Fig. 1: You never notice how noisy the world is until you point a condenser mic at it.
The quick answer
A studio has two separate problems. Transmission is noise crossing the walls in either direction, and it needs mass. Reflection is what the room does to sound inside it, and it needs absorption. Sort out which one is ruining your takes before buying anything, because foam will not stop traffic and MLV will not fix a boxy vocal.
Every studio build starts the same way. You set up, you record, and you discover the room has been listening to the whole street the entire time. The instinct is to buy panels. Sometimes that is right and often it is not, and the difference costs real money.
01 /Transmission or reflection
| Symptom | Problem | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic or family audible on takes | Transmission | Mass: MLV, BassBloc, sealed door |
| Neighbours complaining at night | Transmission | Same, on all four walls |
| Vocals sound boxy or hollow | Reflection | Absorption at reflection points |
| Bass different in every chair | Reflection, low frequency | Corner bass traps |
| Foam on the wall, traffic still audible | Wrong product | Foam has no mass |
02 /Isolation, if noise is crossing the walls
- Seal the door first. A bottom seal and EPDM perimeter tape. The undercut is usually the biggest gap in the room and the cheapest thing to fix.
- Add the barrier. SoundBlanket MLV, rated STC 30 at 2.5mm and STC 34 at 4mm. Use 4mm where drums, bass or a subwoofer are involved. Fix with SR Adhesive or nails and seal the seams.
- Add the absorber. BassBloc at 20mm or 40mm, NRC 0.90 under ASTM C423, so the wall does not resonate once you have made it heavier.
- Cover both. Acoustic panels, wooden slats or board. The technical layers are never left exposed.
For a studio this runs across all four walls and the ceiling. Sound leaving a room finds any untreated surface, so partial treatment is a wall with a hole in it.
03 /Treatment, once the room is quiet
- First reflection points. Sit at the desk and have someone slide a mirror along each side wall at ear height. Wherever a monitor appears in the mirror, a panel belongs. Repeat for the ceiling.
- Acoustic foam at 30 to 40 per cent coverage. Rising to around 70 per cent with diffusion in a serious room. Not full coverage.
- Bass traps in all four corners. Low frequency collects where surfaces meet. Four at floor level minimum, eight across floor and mid height for a serious room.
- Diffusion behind you. Keeps the room alive rather than dead, which matters for mixes that translate.
04 /The questions everyone asks first
- Can my room work? Almost any room can. A rectangular room is easier than a square one, because square rooms concentrate specific frequencies, but both are workable with the right treatment.
- Who installs it? Most of it is genuinely DIY, since the products fix with adhesive. A local carpenter handles the framing and finish if you would rather not.
- How long does it take? A typical room is a couple of days once materials are on site, longer if you are decoupling or building out from the existing walls.
- What will it cost? It depends on room size, how much of the wall you cover and whether you need isolation as well as treatment. Send us the dimensions and what you record, and we will quote against that rather than a range.
Related reading: the step-by-step studio guide, and acoustic treatment for home studios.
05 /Frequently asked questions
Does acoustic foam soundproof a music studio?
No. Foam absorbs reflections inside the room, which fixes boxy vocals and flutter echo. It has almost no mass, so it does not stop traffic getting in or your monitors getting out. Isolation needs MLV with BassBloc and a sealed door.
What is the difference between acoustic treatment and soundproofing?
Treatment improves how the room sounds to your microphones and monitors, using absorption and diffusion. Soundproofing stops sound crossing the boundary in either direction, using mass and sealing. A studio usually needs both, with soundproofing first because it is built into the wall.
Which MLV thickness for a music studio?
SoundBlanket 2.5mm at STC 30 suits vocal booths and project rooms. Use 4mm at STC 34 where drums, bass guitar or a subwoofer are involved, since the extra mass matters most at the frequencies that generate complaints.
Can any room become a studio?
Most can. A rectangular room is easier to treat than a square one, because square rooms reinforce specific frequencies more strongly, but both work with the right approach. Room proportions matter less than getting the reflection points and corners right.
Sonit writes about practical soundproofing for Indian homes and workplaces, with a focus on what delivers measurable results at sensible cost.
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