Wasted $80 on foam panels that did nothing for my podcast audio

I bought those cheap wedge foam tiles off Amazon thinking they'd fix my echo problem in my home office. After setting them up I realized my voice still sounded like I was in a tin can. Turns out for a small room like mine (10x12) you really need bass traps in the corners, not just foam on the walls. Anyone else fall for the foam panel hype before learning about proper placement?

2 comments

2 Comments

johnh821mo ago

Funny enough, I used to swear by those foam panels myself until I actually started looking into why my audio still sounded bad. That stuff is basically just a bandaid for high frequency flutter, it does nothing for the low end rumble that makes a room sound boxy. You hit the nail on the head about bass traps being the real solution, especially in a smaller space like your 10x12. Thick moving blankets or even a few packed bookcases in the corners would probably do way more for you than those wedge tiles ever could. It's a shame Amazon pushes that stuff so hard when it's mostly marketing hype for most home studios.

gavinhunt1mo ago

Just a small thing, those foam panels do actually help a bit with midrange slap echo too, not just high frequency flutter. But yeah you're right that they're useless for low end, and a lot of people waste money thinking they're getting real room treatment.