3cm might not be enough, but check the specs of the panel and/or the material it's made of for the absorption coefficient at different frequencies (if you don't know how to read an absorption coefficient graph, 1 is very good a.k.a. total absorption, and 0 is no absorption).

For panels of unknown characteristics, 5cm of depht of porous material tends to give "okay" absorption down to 250hz and even below that. How "okay" is going to depend on the material and construction of the panel but regardless, 5cm is a good starting point if you don't know what you're dealing with exactly.

Usually corner solutions require some kind of pressure based component for them to work properly, which regular foam "bass traps" don't have, so they may not perform very well. Again, check the specs, if there aren't, don't expect miracles. Still, better than nothing.

In that case you may want to record in a way that this wall acts as your backwall. Maybe something like this:

IF the panels have good absorption, IF you put the panels behind you when recording, and IF you use a mic screen to complement then sure, this could work. But it REEEEALY depends on the quality of the panels, if it's cheap off-brand 3cm foam panels then no.

Also, if this is the idea you're going with i'd do this:

 

Broadband traps. EVERYWHERE.

 

Please bear in mind that acoustic foams emit fumes and, since you sleep in the same room, you will be breathing in the chemicals; think carefully and take your time when choosing the materials.

At Hofa, you can clearly see the minimum required thickness and what it looks like.
In which country do you live? Please share the link to your retailer with us, then we can take a look!

HOFA Absorber Natural --> https://hofa-akustik.de/en/shop/studio-line-en/absorber/

Effectively Reduces Reverberation & Reflections: The HOFA Absorber natural provides a significant reduction of reverberation and reflections across a wide frequency spectrum starting from 200 Hz. It improves acoustics in spaces such as recording studios, rehearsal rooms, and HiFi rooms, ensuring precise and balanced room sound.

HOFA Basstrap --> https://hofa-akustik.de/en/shop/studio-line-en/basstrap/

Acoustic effectiveness of HOFA Basstraps: HOFA Basstraps achieve the highest absorption rate below 200 Hz.
The effect below 80 Hz can be increased even more if you arrange several basstraps next to each other.
Lower absorption of the frequencies above 1 kHz maintains a natural room sound and allows for targeted combination with other HOFA acoustic products. The measurements of the equivalent absorption area were carried out in a reverberation chamber according to DIN EN ISO 354:2003.

Room Acoustics Basics | Pro Tips for Better Acoustics in Your Home Studio

Function and Usage of HOFA Basstraps | HOFA-Akustik

 

Last edited: Jan 5, 2026 at 8:54 AM

What acoustic effects are present in a home studio?

If you want to objectively evaluate audio material, you should first adjust the room acoustics accordingly. Very few rooms naturally possess the necessary acoustic properties. To understand what measures need to be taken to enable critical listening to audio material, you must first know and understand the room acoustic effects and their impact.

Reflections

As mentioned earlier, sound waves are reflected off surfaces such as walls and thrown back into the room. Similar to the principle of billiard balls, the sound waves strike a wall and bounce back, with the angle of incidence equaling the angle of reflection.

This is especially true for the higher frequency range, while more stable conditions prevail in the lower frequency range. The resulting reflections are particularly problematic between parallel walls, as they cause flutter echoes. In this case, the sound bounces back and forth between the walls like ping-pong. This produces an extremely metallic and hollow sound.

To prevent this, the walls in a professional studio, or any structures built in front of the walls, are usually angled. Walls that are not parallel and are at an angle of at least 12-15° to each other ensure that the reflections do not bounce back and forth, but are instead directed to other areas of the room.

Reflections are not inherently bad: So-called early reflections, for example (reflections that arrive at the ear shortly after the direct sound), provide the human brain with information about the spatial characteristics.

Diffuse Reverberation

If reflections reach the listener up to about 50 milliseconds after the direct sound, they are referred to as early reflections. These reflections, however, continue to spread throughout the room even after reaching the listener and are reflected again by boundary surfaces. They then return to the listener, are reflected again, and so on. As a result, the reflections become progressively quieter and increasingly dense (see figure).

