Do Bass Traps Make a Difference?
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- čas přidán 15. 07. 2024
- I've been wondering if just a few bass traps in the corners of my studio would make an actual audible difference that I could hear with an untrained ear. All I've seen in other videos is sound waveform overlays and audio engineers talking about them. I show you how to install bass traps, tell you where to get them at the cheapest / lowest price, and give you a before and after test so you can decide for yourself if it's worth it.
The audio in this video is completely unaltered, it's all straight from the camera. I needed to maintain the integrity of the audio so you could hear the tests for yourself. It's best listened to with headphones.
8 pack of 12x12x24 Bass Traps on Amazon:
geni.us/GWATUe [Amazon]
2 pack of 12x12 foam cubes: ($35)
geni.us/cqf39L [Amazon]
T PINS: ($2 per 100)
geni.us/MYszhXg [Amazon]
My previous video showing the before / after sound of just a bunch of 2" sound wedges: • Sound Foam Wedge Revie...
If you find stuff like this interesting, subscribe and let me know in the comments that you want to see more of this stuff. Your input helps a ton. Thanks everyone!
Here's the camera and mic I used to record this video:
Canon 6d - geni.us/xbf6t [Amazon]
Lens used in this video - 17-40mm F4 L: geni.us/1y7OBzI [Amazon]
Mic: Rode Stereo Videomic Pro: geni.us/h7nEhr [Amazon] - Věda a technologie
This video is like 4 years old now. I hate it. There's a great discussion in the comments though, so I leave it up. I now do filmmaking / lighting / camera tech stuff. Go watch that before you judge me! czcams.com/users/tommycallaway
Dont be so hard on yourself
The fact that you can critique yourself now only shows the growth you've made in the last 4 years.(tremendous difference, btw) Congratulations!
@@MikeKosim Thank you, i really appreciate that! (Just passed 40k subscribers a couple days ago.. I wonder if I'll critique the videos I make today when I pass 100k)
@@TommyCallaway I watch videos of myself as a therapist (I tape my couples to make sure I'm maximizing my helpfulness), and the level of self-critique was off the charts in the beginning, so I understand.
great video! thanks man
He calls him self a average joe yet he has 6 Displays like he’s hacking the matrix
Lol I was thinking the same , I mean it's his money and everything but what's the point of having more than 2-3 displays
@@artofstorytelling9406 It looks cooler and more professional for video's
@@artofstorytelling9406 Why not.
IFilmAlways if you're doing ANYTHING just to look "cooler", then you're not really cool
@@EddieKMusic Probably doing stocks or coding/editing. More display = bigger desk space to work on.
Man, you gotta use actual low frequencies to test bass traps.....
Just from the video you can hear they make difference though
True, but I heard a huge difference alone on my stylo 6 speaker.. When my mix translates well on this phone, I know my mix is set.
@@tim213455 not with trebly rock music.
he foam dampened every inch of his walls lol.. do you think hes smart enought to low frequencies?
@@unicornharry7995 why is doing all the wall bad?
Great vid! Was going to go with Foam By Mail but decided to save money and did the DYI route with Roxul Safe and Sound, wood and cloth. In my studio/rehearsal space - just putting two acoustic foam panels (48" x 16") in two corners made a big difference when I tried it. A lot of people ask about sound proofing - but this was simply for sound absorption within the room, as I have hearing damage and require the sound to be more controlled and deadened.With all of the panels up and placed in corners and on walls, the place is a dream to play and record in. Now all I need is some goddamned talent and I can't seem to find any!
great feedback man! finally someone who wasnt too technical just got down to it with some examples with a before and after.... keep it up!
Tommy - was minutes away from installing foam with spray adhesive when I lucked on this video. Went the T-pin route- saving me endless future wall repair as the set up i'm building will be temporary. Thank you so so much.
No prob! Glad I save you some headache
Why would you cover the whole room in foam.. You definitely Dont need to, and shouldn't. It takes all the natural sound out.
all he did was treat the high frequencies and make to room cold and flat lol
That's crazy, I was not expecting to hear a difference at all with the whole room already being mostly treated, and it was really noticeable. The difference was so noticeable that I'm skeptical something else wasn't at play, but the clapping/speaking was close enough volume, and you were sitting in about the same place... if that was all due to the bass traps that's pretty impressive.
Awesome. Definitely an improvement. Also, thank you for introducing me to foambymail. You’re a lifesaver.
With the bass traps, it sounds cleaner and tighter while without them it sounds muddy and more muffled. Nice video. Great studio btw 🔥🔥
Wow, what a studio!! Nice to see you having fun, what a cool place!
