Fabric acoustic panels are being used in home studios more often in modern times around the world and offer some advantages over the popular plain acoustic foam which you will see in almost every studio of the past. I will talk about the differences and outline some advantages of fabric acoustic panels.
Fabric Acoustic Panels or Plain Acoustic Foam
When you are building a home studio one of the most important things to consider is the acoustic treatment of your room. Acoustically treated rooms will help you mic more accurately from your monitors (speakers) and give you cleaner recording from microphones. Acoustic panels help absorb the sound frequencies bouncing around the room and also deflect them in different ways to reduce the reverberation build up in the room.
As standard practice in the past most recording studios would use acoustic foam placed around the room to fix acoustic problems and they come in different types and sizes to suite the purpose.
Recently the trend is moving towards using fabric panels with some acoustic treatment materials behind it. The fabric is stretchered over a frame which contains the acoustic treating material such as compressed fiberglass, wool or even acoustic foam. The panel can be hung on the wall like a painting or fastened to the wall using glue or other methods.
Advantages of Fabric Acoustic Panels
There are many advantages of using a fabric covered panel over the plain acoustic foam.
They Look Good
You can have a large selection of colours and even custom printed panels. This is ideal if you want your studio to look and feel a particular way. Foam panels also come in a variety of colours but you are limited to what is being manufactured. You can also have more control over the dimensions of a fabric covered panel because the size will only be limited by the size of your frame and the fabric.
Easy to Clean
A fabric panel can be vacuumed easily because it is smooth and flat. This makes the ability to maintain a dust free studio a lot easier. Dust builds up in foam panels and getting it out can be difficult.
Variety of Materials
The fabric can be in front of any sound absorption material you wish which makes them ideal for bass traps and panels of different thicknesses.
Variety of Materials
The fabric can be in front of any sound absorption material you wish which makes them ideal for bass traps and panels of different thicknesses.
D I Y
Yes you can do it yourself and build your own fabric covered panels with the fabric of your choosing, some wood for the frame and the material to go inside. Just nail some cork board or thin wood on the back of the frame to keep the materials in place.
Easy Placement
You can easily hang a frame with fabric over it on a wall the same way you would a painting or picture frame. There are special mounting systems available for framed acoustic panels making placement easy and flexible.
Examples and Purchase Fabric Covered Acoustic Panels
