Eli5 Why is the soundproofing that is used foam-like materials instead of dense materials?
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If you want to have a room where the sounds outside can’t reach inside; or viceversa the inside sounds can’t escape, you need **dense materials**, usually solid brick walls, and sometimes a double wall, with an air gap between. Also, heavy doors with good seals, and sometimes even double doors. I’ve seen them in recording studios and the like.
The foam you see, is used to prevent a lot of echo and reverberation inside the room. If you build a soundproof room, made of concrete or brick, and you don’t have anything in its walls, you’ll get a lot of echo, like you hear in an empty apartment, a subterranean parking lot, etc. You need the foam to prevent the sound from bouncing in the walls, reducing echo. The foam in itself doesn’t soundproof anything (you can check this holding a piece of foam in front of your face and talking to someone, they can hear you just fine. If you put in front of your face a piece of concrete or a piece of brick wall, they will have a hard time hearing you…), but it makes the inside of the soundproof room a good environment to record.
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