John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Is wedge foam a hole lot better than eggcrate? I can get a good deal on the eggcrate stuff, but I don't want something really bad. I could get wedge if that would make a considerable difference. I know insulation is better and cheaper, but I need foam basically just for the look.

sjaguar13 wrote: but I need foam basically just for the look.

So.... you think the eggcrate or wedges look good? First for me..

If your getting for the look then why does it matter which one would "work" better? Get the one you think looks better. If your asking which one will do a better job for the sound then I'm sure most would agree in saying neither.

IMO though... I would stick with some nice prints or posters on the wall instead of foam.

Ron

Ron's right - if you're doing this for the look, then get what you like the look of. If you're asking about acoustic performance, BOTH are marginal so it doesn't matter. If you want this SPECIFIC look but still want it to work, mount your choice of "look" over 2" rigid fiberglas, and you have EVERYTHING.

If you can't do that, and still want both looks AND function, buy the 4" thick tiles and, if possible, mount them to furring strips in order to space them off the wall a couple inches.

remember, these people are SELLING foam - the number they give you for thickness is the PEAK measurement, not the valley. This makes the foam an even poorer value, and whatever surface it has cut into the foam makes no difference at all other than to make the overall absorption even LESS by reducing the usable thickness... Steve

since we're on the subject of foam...............I had a question on 6" (or maybe 8") foam from a baby bed mattress. We have used this foam as insulation between the floor and the mic stand when recording some things. Just read this post and wondered what acoustic value or STC this foam had since it is thicker than eggcrates. Just curious

STC is the ability to BLOCK sound - foam is next to useless for that. For absorption, if it's open cell foam it would probably be at least as good as the 4" sonex, maybe better. If it's closed cell, you already found the only two good uses for it - padding, and sleeping babies... Steve

Everyone always expects to see foam. Eggcrate is cheap, but I heard it really sucked. It is cheaper, though. I just wanted to put it on one wall or so to shut people up. Would it hurt anything if I used eggcrate?

If you mount the wedge/eggcrate foam on top of 2" rigid fiberglass, which is offset mounted from the wall, then you get your look and it sounds good too. Just don't glue the hell out it between the fiberglass and the foam, since the foam is just an empty conduit.

sjaguar13 wrote:Everyone always expects to see foam. Eggcrate is cheap, but I heard it really sucked. It is cheaper, though. I just wanted to put it on one wall or so to shut people up. Would it hurt anything if I used eggcrate?

No joke. Every single one of my friends tells me I should use eggcrate. I am done arguing with them... I think instead of hanging it on the walls, I might just make them eggcrate suits they can walk around in...

Here's the trick - do NOT put foam of any kind where you don't need treatment, it will only suck out the highs and high mids. It's only a little better than thick carpet this way.

First, get your space sounding good with the RIGHT treatments - rigid fiberglas, etc, as we explain in this and other forums - then, to "shut up the dummies", pick a couple of opposite fiberglas absorbers and glue whatever kind of foam on the fronts of them that you think looks "high tech" enough to satisfy the "foam-a-holics" you have to deal with -

Just don't get carried away with the glue, as Tod mentioned - you don't want to impact the REAL acoustic treatment under the foam.

I personally always thought either the pyramid or the wedge foam LOOKED more business like - the egg crate stuff looks like mattress pads.

If you look around, you can find several colors of foam so you might be able to "make a fashion statement" while yer at it - just don't expect to hear much difference, if any - that's why we use the other stuff... Steve