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Acoustic treatment is the ultimate studio upgrade. No matter which monitors, mics, amps, or converters you use, controlling the acoustics in your studio will help you record cleaner tracks, monitor more accurately, and make mixing and mastering decisions with confidence. Whether you work out of a home studio, a dedicated studio space, or a large commercial facility, Vintage King’s world-class selection of acoustic treatment products can help you achieve more accurate sound on any budget.
The main elements of acoustic treatment are absorption, bass trapping, and diffusion. Here’s a quick breakdown of each category:
Every studio has different acoustical properties, requiring different strategies to treat problems and achieve the goal of accurate sound. There are plenty of great acoustic treatment options to choose from, but how do you find the right solutions for your space and your budget? Here are three ways to do it.
Small studios often have the most problematic acoustics, but budgets don’t always allow for proper acoustic treatment. Treating a home studio or bedroom setup doesn’t have to be expensive, though. With an affordable bundle of absorption panels, a couple of compact bass traps, and a microphone shield for extra isolation, you can achieve a more controlled sound without spending more than you budgeted for gear.
When it comes to treating a small room on a budget, this 12-piece bundle is one of the best values around. Designed for areas up to 100 square feet, it includes four 1.5-inch-thick vertical panels for mid- and high-frequency absorption, plus eight 1-inch-thick square panels for controlling excess reflections and all the hardware you need for installation. For larger rooms, Primacoustic offers the London 10, 12, and 16 packages.
Ordinary bass traps rely on sheer thickness and mass to absorb low frequencies, but these corner traps from De-Fi (formerly Output) work a bit differently. Behind the perforated front panel is a piece of mass-loaded vinyl suspended in the air gap between the panel and the wall, absorbing the excess bass energy that builds up there. Recycled materials cut down on cost and environmental impact.
Even if your budget doesn’t allow you to treat every square inch of your studio, you can still get cleaner recordings with a microphone shield like the sE Electronics Reflexion Filter PRO. This curved absorber screws onto any mic stand, forming a shield around your mic to keep reflections out of your vocal tracks. sE Electronics also makes the GuitaRF, a similar product made specifically for miking guitar amps.
Mid-size studios don’t suffer from the same frequency buildups as small studios, but acoustic treatment is still critical for achieving a controlled sound. Most studios at this scale should use a mix of absorption and diffusion in the control room and recording spaces to tame reflections without completely killing the natural reverb. When it comes to bass trapping, bigger rooms will need thicker traps to counter their lower resonant modes.
This versatile and attractive bundle from Vicoustic includes eight Wavewood Ultra Lite 2 absorption panels and two Multifuser DC2 diffusers. The Wavewood panels feature slotted wood front panels on top of foam, providing effective mid- and high-frequency absorption without sounding too dead. The Multifuser diffusers scatter sound waves coming from all directions, making them extremely effective for their size. Depending on the size of your room, you may need two or more of these bundles for adequate coverage.
Bass tends to build up in corners, but a pair of chunky corner traps like the Vicoustic Super Bass Extreme VMT can keep this phenomenon from distorting the sound of your monitors. Effective at frequencies between 60-160 Hz and with peak performance between 75-100 Hz, these bass traps target the most troublesome low and low-mid frequencies. Place a pair behind your monitors and a second pair in the back corners for optimal results.
If your ceiling needs treating, a suspended cloud absorber like the Primacoustic Nimbus is the ideal solution. This two-foot by four-foot rectangular cloud features 1.5-inch-thick insulation to stop midrange and high frequencies from bouncing off the ceiling and back to the mix position. Once you hear the clarity a cloud can bring to your monitors, you’ll never want to sit under a naked ceiling again.
At ten inches deep, three feet long, and two feet high, these robust bass traps provide excellent broadband absorption to counter standing waves in any size room. Their stackable design and inset handles allow you to easily move and stack them to create temporary GoBos for recording, then move them back to the walls for mix sessions.
Top-tier studios require top-tier acoustic treatment to sound their best. Even in large facilities built for ideal acoustical properties, the right combination of absorption, diffusion, and bass trapping can help you dial in the perfect reverberation time and frequency balance for each recording and mixing space. Specialized products like active bass traps and isolation cabinets can help you solve problems that regular acoustical treatment can’t.
These unique panels combine absorption and diffusion, noticeably increasing their effectiveness compared to typical absorbers. Behind a 1” layer of fabric-covered rockwool insulation is a high-quality MDF backing with a carved diffusion pattern that reflects sound waves back into the rockwool at different angles, increasing absorption and scattering any unabsorbed frequencies rather than reflecting them back at the mix position.
In professional facilities, a cloud above the mix position is almost a requirement. The Primacoustic Stratus features two-inch-thick insulation, a lightweight aluminum frame, and a modular connection system that allows you to link multiple units for total coverage. The small amount of reflection from the aluminum frame keeps the overhead sound from becoming 100% dead.
Simple and aesthetically pleasing, this two-foot-square open grid diffuser scatters any sound that comes from an off-angle, effectively breaking up reflections while maintaining a shallower profile than most textured diffusers. Best of all, Primacoustic offers special hardware to join multiple Radiators together, hang them from the ceiling, or attach them to Broadway panels to create multi-function absorber/diffusers.
Similar in principle to noise-cancelling headphones, this best-selling active bass trap constantly listens to incoming sound waves and responds by outputting a phase-inverted signal at just the right amplitude to defeat troublesome standing waves caused by room modes between 15-160 Hz. If you need serious low-end accuracy for critical mastering and post-production applications, this is the ultimate solution.
Once you’ve treated every surface in your studio and achieved the perfect balance of absorption, diffusion, and bass trapping, it’s time to face the final boss: the noise coming from the studio computer. Argosy’s IsoBox isolation cabinets provide a soundproof environment to contain the hum and coil whine of computers (and rack gear too!) Keep an eye on heat build-up with a built-in temperature monitor and an alarm that alerts you to dangerous heat levels.
Every room sounds different, and no two studios can rely on the same acoustical treatment to solve their unique issues and achieve a flat, controlled sound. To get the best results and the best value on absorption, diffusion, and bass traps, reach out to a Vintage King Audio Consultant to plan your acoustic treatment strategy.