Thanks!
The bass traps definitely tighten the sound up.
I found your video very helpful, and after you mentioned foam by mail, I ordered an 8 pac of bass traps for my drum room. Thanks for the info!
Note: Watch this video at 1080p to listen to the highest sound quality provided by youtube. The sound is still degraded by their system, but even so, you can hear a difference in the video. I recommend getting the bass traps if you're on the fence.
why are your speakers on the floor? that's nor wise at all. buy a stand and get them to the ear level. otherwise you are losing quite alot of direct sound, and hearing alot of room.
+трололо жирнота thank you, I am looking for proper stands right now. They're currently elevated about 14 inches but I really need to get them about 28 inches up. Unfortunately my speakers are too big for most stands, so I'll probably have to make my own. DIY video incoming. :)
Tommy Callaway use cinder blocks found outside to raise them up
Thanks Joey. I got some nice speaker stands since the filming of this video.
+ItsMe Nate I agree! Haha
This video is over two years old now... watch my more recent videos! I'm still using these same bass traps, and my videos sound incredible when using a real microphone.
You should just high-pass the audio so you can only hear 250hz and lower, then record before and after...Your signal is all mid/treble. Your voice doesnt have bass like what bass traps are meant to be absorbed.
Also unrealated, you are destroying your vocal clarity by putting up too much absorption. What you should do is listen to the difference with room with cylindrical absorbers and probably 4 acoustic diffusers.
Jarid Martinelli what you may be hearing is that foam, which absorbs only a sliver of high frequencies. It can only mitigate a bit of flutter echo but not much useful. The problem is They are advertised as acoustic treatment, sound proofing, bass traps, etc.when they are not capable of any of it according to the laws of physics.
The rest of the highs, mids and bass bounces around the room at over 750 miles per hour, easily interfering even with 1/128th notes coming out of the monitors or singer.
@@jeffmarc1846 ive been the owner of an acoustic company for 14 years, acoustic foam is fine, it just needs to have enough water content mixed in with the PU to be effective as possible. There is no way to stop absorption of high-frequencies for the foam, but you can have it absorb down to 125hz if you make it thick enough to avoid this being a problem.
Jarid Martinelli
Thickness,
Density and
Distance from the substrate (ie wall) are the major factors of what frequencies will be mitigated.
I would never use polyurethane in my studio, and never have been in an ‘A’ or ‘B’ studio that uses it, for the reasons I stated earlier in the thread, and I have worked in a crazy amount of them during my career of many decades, mostly in NYC, NY Tri-State area, CA , TN and across the pond.
Look Jarid, if your happy, there is no reason to continue this. I’m recovering from a bout with C19 and after a week, it’s still hard to focus.
I was just trying to help, with only good intentions.
So I’ll wrap this up with well wishes for you & your’s health and best of luck with your future endeavors !
@@jeffmarc1846 dont you think using personal experience and anecdotal evidence as to why acoustic foam is bad is silly considering everyone in your day probably used asbestos for everything?
On a more scientific level, you can read and ive personally tested the NRC and STL on many acoustic and spindproofing products. The DIY acoustic market has a lot of crap thats true and false, however it doesnt trump science or the facts. I have been building studios for some of the biggest names in the world. Send me a studios vocal booth without acoustic foam. Just because youve never seen a pro studio do xyz doesnt mean the material is bad right?ive invested new products that acoustics have not existed and the stuff out there is far from perfect. The studio the beatles recorded in is absolutely trash acoustics. All im saying is to not use whats out there as good or bad, its simply not true.
Thanx for the demo , resolved my problem. I can hear the the difference.
Hey Tommy, thanks for doing this test, i have been looking for something similar for my studio, I will most likely be getting these.
THX for this awesome video!
Thanks for the tip on foam by mail very good prices. Just made my order I'll see how it works out!
Is foam by mail a company? When you search for that name foam by mail, all I could find was foam factory.
Thanks Adrian Paul, great video
Thanks man the perfect vid simple and plain no extra great vid
I wonder why your room doesn't sound completely dead after covering your entire walls with foam.. Still a cool video!
+Verdial thank you. It's a massive improvement from where I started if it's any consolation. :-)
Okay sounds great! The only thing I'm wondering about is whether your room still sounds "natural" or "alive" enough to work in it? :-) I just started to use a bit of acoustic treatment in my "bedroom studio" and it massively improved it although I do not have any basstraps. My ceiling also has not been treated yet. What would be your reference when it comes to ceiling treatment? Cover it all up or just specific spots?