What we hear is reverberation, a superposition of multiple reflections that gradually decrease in volume. Because the reverberation is diffuse, it is no longer possible to deduce a specific spatial direction from the individual reflections. For critical listening through loudspeakers, the duration of the reverberation should not be too long, as this masks the spatial information contained in the audio material. However, excessively short reverberation times often make the room sound too dry. It becomes particularly problematic if the reverberation time varies significantly depending on the frequency, as this strongly colors the sound image during listening.

Standing Waves

At lower frequencies, reflections are often not perceived as individual echoes. Instead, so-called standing waves or room modes are formed. This occurs whenever sound waves (more precisely, multiples of half the wavelength) correspond to the distance between two surfaces in the room. The sound wave thus "fits" precisely into the space between the surfaces. It therefore appears as if the sound wave has come to a standstill, even though it continues to be reflected back and forth between the walls. As a result, the sound pressure, and thus the perceived sound pressure level, varies greatly depending on the location. In some places in the room, a sound of this wavelength is very loud, while in others it is only perceived as very quiet.

A standing wave can form not only between two surfaces (such as ceiling-floor or two opposite walls), but also between four or six surfaces. These are then referred to as tangential and oblique modes. This creates a very "wavy" frequency response in the low-frequency range, which is particularly dependent on the position in the room. Furthermore, these room modes resonate for a very long time, which is why the bass range is often perceived as booming or rumbling. This is extremely detrimental both when critically monitoring through loudspeakers and when recording.

Standing waves are a particular problem in small rooms, as the sound energy initially dissipates very little. The unpleasant effects are then especially pronounced, and the room modes resonate for a very long time. Due to the smaller room dimensions, the standing waves are very pronounced in the upper bass range. For the home studio, the bass range therefore presents a particular challenge, especially since the necessary acoustic treatments require a lot of space, which is often simply not available.

CONCLUSION: What should an ideal room for critical listening look like?

The room should ideally have no specific inherent sound. However, this doesn't mean that the room shouldn't have any reverberation or reflections. That would be the case with an anechoic chamber, which, however, is not a suitable acoustic model for critical listening.

The room shouldn't have excessively long reverberation so that reverberation tails in the listening material aren't masked. A reverberation time of 0.2–0.3 seconds is usually standard. Furthermore, the reverberation should be as uniform as possible across all frequencies. The reverberation should also be as diffuse as possible, meaning it shouldn't exhibit a preferred direction.

First reflections arriving at the listening position within the first 20 milliseconds should be avoided at all costs, as these strongly influence the perceived frequency response through comb filtering effects.

In the bass range, standing waves should definitely be avoided. These cause significantly different decay times, which make it difficult to assess the sound ("Is that how much it booms in the recording, or is it my room?"). Furthermore, they drastically alter the frequency response if the standing waves are not sufficiently dampened.

Source: https://blog.beyerdynamic.de/raumakustik-im-homestudio-verbessern/

 

My selection is this — I found same ones but with 5cm thickness

so... nothing on secondary walls and everything on primary, or just to be symmetric to my position in center?

such as?

 

Will they remove paint when you take them off?
I'd guess it is best to have as much dampening as you can afford, accounting for strategic placement and budget.
With all the tips, this has turned into a nice reference thread.

 

What is the absorbant coefficient for frequencies across the spectrum of this product, and can you give us a link to it?

 

Sadly producer doesn't provide it.. I will message them about it and meanwhile look for something similar at the same time

For some reason everything I find is a foam

 

If you want a really silent room just have Joe Rogan make a joke before recording.

 

In what country are you residing if I may ask?

 

Poland

 

If you really want cheap DIY solution, you could buy some rockwool slabs(you can shape them as you want), adhesive spray and fabric you like, and maybe some transfer paper to print logos and pictures on the fabric.

 

Spoiler: Technical Aids for Improving Room Acoustics 02 -Absorbers

Technical Aids for Improving Room Acoustics 02 -Absorbers

Porous Absorbers

Open-cell foams, fiberglass panels, carpets, thick velour curtains – in short, all soft and porous materials into which sound can easily penetrate act as absorbers. When sound penetrates the pores of the material, the air molecules rub against it. This process extracts energy from the sound, which is converted into heat within the absorber. Friction is greatest where the air particles move fastest. This occurs at a distance from the wall corresponding to a quarter of a wavelength.

