[tigerflystudio]

after a bit of thought I've just ordered some acoustic foam for my home studio. There's a little bit too much 'room bass' so I thinking of putting up some foam to counter that. It's only an 8f x 8f room, though. Is it possible to over-damp / kill it?

[amioa]

8ft x 8ft will give you strong modal issues as standing waves will form easily. Foam will not do much to counter this though. which foam did you buy?

[AndyST]

Generally speaking you cannot have too much bass trapping in a small room. As the walls are so close together in a room that size you'll have a lot of sound energy bouncing around, colouring what's coming direct from the speakers. There's been lengthy debates in other forums on whether it's best to make smaller rooms completely dead rather than live with the acoustic problems they create.

Most foams tend to be good at dealing with the mids and highs, but are relatively ineffective at bass frequencies though. There is a risk of soaking up too much of the higher end whilst not effectively dealing with the bass, leading to a very 'muddy' sounding room. Sticking a load of thin foam panels all over the walls is one way you'll get this.

More info on what you've ordered would be useful

[amioa]

Originally Posted by AndyST

Generally speaking you cannot have too much bass trapping in a small room. As the walls are so close together in a room that size you'll have a lot of sound energy bouncing around, colouring what's coming direct from the speakers. There's been lengthy debates in other forums on whether it's best to make smaller rooms completely dead rather than live with the acoustic problems they create.

agreed on the bass trapping, you cant have too much , but no debate from me on if the room should be dead or not, proper bass trapping combined with diffusion are the way to treat small rooms, not just using lots of 'broadband bass traps' - all this does is deaden the room too much, which then causes the room to feel even smaller than it already is. There are so many proper bass traps that will treat only the bass, there is no reason to kill the rooms completely. Diffusion comes in many guises now too, so the old argument that diffusors dont work in small rooms doesnt hold any more either. All IMHO of course.

[tigerflystudio]

Thanks for info. What I ordered (quite cheaply from eBay) (and have just arrived) are 4 panels of 50cm x 50cm acoustic (egg-box) foam, and 2 x corner bass traps (foam) measuring 30cm X 30cm X 60cm. I haven't put any of it up yet. Would you suggest NOT using the egg-box panels and just getting loads more bass traps, then? Are foam bass traps okay? (Becuase of the layout of the room (shelving etc.), I don't really have the room to put huge fibreglass bass traps on the walls, so any ideas on small-ish / effective bass traps is very welcome).

[amioa]

generally speaking i would say no, the foam isnt going to be that good, a small improvement in mid and high frequencies only but that improvement will be noticeable. can you use the area where the ceiling meets the wall?

[tupunce]

I have recently had similar issues and done a LOT of research.
Big manufacturers will tell you there is nothing effective BUT their product.
SOS will give slightly different opinions depending on who is writing the article and whether it is product test based or room advice based.
In the end I came to the conclusion that follows and assuming you have similar to 9ft x 8ft, carpet floor, slightly off walls, desk one end, sofa or similar the other, instruments around the floor, no chandelier, one door, one window, pair of speakers 6ft apart, big smile but a lot of bass...?!
You want to engineer as well as record a few instruments including a vocal. No intention of recording an acoustic kit as too small but may record elsewhere and engineer here:

The cheaper sets of acoustic foam tiles ebay, £35 for a set of 12-24. Authentically egg shaped too!
These only really stop the mids to highs bouncing around.
I'd do a 'mirror test' with a mate. This means, sit in your favourite spot and get your mate to hold a mirror next to each wall and when you can see a tweeter in the mirror, mark the wall/ceiling/surface with an X. Tile goes here.
It's a bit like John Virgo's magic pen on the telly!
Now, if you're a guitarist, etc and like to stand up or sit on the sofa or just like to push yourself away from the desk a little to hear how it's going then you'll appreciate continuing the mirror test from each of those positions.
(Remember above you also!)
Don't go crazy, there's really no point. Mids and Highs aren't your real problem in a room this size......
BASS IS ! :/
Don't reach for the EQ box just yet, that's not the best approach.
Small active speakers have high and low controls and they're great but even better if you can leave them at 0.
The most bass is probably in the corners behind your speakers (mainly), opposite corners and under your desk.
If you can find some heavy foam or indeed fibreglass insulation (nb itchy) cut into triangles and cover with a thin cloth. Please note, all acoustic treatment foams are fire resistant, for a good reason! so please, if you are covering stuff, get it sprayed if it's not already treated and make a note of how long it should last.
These are called 'bass traps' and to people on a budget are often far too expensive, at £40-£600 each.
Therefore often EQs and tiles are used as a compromise. No need, make some.
You'll have far better results and that will lead to more smiles.
Placement wise, put in each corner at the height of your monitors and again near the ceiling.
If you can then just go floor to ceiling, you may as well.
So long as you haven't covered the room in tiles, then it should still sound live enough to enjoy.

Remember, the tiles are great to stop echo or reflection and the bass traps in the corners are to try and stop or hold that massive bass.
If you deaden the room completely you will probably find your mixes are muddy on other systems.

At the end of the day, there is plenty of advice around but in an 8x8ft room you're better off keeping it simple and adding bits rather than lifting floors, etc.

Don't be scared to get it wrong, just have a go, I'm sure you'll get great results.

The main thing I haven't mentioned is thickness of any foams. Start out with traps around 600mm height X 300mm depth or similar. Then maybe add a bit of depth. If you have enough then play around with cutting the back corner length point out (you can always put it back) and if you have loads then put some under your desk.

Enjoy,
Best wishes.

[amioa]

Originally Posted by tupunce

If you can find some heavy foam or indeed fibreglass insulation (nb itchy) cut into triangles and cover with a thin cloth. Please note, all acoustic treatment foams are fire resistant, for a good reason! so please, if you are covering stuff, get it sprayed if it's not already treated and make a note of how long it should last.

id agree with most of what you say, but you say that foams are fire retardent, only Melamine acoustic foams are fire retardent, combustion modified are class 1, the rest are just not, even spray treatments wont work well on them either, fabric is a must if firesafety is an issue.

[tupunce]

amioa.
Thanks for that. I had only found suppliers that provided what they said was fire retardant and from conversation with one in particular was lead to the assumption that it was a requirement. Thanks for correcting me.
Regarding fire safety I just think that, considering where we put this treatment [in some cases floor to ceiling, on walls, corners and ceilings], it is a good precaution to take.
All the best.

[amioa]

Originally Posted by tupunce

amioa.
Thanks for that. I had only found suppliers that provided what they said was fire retardant and from conversation with one in particular was lead to the assumption that it was a requirement. Thanks for correcting me.
Regarding fire safety I just think that, considering where we put this treatment [in some cases floor to ceiling, on walls, corners and ceilings], it is a good precaution to take.
All the best.

i completely agree, firesafety should be most important, i think the UK is moving to the european standards, so a lot of foams will drop in fireclass, hopefully more manufacturers will spend time developing foams that are safer as well as aesthetically pleasing.