THickness of Foam Acoustic Panels
Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 6:06 pm
How thick should be Foam Acoustic Panels for music studio?
It depends on what you are trying to do and how much of the room natural resonance characteristics need to be controlled. A lot of music studios have quite large parts of the studio free of sound deadening material, since using too much material can make a room sound dull and lifeless for an acoustic set, rather like an anechoic chamber. It also depends on the foam material, its surface texture, and the foam structure. Polyurethane-type, open cell foams are best. Polypropylene foam with closed cell structure is too elastic to be suitably efficaceous, whilst open celled polypropylene will work, but to a lesser extent than polyurethane. Expanded polystyrene has relatively little sound absorbency, tending to bounce the sound in a manner determined by its surface texture. Thin foams will tend to absorb only high frequencies, whilst thicker foams will attenuate low frequencies, too. Most acoustic foams are 2 to 4cm thick, although 1cm or less of foam will produce noticeable effects. Furniture, curtains, rugs and carpets can have quite a marked influence on room resonances, as will people. It is also worth considering the type of clothing people wear in the studio; "quiet clothes" made from natural woven or knitted type fabrics are better than synthetics. Jewellery can be surprisingly "clinky". I have seen studios with egg cartons on the walls, and people have considered the results to be satisfactory.
This link might give some ideas, and contains a further link to some limited acoustic data for their foams.
https://www.easyfoam.co.uk/acoustic-foam.php
.