to do for the best! Since the foam is not totally useless I will keep what I have in place (I feared I would have to take it down as some have suggested) and enhance it with further acoustic treatment using Rigid mineral wool perhaps?!
I appreciate your input and advice here. Thank you also Hexspa for your invaluable input too.
I really appreciate you explaining this all so clearly. Although, I don’t think I am up to the task of attempting to make panels-thats where I fully appreciated the simplicity of the foam, as they were easing to mount and therefore requiring minimal diy skills!!
Wish me luck!!! Although, if you have anything further to add or something comes to mind, I’d be appreciative of any further advice or help.
Thanks once again👍🏾😄.
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Post by Hexspa on Jun 29, 2021 20:49:19 GMT
Their foam seems ok. They quote average NRC to be 86% so at least there's some measurement. Regular absorption coefficient charts don't seem readily available however. This seems to be common practice when retailers or manufacturers don't want you to know the data.
But, hey, we all are doing what we can. If the foam helps you then hallelujah.
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Post by angelface on Jun 30, 2021 21:53:08 GMT
Thanks Hexspa for your response. I did also struggle to find any information! But yes, I am trying to work with what I have and improve upon it. Really appreciate your input. Thank you
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Post by jackthepilot on Apr 4, 2022 21:00:52 GMT
My home studio space is pretty compact at 6ft x12ft. Ceiling height is 7ft! My room has exactly the same measurements as yours, could you please share how did you end up with you treatment and are you happy. I may have exactly the same challenges as you since our rooms are identical. I appreciate you insight. Thank you |
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Post by angelface on Apr 4, 2022 23:08:10 GMT
Hi Jackthepilot,
Funny you should ask….as it really was an area of great confusion for me and like you was desperate for answers!! I couldn’t decide whether to remove all the foam I had already had in place, but instead I decided to add to what I already had and relocate some of the 4” foam panels. I recently purchased 4” bass traps (rigid rock mineral wool) , which are in wooden frames 600mm x 1200mm these four panels are placed at the early reflection points and I have noticed an improvement since doing this in my listening position, which is great. The 4” foam panels that were previously on the side walls (early reflections) are now being used to further treat ceiling-above desk area. I am also going to purchase a 6inch deep panel for rear wall which will be my final purchase in this respect and I think will be extent of my room treatment, due to the compact space.
In addition, I also left the foam bass traps and foam 4” panels which were already in place on front wall.
I decided that whilst my compact space makes it difficult to treat, but you certainly can improve things that’s for sure, well that certainly is the case for me and I am happy with results so far! Good luck and I hope this helps you somewhat.
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. Just wondering if I might glean from the experience of others regarding room treatment for a small space?! My home studio space is pretty compact at 6ft x12ft. Ceiling height is 7ft! The thing I would like to know is, as I already have some acoustic treatment in place i.e. front wall, front wall corners-(foam traps), side walls-1st reflection points, but I have no other treatment anywhere else for e.g. on the ceiling.should i add more especially to the ceiling? 
