Dreaming about setting your own home studio can be an exhilarating and rewarding experience – if things are done the right way that is. Of the many challenges that you might face, while setting up the recording room, one of them is to proper acoustic treatment of the space. If you have just set your foot in the world of sound production, you will quickly be asking yourself about how to reduce echo in the room. Additionally, you would want to get rid of not only sounds bouncing off your walls and floors but also the echo on your mic. We will help you get these two things right from the beginning.
Short on time? The best way to reduce echo in 2024 is by using Auralex Acoustic Studiofoam Panels (mid to high frequencies) and Dekiru Bass Traps (low frequencies). They reduce the intensity of echoes by absorbing and scattering it over an expanded area. Another great and very easy out of the box solution is LyxPro VRI-10 Microphone Isolation Shield. It completely removes echo from your microphone and has a high-quality sound-absorbing foam that soaks up reverberations for clear, crisp sound.
Read also: Quiet Air Conditioner for Recording Studio
How To Reduce Echo In A Room For Recording: Best Ways In 2024
1. Acoustic Foam Panels
Acoustic foam panels are the best-known, conventional way of managing room acoustics.
These are sound-absorbing panels that mitigate background noise, flutter echoes, reflections and resonances from the space.
Auralex Acoustic Studiofoam comes with 96 panels-providing significant coverage to all walls in your room for perfect recording.
It’s premium quality, high-density sound-absorbing foam with cell structure. These are most effective against standing and flutter echoes and have a noise reduction coefficient (NRC) of 0.8.
These panels are great at absorbing echoes from mid-to-high frequency sounds. When the sound waves fall onto it, they get absorbed right away instead of bouncing, hence little to no echoes.
To install these panels, you need to use mounting strips or adhesive spray. However, acoustic panels should generally be used on all the walls in your home studio.
Pros
- Flexible
- Light
- Fire resistant
Cons
- Not very effective in absorbing low sound frequencies. Use bass traps together with them for the best result
2. Bass Traps
Bass traps are acoustic energy absorbers quite like acoustic panels but are designed to catch low frequency sounds by achieving a flatter low-frequency (LF).
Low frequency sounds are long and very strong, so they are hard to catch and stop.
They function by converting sound energy into heat through friction.
When making music, the sound waves tend to build-up in the corners of the rooms and create echoes.
Bass traps, therefore, should be placed in the trihedral corners (wall, wall, ceiling or wall, wall, floor), so they catch all these waves and prevent echoes.
We recommend using high-density Dekiru bass traps which come in a pack of 8 panels sized around 12″x 7″x7″. It’s made of polyester fiber that is hot-pressed with advanced technology.
It reduces slap-back and room ring when used in medium-sized areas like isolation booths, recording booths, control rooms, and sound studios thus providing a critical listening environment.
Also, this foam helps with smaller agitation echo complications. These bass traps are ideal for spot-treating. The materials are eco-friendly and fire retardant and very effective in small-medium sized rooms.
The bass traps come vacuum-compressed and you need to recover the foam according to easy methods mentioned in the instruction manual.
Pros
- Durable
- Professional acoustic technology design
- Non-Toxic
Cons
- Do not absorb mid-high frequency sounds. Use bass traps together with acoustic foam panels for the best result
3. Microphone Isolation Acoustic Shield
If you find that the acoustic panels have reduced the echo, but not as much as you want, then the microphone acoustic shield will come to your rescue.
A great microphone isolation shield acts as a filter, reducing echo for a more even recording of your vocals thus enhancing the quality of your voice.
LyxPro VRI-10 is an excellent microphone isolation shield as its sturdy lightweight eva foam panels fit right onto most mic stands.
This allows structural integrity along with relevant sound diffusion so there is no distortion or alteration due to surrounding lingering waves.
It also preserves the clarity of your voice and instrument sound while eliminating audio-wave bounce and interference.
LyxPro VRI-10 is specially designed by acoustic experts to absorb and deflect ambient noise that may compromise the accuracy of your recording.
It also has stability feet to prevent sliding, and the entire booth mounts to your microphone stand with a sturdy clamp system.