+Verdial honestly I'm an amateur - I just wanted my room to sound better. I don't think you really need to do your whole ceiling if you have carpet - probably just the corners and areas that get heavy reflections (look up the mirror trick). If you have tile floor, cover the whole thing.
I used the mirror trick to find my speakers' angles of first reflection at my right and left wall. I'm planning to use my leftover acoustic foam for treating the ceiling right above my desk which my speakers stand on. And yeah adding some basstraps etc. Hope that will be enough ^^. Thanks for your help and quick response!!
its prob becouse of the computer wall
Thanks. I already have acoustic treatment but no bass traps. So you clip give me a very concret idea of what it can do to my space.
Glad it helped! Let me know if you have any other questions on this stuff.
How many traps you put in your space? You bought 3 packs of 2 traps? Did you consider these canada.foambymail.com/MFBA/male-female-broadband-absorbers.html
I actually purchased a single 8 pack from foambymail, as written in in the description of the video.
I noticed the bass was no longer coloured by midrange when the bass traps were installed, therefore giving the impression the bass was richer and warmer.
I agree 100% with your observation/conclusion.
looks great love the studio design as well. can def hear the difference without any special speakers just stock windows surface speakers . .. sounds good. thnx :)
6:00 -6:16 makes the entire video😂
Totally agree, I'm sold 😁
Awesome Video...years later 2021! Just finding your video! Much continued success!
Great video and straight to the point
Def more bottom end coming through with bass traps. less phase and comb filtering bouncing around really tightens it up. Good job!
Absorbers should cover only around 40- 60% of wall space not everything. But you probably know that alredy ;)
Thanks for the T pin idea. Cause I wasn't planning on spraying glue on my walls like I see in other videos.
no prob. :)
plus one to T-pins! They were a bit tricky to find in Finland, but managed to find reseller, after all:)
I stumbled across your video today. You're absolutely right. Case proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. I also read all the comments and found two (from professionals) to be highly relevant. The first mentioned that you need to stand 15ft away from the speaker to hear bass frequencies as they were intended to be heard by the recording studio - the lower the frequency the greater the distance. When agitated air particles hit sound absorbing materials they effectively enter a sonic maze where they are bounced around in all directions thousands of times and finally emerge greatly attenuated. Cont
Cont. The problem with reflections from any hard surface is that they interact between themselves and the original soundwave in a completely random fashion boosting some frequencies whilst attenuating others.
The other professional emphasised that other sound absorbing materials can be utilised. He cited fibreglass loft insulation safely wrapped in towels ie you can take control of aesthetics
Great job ! , I can hear the difference, Much better !
thanks !
Great video! Thanks for the advice. Also I love your computer setup. How did you install them? Can you send me a link for parts?
Here, saved you a video to watch:
VESA wall mount conversion: $25 at amzn.to/29idynV
MOUNTit! arm: $19 at amzn.to/29hJQe5
10 ft Thunderbolt cables: $50 ea @ amzn.to/29idzrZ
Basically screw the wall mounts into studs, replace the thunderbolt display stands with mount conversions, and get some long thunderbolt cables. If you really wanted to see the video: czcams.com/video/djOcrMi3eyk/video.html (it was one of my first videos though so don't judge me)
I use the same company. I doubled the size of my bass trap but putting in one corner, a stack of theee 12x12x24 corner absorbers, and surrounding the upper two parts with the four 12x12x24 wedges. Each wall corner has an equivalent size of 9 bass traps. When I tuned my room using room correction hardware, the EQ curve changed as low as 80hz, when normally these traps barely do anything under 140hz.
I looked at your older videos without treatment and yes it is a big improvement.
You should see my newer ones! :) this was like 2 years ago
@@TommyCallaway yeah I saw the thumbnail and it looks like youre using the same style padding I was eyeing. The bubble kind right? I might get that type for the wall directly in front and behind the performer and put the cheaper tiles around the room with bass traps in a couple corners. I have a few walls that are slanted and don't reflect back to the performer. I'ma just leave those alone and see. I don't have shit but a mic and a audio interface but it's a process. I appreciate the video man!!! And you also helped me with how I was going to put these on the wall. I was going to build a curtain style shower booth. Ever play the sims and have them change clothes? Like that. And just have a mic in the middle. But I'ma just treat the whole room with whatever I can get. I hear U-haul blankets work well.
I heard a difference very important in the guitar and in the snare. The guitar sounds clear, without metallic sound. I think that this bass tramps was a good idea for your studio. Makes the difference. Tks for this video!
6:15 THE VOICE OF REASON
I also hear a frequency shift .... that must be the mic position.
Cool to watch !
Very informative, thanks!
+Mike my pleasure!
