How To Get Rid Of Echo In A Room
Reducing Echo in a Room Cheaply: 10 Budget-Friendly Solutions
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You've done it—after hours of research, sweat, and trial/error—your home audio studio is ready! You've got the best mics, mixer, and DAW, all ready to go.
But, when you record for the first time, you notice something you weren't expecting. And it's devastating.
Echo, the recording-ruining reverberations that can't be overcome even with the best mic.
Plus, you've maxed out your budget already with your studio gear, and messing with gain/compression isn't cutting that echo one bit.
So, what do you do? How do you fix this issue without spending (another) fortune?
Reducing echo in a room cheaply is possible—with some creativity and patience.
Check out our ultimate guide on how to reduce echo cheaply. We'll cover the causes of room echo, how to find problem spots and 10 ways to get rid of it on a budget. Let's get started!
What Causes Echoes? How to Locate Problem Spots
As we all know, sound travels in waves. When these waves hit a surface or material that has high density (think stone), these waves will bounce and reverberate back towards the source.
This is a really fun occurrence when you're out for a hike, but a potentially devastating one in a recording studio.
Materials like wood, tile, and stone all reflect sound waves. So, too, does glass and drywall.
If you're starting to think, "wow, the way most houses and apartments are set up makes them highly prone to echo"—you're right.
The disappointing fact is that almost every room in your house is, quite literally, an echo chamber. They're full of hard surfaces that sound waves bounce off of with complete ease.
Common Sources of Echo in Home Recording Studios
Here are some common household surfaces and items that will create echo:
- Bare Walls, Floors, Ceilings: Tile, drywall, wood, concrete—all of these will cause serious echo problems if left bare.
- High Ceilings/Cathedral Ceilings: Ceilings above average height, especially ceilings that are vaulted in a Cathedral or Gable style, are massive echo sources. That's fun when you're recording yourself singing and you want the echoes to amplify your voice, but it's a nightmare otherwise!
- Furniture: Believe it or not, even furniture can echo if it's made of metal, wood, or plastic. It can make for some pretty annoying echo, too. The different shapes of furniture cause all sorts of wacky reverberations.
- Windows: Glass is just as tricky. A room with several windows is likely to result in a "tinny" echo that your ears will never appreciate.
- Exposed Pipes/Air Ducts: If you're working in an unfinished basement, these metal fixtures are going to be one heck of a problem.
- Standing Waves: This happens when two sound waves collide with each other mid-air. Typically, this will happen with lower frequencies, and are very noticeable.
- Corners: The corners of your room are one place where sound waves bounce and reverberate wildly. Bare corners will be a consistent source of frustration.
See the Difference: Recording Studio vs. Empty Bedroom
Finally, let's observe what a recording studio looks like vs. what a spare bedroom looks like:
Professional Recording Studio:
Spare Bedroom:
It's pretty easy to see which room is going to echo—and will need a lot of work in order to stop that echo.
How Does Soundproofing Work?
Soundproofing is a process in which audio engineers identify and remove sources of echo. Typically, all they need to do when they find a potential problem is just cover it up with something softer, usually called a "sound treatment".
Sound treatments work by absorbing sound waves. The most common sound treatment looks something like this:
The thick acoustic foam soaks up sound waves, rather than reflecting them around the room. Foam isn't very dense, so the sound waves quite literally soak in between the particles and get stuck there.
Most sound treatments also use shapes like curves or triangles (like the pyramid shapes above) that prevent sound from reflecting directly back to the source. Rather, they create a "soft bounce" that sends any tiny reflections further into the sound treatment.
Bass traps, placed in the corners of the room, are another sound treatment that specifically targets standing waves and corner echo.
Another soundproofing material used in professional studios is mass-loaded vinyl. This incredible material is installed within the walls of the studio, and absorbs virtually every sound. It's used in many studios to avoid having to cover the walls with thick acoustic foam which looks a bit silly. Mass-loaded vinyl is pretty expensive, though. It's also pretty difficult to install, so you won't find it in the budget-friendly solutions listed below.
All soundproofing work is geared toward removing or covering up surfaces that will reflect, as well as eliminating standing waves.
Oftentimes, you don't have to cover every square inch of your studio. You just need to tackle the harshest spots and have good enough coverage that your mic won't pick those waves up anymore.
Can My Software Fix Echo (Reverb)?
Don't let a plugin developer lie to you—reverb is nearly impossible to remove in the mixing/editing phase. There are things you can do to lessen the impact of an echo, but once it's there, there's no good way to remove it.
You can use a plugin to reduce it a bit, and they can come in handy. But reverb-reduction plugins can have negative effects on the sounds you're trying to preserve, so they're not ideal by any means.
If you've got an echo problem, it's best to solve it before you record, not after.
Personally, I've seen a horrible echo effectively kill an entire short film. I thought that I could fix it later on while editing, but I couldn't have been more wrong.
