With many of us trying our best to stay home and stay safe, there has been a sharp increase of people streaming their activities online. Many are turning to the internet as an outlet to fulfill their entertainment needs.
No matter what you are streaming, whether it is your favorite video game or a passionate hobby, such as art, voice acting, music, or beyond, there’s one issue that plagues streamers of any experience level: sound. Sound issues can be caused by sound coming from outside, too much white noise, or too much echo within the room. Finding the perfect balance to make your streaming sound immaculate can be difficult. You could have today’s top-of-the-line microphone, recording system and software, and PC, but if the room has no acoustic treatment, you’ll find it difficult to capture crisp, clean sound without noise leaks.
There are many ways you can go about creating a great streaming studio with acoustic foam to prevent noise leaks, but our acoustic materials are great products at great prices!
Common Myths
For those of you on a tight budget, when you hear the words “acoustic treatment,” you might immediately think “too expensive!” In fact, you might even believe that installing soundproofing or acoustic treatments in your home is a complex job.
It is a myth that acoustically treating a room is impossible to do at low cost with high-end results. While it does take some effort, you can make a massive difference in the sound of a streaming studio with affordable acoustic foam and a bit of research. Here is some “sound” advice to get you started.
Myth 1: Just Use Egg Cartons
You may have heard somewhere that you can place old egg cartons on the walls for cheap and easy DIY soundproofing. Unfortunately, egg cartons on your wall can be a potential fire hazard, and they tend to attract insects. More to the point: these aren’t thick enough to have any effect, anyway.
Myth 2: Cover Each Wall Entirely in Acoustic Foam.
Some insist on covering a room’s walls entirely with acoustic foam, corner to corner. Believe it or not, too much acoustic foam can actually negatively affect your sound, too!
Covering your entire room is only called for in very specific situations. If you cover the full walls for some projects, you can actually deaden your sound too much. The key to remember with acoustic foam isn’t how many panels you use, but what the NRC of the acoustic panel is.
Simple and Easy Steps to Lessen Noise Leakage Even More
Once you have your acoustic foam set up, here are a few other tips to create a great recording environment.
- Eliminate other sources of noise before streaming. Turn off anything that emits a noise that your microphone is picking up.
- Don’t stream with your door or windows open. Isolate the room by shutting any open doors/windows.
- Object placement. If you have a bookshelf, move it to the wall directly behind you, facing the sensitive side of the mic. Your bookshelf can be a natural acoustic diffuser.
- If your room is rectangular, move your desk to the center. This will help create even levels of reflection from all directions.
- Door sweeps or door draft stoppers can be laid at the bottom of doors to help dampen the sound that may travel under the door.
- Acoustic foam bass traps are perfectly affordable and work well if you feel that you need the extra absorption.
Last but not least, there are software solutions that you can use to edit or keep background noises low. Keep in mind that most VST plugins or software can do little to help your steaming studio if it echoes. Additionally, when you use software to try and dampen background noise, this often tends to reduce your audio signal quality.
While it will not be that perfect professional studio sound, DIY sound panels and our tips and tricks should have you well on your way to noticing a considerable sound improvement. In fact, your streaming audience will probably notice right away!