A microphone mounting hardware set is also included, providing extra protection and stability when used in desktop mode.
Pros
- Provides 3 way shield
- Sturdy perforated aluminum panels
- All mounting and setup accessories are included
Cons
- Quite heavy
4. Sound Diffusers
Diffusers are also used to treat sound aberrations, such as echoes, in rooms.
They complement acoustic panels because they effectively reduce distinct echoes and resonations while still leaving a live sounding space.
Sound-frequencies that don’t get absorbed by acoustic panels or bass traps fall onto diffusers and it weakens and scatters the sound energy over a wide angle thus eliminating echoes. Read also: How To Build A Vocal Booth In A Corner & Bedroom
Diffusers when placed behind the mixers help give a more clear sound.
The best sound diffusers on the market in 2024 is BXI 2D quadratic sound diffuser.
This sound diffusion panel adds a sense of space to sound by uniformly distributing sound energy, and it can also remove acoustic defects such as echo/fluttering.
It has a broadband diffuseness ranging between 410Hz to 24571H, thus covering a wide array of sound frequencies of sounds. It’s easy to mount using a sawtooth picture hanger or anchor screws.
Pros
- Eco-friendly
- Odorless Corrosion Resistant
- Anti-aging material
Cons
- Pricier compared to other products on the market
5. Fluffy & Shaggy Carpet
Shaggy rugs are a great addition to the recording room as they insulate sounds by soaking up ambient sounds.
These rugs are extremely effective sound absorbers because the polyester fibers, woven nylon tufts and underlays have varying resonant frequencies at which they absorb different decibel levels.
Ultrug carpets have a velvety high pile and provide great surface area (5.3ft x 7.5ft) that helps soak noises and prevents echoes.
The rule of thumb is the thicker the carpet pile is, the more treble frequency it is going to absorb and the denser the material is, the less sound vibration can pass through it.
Pros
- Adds a luxurious touch
- Value for money
- Easy to wipe and clean
Cons
- Can lead to dust allergies
How To Get Rid Of Echo On Mic
There are some quick settings and changes you can make to get rid of microphone echo. Read also: How To Soundproof A Closet + Turn Your Closet Into A Recording Studio
Rearrange Your Speakers
Move your mic away from speakers and walls. Microphones can pick up sounds coming out of speakers thus, causing echo. Also, if your microphone is near a wall or other reflective surface that does not absorb sound, consider changing the mic’s direction away from surfaces to reduce potential echoes.
Turn Off Other Electronics
Sound interference from other electronics and recording devices. There are some situations where the echo is caused by interference from other electronics. In that case, turning those electronics off while recording will stop the echo in your microphone.
Check Your Internet Connection
Try resetting the internet connection. Many times, microphone echoing can be due to poor- quality connection. Resetting the internet will fix the mic echoing issue.
Fine Tune Your Computer’s Settings
Adjust your computer settings. Many times you can fix echoes by fine tuning sound properties in your computer’s control panel. Lower down your microphone level to <10db.
Final Words About Reducing Echo In A Room For Recording
In an untreated room, echo will run wildly through your recording room causing disruptions. They can be a real nuisance because they can interrupt the quality of sound you want to produce.
Unless that natural echo is something you desire, then it is essential to treat your room to get rid of all that unwanted echo.
In conclusion, the best way to reduce echo in a room for recording in 2024 is to use Auralex Acoustic Studiofoam Panels and/or Dekiru Bass Traps. Acoustic foam panels work best to reduce high to mid frequencies while bass traps work best for low frequencies. Use them both for the best result.
To get rid of the echo on your mic, LyxPro VRI-10 Microphone Isolation Shield is a great product. If you are striving for realistic, airy, natural sound it will not disappoint you.
Use some of the products listed above and you will have a high-quality, echo-free acoustically treated room.
Dave Pearson is a Canadian musician, sound editor, and audiophile. He is also the founder and owner of the website SoundProofGeek. On SoundProofGeek, Pearson offers advice and resources on audio equipment, including how to assess and improve audio quality, how to troubleshoot and repair audio equipment, and how to improve the music listening experience.
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