Don't make my mistake—fix echoing issues in the real world, not in your DAW.
Soundproofing for Voice Over, Podcasting and Streaming
Luckily, soundproofing for voice over, podcasting, and streaming is much easier than it is for music recording. There are less sound sources involved—no instruments, few moving pieces, etc.
That makes it easier to deal with echo, since you won't have to test each instrument/voice individually.
On top of that, you'll likely be using a condenser mic, which is naturally better at ignoring echo. Condenser mics have a polar pattern that targets the mic's "listening" right at your voice, rather than picking up everything in the room.
So, you likely won't have to worry about doing a complete and total soundproofing renovation in your studio. All you'll have to do is find the worst spots for echo and take care of them. Once you do that, most of your echo will simply disappear.
How to Reduce Echo in a Room Cheaply: 10 Budget Soundproofing Ideas
Alright, now that we've covered all the basics and concepts, it's time to get to work. Here are 10 Budget-Friendly ways to reduce echo in a room cheaply:
1. Invest in Acoustic Sound Panels
"Wait, I thought this was supposed to be about cheap soundproofing!"
Surprisingly enough, sound treatments don't have to cost a fortune. For about $50, you can get 20 square feet of foam sound panels.
That will be more than enough to treat a problematic wall in your studio.
Obviously, if your soundproofing budget were a bit higher, you could treat more walls/surfaces. However, since we're trying to keep costs down, I'd suggest investing in sound panels and using them where they're needed most.
For podcasting, streaming, and voice over, this is likely going to be the wall directly in front of you.
If you're at a desk right in front of a wall, that's where most of your echo will come from. Strategically placing a few sound panels there will have a huge positive impact on your sound (and your visual aesthetic, too).
2. Get Rugs—Like, a Lot of Rugs
The easiest way to treat a noisy wood or concrete floor is to cover that sucker up!
The fabric of a rug isn't completely soundproof, but it will absorb nearly every part of a sound wave. Plus, they're not hard to find at bargain prices, or even for free. Ask your relatives, friends, and neighbors if they have any old rugs they'd be happy to part with.
Since rugs are bulky, heavy, and hard to dispose of, chances are you'll get some ecstatic "yes!" replies.
You can even hang rugs on your walls if you want to. They'll do a great job of absorbing sound, functioning like big, slightly less-effective sound panels. Putting a thin, cloth-like rug on your desk, too, can help eliminate reverb from the desk surface.
It's important to try and get the thickest, shaggiest rugs you can for increased absorption. The closer you stick to seventies trends, the better you'll sound.
One of the better things about using rugs for soundproofing is that they make your studio more comfortable and stylish. Even for people who could care less about interior decorating, working in a cold gray room can get old.
So, do your studio and yourself a favor—get some rugs.
3. Cover Your Windows
Glass reflects sound in a uniquely annoying way. It's thin and brittle, and the echoes that come from it are similarly thin. They're hard on the ears, and they can make even a rich, deep voice fall a bit flat.
Fortunately, it's very easy to solve this problem.
It's probably the easiest fix on the entire list—just cover those windows! I won't spend too much time on this one, since most people already use at least something to block out light and peeping eyes.
Make sure your window coverings won't reflect sound—some blinds (especially wooden ones) won't do much to fix your sound.
Get some curtains with a thick, soft fabric, and you'll be good to go.
4. Swap Out Furniture
Furniture is one of those tricky things when it comes to soundproofing. There isn't much you can do to remove the echo potential of furniture.
So, if you realize that a chair or table is causing more echo than you thought possible, it simply has to go.
Fortunately, furniture likely won't cause too many issues when you're recording with a condenser mic. Furniture doesn't reverberate as much as walls and floors, so it won't show up as much in an already targeted condenser mic.
The best advice for furniture in your studio is to make it as soft as possible. Trade out wooden chairs for recliners and sofas. Get a cushioned office or desk chair for yourself, and simply let coziness reign supreme.
It's the golden rule of soundproofing: the softer it is, the fewer echoes you'll have.
What if you're recording a roundtable podcast, though? You can't work without the table, so soundproofing in these situations is pretty difficult.
If you're recording a roundtable (no matter how many mics, one or several), you should expect to spend extra time getting your mic placement and mix perfect, so you won't have much echo.
5. How to Soundproof High, Echoing Ceilings
If you've got the budget for a few acoustic panels and you're dealing with a noisy ceiling, you know what to do.
Ceilings that echo are particularly troublesome because there isn't much you can do to change the shape of your house. Placing sound treatments on the ceiling will help trap sound waves before they have a chance to bounce around too much.
Something else you can do is create a false ceiling by suspending a blanket about 8 feet off the ground above your mic. This will prevent sound waves from getting up into the ceilings, and absorb the ones that do before they make their way back to the mic.
Is it pretty? No.
Is it going to be a hassle to set it up and tear down every time? Yes.
