Have you started streaming and invested a ton of money in your audio setup but you’re still getting some echo or reverb on stream? Chances are it comes down to the room your are streaming in.
In this article we are going to break down some different options for adding sound dampening to your room, ranging from cheap options to more expensive professional setups.
As a streamer luckily you will not need to obtain complete acoustic isolation in your room which can be extremely difficult and would normally require a sound expert to be installed.
We just need it to be good enough so our stream audio sounds great.
Let’s talk about the options you have.
Easy Changes You Can Make To Your Room
Before we jump in and start talking about different sound dampening equipment lets look at some simple changes you can make to your room to minimise echo and reverb.
How To Eliminate Echo On Wooden Floors
If you have wooden or tile floors in your stream room this is a common cause of echo and reverb. One of the easiest ways to minimise this is by adding a rug to the floor.
You do not have to cover the floor wall to wall with carpet. Adding one or more rugs, placing them strategically in the room will significantly decrease the echo and reverb in the room.
To dampen the sound even more you can add sound dampening floor panels underneath the rugs to absorb even more of the sound.
Add Room Accents
By adding more furniture/objects to your room it decreases the chances of sounding bouncing around the room. Adding upholstered furniture like a sofa, curtains, rugs and pillows are good options to absorb sound vs wooden or metal furniture. The softer the item the more sound it will absorb.
You could potentially add some shelves behind your stream setup and add some plush toys to the shelfs. It makes for a great streaming backdrop as well as helping with your audio.
Neutralize The Walls
By having a blank wall this aids in helping the sound bounce around the room. You can neutralize your walls by adding some decorative items such as tapestries or wall curtains. The thicker these items are the more sound they will absorb.
Avoid having hard wood, vinyl or plastic blinds as these will just aid in helping the sounds bounce around your room.
Sound Absorbing Foam Panels For Streamers
You’ve probably seen these in your favourite streamers room. These are the big funky looking squares that you see in their back drops. These are by far one of the best ways to improve the audio quality in your room at the cheapest price point.
How Sound Absorbing Foam Panels Work
These foam panels have an open and flexible cell structure which acts as a natural soundwave absorber. This helps prevent sounds from reverberating of walls and floors giving a better audio experience. It does this by converting sound energy to heat, reducing the ability of soundwaves to bounce back into the room.
What Sound Absorbing Foam Panels Should I Use?
When you go to amazon or do a search on google you will find thousands of listings for different types of Sound dampening foam. However lots of these are just completely inadequate. If the foam is less than 2 inches thick it’s not worth thinking about. You will find a ton of panels out there between 0.4 – 2 inches. Stay away from any that are under 2 inches.
Most panels come in either a pyramid shape or egg shape. Personally I prefer the Pyramid shape as I think it looks better on stream backdrops.
The last thing to consider is the color of your foam. This is complete personal preference. Just go with one that matches your setup.
Pros and Cons of Sound Panels
Pros
- Very cheap
- Multiple colors and sizes available
- Multiple styles available to suit your personal preference
- Available as canvas pictures for discrete sound dampening
- Different sizes available to cover different surface area
- Easy to put up and take down
- Easy to cut and place in awkward areas
Cons
- Can damage walls if you use glue to put them up
- Smell chemically for a long period of time
- Can be a fire hazard if not installed correctly
Recommended Foam Panels
How To Install Acoustic Foam Without Damaging Your Wall
People use lots of different methods to install acoustic foam such as adhesive spray, hammer and nails or foam tack however if you ever want to take your panels down these will leave your wall damaged.
A safer way to install the panels is by using a product called command strips. These are super strong but don’t leave your wall damaged when removing the panels. They’ll also keep your panels intact whereas some of the other options will destroy the panels when removing them from the wall.
How To Position Your Sound Panels
When positioning your foam on your wall you want to stagger the panels like the image above. The panels should be placed in a tiled manner with one tile vertical and the other horizontal. This gives the best possible sound dampening.
Aesthetically Pleasing Sound Panels
Some people tend to think that the normal egg shaped or pyramid shaped foam panels don’t look great and I would agree. If you want to have a really cool futuristic looking room their are other sound panels available however they do come in at a higher price point.
Hexagonal Sound Panels
These panels come in the shape of a hexagon and can be used to create unique designs on your walls while also providing some sound dampening.
Theres multiple different colours available so you can get creative.
Muffle Sound Panels
Muffle are a UK based company that create unique sound panels in lots of different shapes and designs.
With these you can get some really great effects that fit in with your branding on stream.
Dekiru Acoustic Panels
These panels come without the pyramid shaped spikes on them. They’re a more refined clean look that won’t give as good of sound dampening but do in my opinion look a lot better.
They also come in a range a different colors to create a cool design for your stream background.
Wrapping Up
Hopefully this guide has given you everything you need to get better audio from your streaming room. If there’s anything else you think we should include in this article please let us know down below in the comments.
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