Just changed my mind about acoustic foam panels

I used to think any old foam would work for taming echoes in my backyard studio. Then I helped a buddy treat his space with rock wool panels and heard the difference in person. The foam I had was only absorbing high frequencies leaving all that low end mud. After three weekends of building 4 inch thick rock wool traps my own mixes started translating way better. Now I'm pulling down all my foam and switching over. Has anyone else made the jump from foam to proper absorption? What was the biggest difference you noticed?

2 comments

2 Comments

derekwalker8h ago

Man, yeah I went through the EXACT same thing last year. Foam is basically a scam for anyone trying to treat a room for real mixing. That stuff just eats the top end and leaves your low mids all boomy and undefined. The biggest difference I noticed after switching to rock wool was how my bass guitar parts stopped sounding like a muddy mess in my headphones versus the speakers. You can actually hear the pitch of kick drums now instead of just feeling a thump. Also, once you put up those 4 inch traps in the corners your stereo image gets way tighter. It's a lot of work but you will never go back once you hear the difference.

kellymurphy4h ago

Your bass guitar parts stopped sounding like a muddy mess" - funny, I had the opposite experience. I put rock wool in my room and it sucked all the life out of everything. Drums lost their punch. Guitars sounded dead. My mixes got dull and lifeless. Swapped back to thinner foam panels after a month. For a small untreated bedroom studio, foam still works fine if you know how to place it. Rock wool is overkill for most people.

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