Operating Principle

The following properties result from this operating principle:

- Porous absorbers must have a certain thickness to achieve a broadband effect.

- The effect is maximum at high frequencies and decreases at low frequencies, whose quarter wavelength is greater than the thickness of the absorber or its distance from the wall.

- The effect can be extended to low frequencies by increasing the distance to the wall or using a thicker absorber.
- Up to the cutoff frequency, porous absorbers have a strong absorption effect.

Therefore, porous absorbers are very good high- and mid-frequency absorbers, but have only a weak effect in the bass range. The frequency-dependent effectiveness is indicated by the absorption coefficient α. A value of α=1 means that 100% of the sound energy is absorbed and thus no sound is reflected back into the room.

Commercial absorber modules are primarily offered as open-cell polyurethane foam or melamine resin foam (Basotect®). Pressed fiberglass panels encased in fabric are also available.

A frequently asked question regarding foam absorbers is whether they can soundproof a room. The clear answer is no. Absorbers, in general, have virtually no sound-absorbing effect. They serve solely to improve the acoustics of a home studio. For effective soundproofing, you need to take other measures, which are beyond the scope of this guide.

t.akustik SA-N65 10pcs set - 89 € (also delivers to Poland) You can call Thomann if you have any questions!

https://www.thomann.pl/the_t.akustik_sa_n65_10pcs_set.htm?shp=eyJjb3VudHJ5IjoicGwiLCJjdXJyZW5jeSI6MTAsImxhbmd1YWdlIjoxMn0=&reload=1
https://www.thomann.co.uk/the_t.aku...LCJjdXJyZW5jeSI6NCwibGFuZ3VhZ2UiOjJ9&reload=1

• Convoluted Foam Set
• Absorber
• Main working range: From approximately 1250 Hz
• Material: Polyurethane soft foam
• Bulk density: 25 kg/m³
• Compression hardness at 40 % deformation 5.0 ± 0.5 kPa
• Tensile strength: Minimum 100 kPa
• Elongation: Minimum 80%
• Flame retardant according to MVSS 302 (burning rate < 100 mm / min.) corresponds to DIN 4102 B3 (combustible)
• Panel size: 1000 x 500 x 65 mm
• Base: 20 mm
• Knob: 45 mm
• According to DIN 4102 building material class B3
• Set contains 10 individual panels
• Suitable adhesive: Article no. 177265 (not included)

 

Here's a place that I found with efficient panels at the 45 mm depth but couldn't find prices.

https://fibrotech-poland.pl/da/produktinformation/

This place has excellent prices (as compared to what I'd pay in CHF!!!

https://asound.pl/akustyka-pomieszczen/absorbery-akustyczne-szerokopasmowe/

 

Any cheap mic shield will do.
And they start at 40 euros.
Put a blanket behind you, problem solved.

Check this REAL WORLD (not tchit tchat) test :

 

don't do anything and just use headphones. wait until your living situation improves. don't waste time, energy and money on such a small room. buying makes always more fun than having it. even if you wanna record something. just use a blanket above your head and the mic or put your studio in a backpack and find a better sounding room (friends house, parents, walkable dressing room of your girlfriend). just make your room cozier. I recommend the youtube channel "Dear Modern" for that. Trust me, your results with acoustic treatments wouldn't be that much better in a small room, you will never be comfortable in your bedroom and you will be annoyed all the time that you wasted so much money when you move to a different place. GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) is an epidemic. fight it!

 

I admit with own logo for this price may be good indeed, although I can't see the graphs here — why you reccomend it?

 

Right now I haven't bought anything

I have posted sound previews previously and I think they're tragic

 

For a couple of reasons...They say they are using Isover PT80 mineral wool which is a widely used absorption material and the 11 cm thickness option will give you both high and lower frequency coverage. The cover color options are a bonus.

Edit...You'll still need at least two bass traps.

 

What about 6cm?

Do they have any you would reccomend?.. I apologize for asking you to search for me