Awesome man! That was my question, should I also need bass traps or just absorption? Apparently I will need both.
Also I plan to have some bass diffusers in combination with those things.
+Farhad My Black Rose awesome. Do some before and after tests of your own too!
makes the room sound warmer and tighter for sure!
I bought an Auralex Roominator pack in 2001 and then added more of their corner Lynyrds (??), but your link and the price there is at least half off. I heard the difference in my rooms right away and expected you would, too. Nice job and thanks for sharing the links and other info.
+Michael Parson-McNamara no prob! Yeah, Auralex is expensive stuff
Unnecessarily so, too.
The test was the best part LMAO.
great sound on the guitar.
All the stuff definitely makes a difference. My piano recordings truly sounded like shit before I foamed out the area - I was amazed at the difference.
what difference does it make? It increases bass or reduces it? I want to increase low frequency bass currently do not have sound absorbing panels in room.
Definitely more definition in the sound with the traps. They help dampen low end garbage quite a bit.
i thought the same thing, but then i notice camera placement looked closer to the main table, which could add more bottom end cause of proximity effect. But i could be wrong
@@lml1501Camera placement close by that much in the video wouldn't make that much of a difference. If anything, a wider range of frequencies would change slightly. In this video, most of the mud in the mid low end got "soaked up".
Would cutting custom foam wedges to size and installing them into the inside the corners of a subwoofer enclosure have any sort of effect?
Clarity in the low mids was much improved !!!!
Great Video God Bless!! :D
Are you broadcasting from the Nebuchadnezzar? I need an exit
DFKM!!
Tommy, thanks for the video- how on earth did you get these t-pins to work? The second I try and push them into the wall they just bend in half. The ones I got were from Walmart, but I can't imagine there's a difference in quality within t-pins.
Personally, I heard a massive difference. There was more clarity present from the music, in your bass traps test. When the bass traps were gone, it sounded muddy.
I agree - and that's only listening to the youtube compressed audio. The uncompressed recording on my computer displays a huge difference in quality.
Tommy Callaway I heard a difference just listening to it out loud with my iPhone.
I don't see why everyone dislikes your videos. I find them to be quite informative
Haters gonna hate. Thanks for your support :)
Tommy Callaway I call them nobodies.
I bought some bass traps from ultimate acoustics. Installed them earlier. My room sounds better.
Azazel Raiden I agree. It sounded louder with more punch clarity. Without it was muggy. Herd it thru my phone. So that says alot.
As far as your video content, i think there was an audible diff with the traps installed. However, having the entire room covered in panels i believe is over kill and you are losing natural acoustics in any sound you are mixing.
The clap test was hilarious.
with foam and bass traps, the sound sounds better. that is why I also have foam and bass traps in the recording studio, so that I get better sound when recording voice-over or singing
Hi, how are you? I would like to see you testing a low frequency, around 100hz, 115Hz and 125Hz. Where low frequencies act. You could use a signal generator.
I heard a huge difference listening to this video on my reference monitors Without bass Traps the sound was midrange heavy almost nasal and with it smoothened out and was more balanced so the Bass and Trebble were more clearer if that makes sence.
I hear a hugeeeeeee difference!
Hi Tommy. I have 4 displays that I would like to create one large screen . How do I do it?
I’m not here to comment on the audio or anything I just wanna say you have the coolest fucking studio setup, my god.
I have these same BassTraps and what makes a difference is now they worked out your 250hz to 400hz area abd made more accurate. But unfortunately they don't tackle anything below 250hz ...
You can do a reading with REW and you will be shocked.
But definitely they help in the lower mid and ckesn things up and reduce latency.
Damn I want that six monitor setup!
I wonder how would be to sleep in a room like this. I have trouble with neighborhood noise. Also, is it hot down there? Do you need AC or a simple fan does the trick? Does it smells?
omg the echo in your room. wondering about what bass can remove actually those things. does it feels in the rooms next to you as actually bass being trapped? :D
When I saw the foam covered room I immidately assumed you're not an audio engineer. Looks great tho
6:15 LOL
She’s A Höe
Lol :) ✔️ 💥💯
What are the things u used to hang it up? Does it damage the wall..?
great video!
I was curious about the Matrix glyphs screen saver. Is that one of the stock Mac screen saver options or did you install that one from somewhere? Thanks!
Bought it here: www.uselesscreations.com/mac/matrix/
I love channels like this that get straight to the damn point!!!
Hi Tomm, thanks for the video... the t pinns is a fuckin great idea!!
NP! Glad you liked it!
Question. What’s the size dimensions of your corner bass traps because they look bigger in your video then what I see on the website foam by mail dimensions?
