Acoustic panels for a home studio
Updated: 23 October 2026
The spare room sounds boxy as soon as you record a voice note. Acoustic panels for a home studio help when the first ones land on the early reflections, and they stop helping when you ask a 10 mm board to act as a bass trap. This is a placement order for a UK bedroom or box room. The scored rows are on the [acoustic panel comparison](/hub/diy-supplies/acoustic-panel). Fixing is on [how to install acoustic panels](/hub/diy-supplies/acoustic-panel/sub/acoustic-panel-how-to-install). The notes are from 19 October 2026, read with GIK Acoustics, NOVA Acoustics and Thomann UK. We did not measure your room. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
The spare room sounds boxy as soon as you record a voice note.
The spare room sounds boxy as soon as you record a voice note. Acoustic panels for a home studio help when the first ones land on the early reflections, and they stop helping when you ask a 10 mm board to act as a bass trap. This is a placement order for a UK bedroom or box room. The scored rows are on the acoustic panel comparison. Fixing is on how to install acoustic panels. The notes are from 19 October 2026, read with GIK Acoustics, NOVA Acoustics and Thomann UK. We did not measure your room. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Thickness | Coverage | Stated job | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  AudioSilk AudioSilk 4-pack room kit | 10 mm | 2.69 m² | Echo in a studio or rented room | 8.4 | about £120.00 | View offer |
 Sonic Acoustics Sonic Acoustics 12-pack foam | 25 mm | 0.72 m² | Spot echo control | 5.5 | about £11.02 | View offer | |
| Alternative |  Focusound Focusound 50-pack 2 inch foam | 2 inch stated | About 4.65 m² | Echo in a studio or games room | 6.2 | about £61.99 | View offer |
On this page
Find the first bounce before you buy another pack
Early reflections are the copies that hit a nearby wall or the ceiling and reach you just after the direct sound. Sit in the chair and have someone walk a mirror along the side wall. When you see the tweeter, or the microphone, in the glass, mark that patch. Repeat for the other side and the wall behind you. NOVA describes this mirror trick in its install guide. Borrow the method.
Buy for those marks. Pleased AudioSilk reviewers put boards at reflection points. One said a small air gap did more than tape flat on the plaster. Two pieces on the marks beat a full wall of 10 mm tiles in the wrong place. GIK's note adds a free step: face the short wall where you can, and avoid the exact centre of a symmetrical box.
A small voice setup and a small speaker setup
For speech, treat the side-wall mirror marks beside the mic, then the wall behind the microphone if it is close. The far wall is next if the take still slaps. The ceiling mark comes last. That matches NOVA's order: sides, behind the source, the opposite wall, then the ceiling.
For monitors, set the speakers first. Thomann UK describes an equilateral triangle between the tweeters and your head, with tweeters at ear height. Distance to the front wall changes bass through boundary interference. Moving a monitor 20 cm can be worth more than another tile. Then treat the side-wall marks, the wall behind the monitors, and the wall behind you. One AudioSilk board, 1160 × 580 mm, can cover one side patch. If you only own Sonic's 0.72 m², spend it on one mirror mark and stop.
What these panels will not do to bass
More tiles on the wrong wall do not become bass traps. Bass in a small room builds in corners. AudioSilk is 10 mm, Sonic is 25 mm, and Focusound is stated at 2 inch. NOVA says a 40 mm panel is not a bass trap, and 40 mm is already thicker than everything here except that stated Focusound wedge. United Kingdom AudioSilk reviews say highs and calls improve, and bass does not.
Record a short voice take, then the same line with one panel on a side-wall mark. If the brightness drops and the boom does not, you have reached the pack's limit. Another foam pack adds area. It does not install a corner trap.
When the spare room needs more than a pack
Stop adding packs when the reflections are treated and the bass remains, or when the problem was never inside the room. A specialist trap is the step after a thin pack, especially if the low end still shifts when you move the chair. Focusound buyers who wanted neighbours quiet were disappointed. Approved Document E is about the construction, not a target a bedroom tile can hit.
A rented room needs written permission and a fixing you can undo. A freestanding board at the mirror marks avoids drilling. An 11 kg MCW slat is a clumsy first choice unless you already wanted the timber. If cables are unknown or the plaster is damp, a fitter checks the wall first.
Common questions
Where do the first panels go for a microphone?
On the side walls, where a mirror shows the microphone from your chair. The wall behind the mic is next if it is close. The far wall and a ceiling spot come after, if panels remain. One board behind a cardioid mic is a better use of about 0.67 m² than a border of thin tiles around a poster. Mark the glass before you open a second pack.
Where do they go for speakers?
Set an equilateral triangle with tweeters at ear height, and keep the seat off the exact centre, as Thomann UK and GIK describe. Then treat the side-wall mirror points, the wall behind the monitors, and the wall behind you. Moving the speakers relative to the front wall changes bass before any panel does. A 20 cm shift can beat another tile.
How many panels before bass traps?
Enough for the taped mirror marks, plus the wall behind the source if a test still slaps. In the small bedroom sketch that can be two to four boards the size of an AudioSilk panel. It is not a number that fixes the room. If the low end is the remaining fault, more 10 mm or 25 mm tiles are the wrong next buy. The seller's pack count is not a result for your room.
Will 10 mm PET or 25 mm foam do the bass?
No. AudioSilk reviews separate the two results: highs ease, bass does not. Sonic's 25 mm tiles are a smaller trial of the same limit. NOVA's warning that 40 mm is not a bass trap sits above both. Focusound's stated 2 inch foam is the deepest profile here, and it is still not a corner trap, even if the wedges recover and the pads hold.
When is this beyond a DIY pack?
When the early reflections are done and the bass is still wrong, when the issue is a party wall or Building Regulations, or when cables, damp or height make mounting unsafe. Another multipack from this comparison repeats a thickness you have already heard. A consultant or a specialist trap is the honest next step. A rented bedroom can still take a small reversible trial on the mirror marks, with written consent.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Listings captured 19 October 2026. Updated 22.10.2026.
- Approved Document E (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- HSE: how to reduce noise (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- University of Salford: sound absorption (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Ecophon UK: absorption classes (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Resonics: foam versus PET (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Resonics: panels for homes (retrieved 22.10.2026)