Is it better than screaming at your DAW when you can't clean up your echoing sound? Absolutely!
6. Get a Microphone Shield
Again, this might not be an option if you've already burned up your whole studio budget. If you've got some spare change, however, getting a microphone shield might be one of the best things you can do.
People often get microphone shields and pop filters confused.
Pop filters go in front of the mic and help cut down on plosive sounds. Microphone shields are a U-shaped piece of acoustic foam that form a sort of loose cocoon for the mic:
A decent microphone shield will only cost you about $45, but you can spend up to three times that much if you really want to. At the end of the day, though, the performance of a microphone shield will be about the same no matter how much you spend.
The advantage of a microphone shield is that it absorbs sound waves after they hit the mic and before they have a chance to go anywhere else. As a result, very few soundwaves will be hitting your walls or floors directly, and the ones that do will be pretty weak.
If there was only one thing you could do to reduce echo in a room cheaply, getting a microphone shield could be it.
7. Shrink the Room with Blankets/Rugs
Spacious rooms are notoriously echo-prone.
If you find yourself working in a space larger than you need, consider hanging some blankets or rugs to condense the space. That gives sound waves fewer places to go and shorter distances to travel.
Sound moves incredibly fast, but it isn't light. This means that the farther away an echo is coming from, the longer it will take to reach the microphone and the more noticeable the echo will be.
A wave that only traveled two feet out and echoed back is imperceptible; a wave that has a 50-foot round trip will make its presence known.
Setting up some blankets and rugs to shrink the room is an easy and effective way of reducing noise.
If you're working in a basement, living room, or any space with an open floor plan, consider implementing this. You'll be surprised at how effective it is.
8. Try a Different Room
Bit of an obvious one, isn't it? However, if you have the ability to relocate your home recording studio, do it.
This won't be an option for everyone, but many people who have the choice will choose to do nothing out of stubbornness. Don't be one of those people. If there's another room in your home, even another spot in the same room, it's worth the effort.
If you are lucky enough to have a few rooms to choose from, pick the one that most resembles a cube. Cube shapes have the least distortion of sound waves, whereas larger, differently-shaped rooms will amplify and distort more.
It may sound crazy, but if you have a walk-in closet big enough to fit your gear, it'll make a pretty good recording studio.
9. Get Plants and Soft Decor
Plants, especially ones with large, wide leaves, are great at diffusing sound waves.
Even just a few house plants can make a pretty big difference. Including a tall, leafy plant (think ferns or fiddle leaf plant) in the corner of a room will cut down on echoes and standing waves, too.
Similarly, the decor you choose for your studio isn't just about looks. Textiles, such as macrame wall hangings, faux fur throw blankets, and tapestries will all absorb sound waves. Even a canvas painting does a better job of reducing echo than a bare wall.
Try to stay away from hard, framed decor—these will reflect sound waves, not absorb them.
One thing you might not expect to do a good job at absorbing sound is a filled bookcase, but they're surprisingly effective. Putting a nice, full bookcase against a wall or in a corner will help prevent sound waves from bouncing back harshly.
Paper books feel hard to the touch, but they're not very dense, and can be effective at absorbing sounds. A bookcase isn't a game-changing solution, but it's better than a bare wall.
10. Inexpensive Soundproofing Materials
They may not be pretty, but egg cartons and styrofoam do a pretty good job of sound absorption/diffusion. If you can find large, clean portions of this material, they can be put to good use in your studio.
Egg cartons, specifically, work best if you can stack three or four together. If anything, they're a good idea for echo-causing spots that aren't easy to see, so their ugly appearance won't bother you so much.
Cork is also a very cheap, effective material that traps sound waves similarly to acoustic foam. It's not quite as effective as acoustic foam, but it's a great option for places that need a medium-level of treatment.
Finally, burlap is a very cheap and easy-to-obtain fabric that will help reduce echo in a room without breaking the bank. You can find it at any home improvement or crafts store, and hang it on the walls for a cheap, decently-effective soundproofing solution.
Also, if you can find burlap coffee sacks, they'll make for a very trendy form of soundproof decor.
Conclusion: Reducing Echo in a Room Cheaply
Make no mistake: echo is one of the toughest audio issues to deal with. It can't be easily removed by an audio plugin, meaning you'll have to solve the problem before you record.
If you want to reduce echo in a room, but don't have a high budget, there are still many materials and strategies available to you.
The main principle of soundproofing is to cover or remove hard surfaces that reflect sound waves easily. Whether you do that with rugs, acoustic panels, or a microphone shield, you'll never regret the effort.
If you learned something new about soundproofing, have any questions, or a suggestion on an echo-reducing strategy we didn't discuss, leave us a comment below!
And, if you found this article helpful, don't forget to share on Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit!
How To Get Rid Of Echo In A Room
Source: https://virtualtilt.com/reducing-echo-in-room-cheaply/
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