12x12x24
The ceiling and floor also create massive reverb, try putting the extra squares on your ceiling. And did you not have carpet? That room is _way_ too live. The traps did help though. 🤘
How are you getting it stuck on the wall from just a t pin I don't understand can u show a video about that. It will be super helpful.
This is the first time I've ever seen golf clubs in a recording studio 🤔
I know it's an old video by now. Lemme just say two quick things. 1. You're more able to hear the difference using a transient low sound like a kick drum. You'll notice a tighter, more focused sound because you'll be hearing more of the drum itself and less of the room the drum is in. Which leads me to 2. Stereo bass frequencies are extremely sensitive to position. Because you're using a longer wavelength, as you move around the room, you change the difference between the time it takes for the two bass waves to get to you. So since the camera moved within the space from the first test to the second, it kind of invalidated the test. BUT WHATEVER, I still like your videos, and I'm treating my next room with foambymail.
P.S. Google a sine wave generator and throw up a 100 Hz sine wave on your speakers, plug one ear, and slowly walk around your room, left to right. You should notice that at some spots, it's loud, and at others, you barely hear it. This illustrates what I said in point 2, and honestly it's pretty cool.
The bass traps got a warm clear sound coming through.
Hi Tom, nice work on the video. Next step is to go for broadband absorbers and real bass traps. You can make them which would make an awesome video. Your current setup isn't doing much in the bass range 100Hz down. To be honest I would be surprised if it traps anything below 200Hz. If you really want to clean up your room sound there are heaps of DIY instructions on broadband absorbers that you can build with rock wool and a frame. GIK Acoustics or Ethan Weiner have whole web sites dedicated to helping people with this stuff. Kick ass tune BTW.
According to the published results, the corner bass traps have an absorption coefficient of 1.1 at 100 hz - without the mess of rockwool or fiberglass: www.foambymail.com/CBA/corner-bass-absorbers.html
I liked and subbed just because of ur wife's response and how much effort u made for the vid 😂😂😂
Haha thanks :)
Maybe some clouds over the work area might help as well. What you have seems to be very good.
What if I don’t want to go to that extent with putting foam all over my walls? For example, just using those base traps and some treatments hanging on the wall and curtains cover the windows?
Is there a reason you chose wedges instead of pyramid foam?
I just bought the same setup you have with the Block and 4 traps per corner. The walls of my studio are so hard they are practically brick. I have a good setup for my regular 2in foam where I have attached them to pieces of science board with pins and have used command strips to hold them up. I tried to do the same thing with the block and traps but these are seriously heavy and fell in the middle of the night. I don't want to nail the traps into the wall and ceiling but I think it may be my final resort.
Nails are better than that horrible spray in my opinion.
I ended up nailing them in. My biggest reason for not doing it at first was because I'm renting, but I can always spackle the holes before I move.
the t pin trick is sleek
I just wonder if the traps is big enough for really absorbing som deeper bass?
Would be fun to see a sound test between 10-100hz on a graph.
what bass traps are those? every type i've come across is like half the size!
That's a huge difference man :D thank yous for the video your awesome
Yo, what is that awesome screensaver? Where did you find it?
Uselesscreations.com it was like $6
6:11 Meme review
Hi. Cool video and nice room (Subscribed! Even before I knew you are into Scotch, too ... ;))
Was just wondering if you've done your 50% follow-up video? I had a look through your videos, but couldn't see it?
Cheers! Be well, K
+Kieren Moore I just haven't had time to make too many more videos on sound foam. I did one more called "more sound foam" where I lined the ceiling and doors with the stuff, but that's it.
thank you for that
im subscribing! genious
You recommend Tpain for bass?
You should add acoustic foam panels to the ceiling as well
I did, if you watch the next video in this series. czcams.com/video/vdMBytYNF1A/video.html
Next time, fill whole room with bass traps, it makes no sense, but it will be fun for sure!
Yeah, there is most definitely a difference. Especially with the genres of music I produce. That being Trap, Dubstep, House.
Hey hey Tommy, first things first, what is the name of the song? Second, where did you get that screen saver from? And finally, i a small office 3x4 id say - It has a sliding wardrobe and a window so i wont ba able to put any foam on them. My question is if i only place the foam on the front of the room wall behind my mic and screens, is it going to make a change? or does this only work if i do what you did to your room? Great vid too!
+RushyRecords the song was from the CZcams audio library and I think i found and replied to someone in the comments with it, but.i don't recall the name. Screen saver from useless creations for $5. And any amount of foam will help, even just covering one wall.
How do you deal.with the window on sidewall?