How To Improve Audio Quality From Your Desktop Speakers/Monitors Using Isolation Pads

How to get better sound quality and improve HD audio quality of your desktop speakers/studio monitors for $25 with Rockville Foam Isolation Pads..for the budget conscious consumer!
Speaker isolation pads will decouple your speakers or monitors from the surface they are sitting on which will improve the clarity of your high definition audio.
Rockville Foam Studio Monitor Isolation Pads: amzn.to/2y0izOa (US)
amzn.to/2wJBVa0 (Canada)
Please note, the above links are affiliated. Thanks for your support!
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• How To Improve Audio Q...
Music by Esbe - / esbe88
This entire video was shot on a Panasonic Lumix G7 camera.
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Thanks for watching!

[@BoomDocs14K]

Great video and execution of presenting knowledge and insight. I know it takes time to produce and edit videos like this. Thanks for taking the time to do so! Keep up the great work!

[@oldnikonian343]

I bought some "Universal Vibro-Pads" that are just about identical to yours for £25 (GBP) and although to be honest I didn't notice an improvement in sound quality, my son no longer complains about the sound of my bass carrying to his bedroom upstairs and disturbing him, which was the reason I bought the isolation pads in the first place.

[@Narriz]

Isolators or acoustic pads don't do anything to sound quality but to how human ear perceives the sound. If there already isn't much reverb in your listening position / room the isolators won't do much. Most important is that the elements of the speakers are at your ear level. Sound quality specifically can only be affected by quality of the speaker elements and the sound source.

[@Myxo14]

@Narriz Isolators do improve preceived sounds quality as it eliminates resonance created by the surface the speakers are sitting on (in my case, a wooded desk). There are plenty of sound clips illustrating the difference (New Record Day has a fantastic video). This is an old video, but currently I have Gallo Strata 2s on my desk sitting on Iso Acoustic pucks. When using the pucks, the phantom center is much clearer.

[@brianlowesterbrianlowester5562]

I always used milk crates for speaker stands back in the day. They held the heaviest of speakers and put everything at the right height.

[@edwinragland2883]

I still do. And make excellent shelf space.

[@paulguy2545]

This gave me an idea of using some Packaging Foam Blocks that came with my Hardware Synthesizer, and this seems to work also, saving me some money ;)!

[@Kampsy]

Wow I’m glad you made this video! I’ve been looking for something like this. These look solid and for a very affordable price. Thank you!

[@scottlowell493]

I made my own 4" tall risers, with foam isolating discs. The risers are acoustically dead solid wood with filler and painted gloss black. They put the tweeter just above ear level, and decouple the woofer from the desktop.

[@andreassouth1523]

Hello.What kind of wood?MDF OR OAK?I want to built some.

[@tomasinacovell4293]

Funny because that's just I ordered some Sound Addicted - Studio Monitor Isolation Pads for 3-4.5 inches Small Speakers for my 4" M-Audio desktop speakers.

[@catho6785]

Great video - looks like a great way to improve speaker quality with little outlay!

[@mikeydread2414]

Great Video for sure big sound quality yes in barbados

[@Myxo14]

My parents are from Guyana 🙌🏾

[@Malchior7]

Great review! Vary informative but succinct. Would you recommend foams over spike insulators for better sound quality?

[@YoureDoomed82]

nice clean video! funny tho ur playing with headphones on

[@Myxo14]

LOL...it didn't occur to me till you pointed it out!

[@scottredford4801]

Great video, easy to get through and very informative

[@Myxo14]

🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@JoshTechgamer]

great video man i might get these when i upgrade my speakers down the road

[@EddieSlabb]

Clever application of foam, not sure if that set up would be worth 25 to me be clever nonetheless. I can't help but notice the head phones in the final shot. Do you preffer the audio on your head set of the desktop speakers?

[@Kessellish]

Nice setup :) love garfield on your desk :D

[@shanehen]

If the improvement isn’t measurable then it’s tough to overcome the placebo effect.

[@tunnis7us]

Great demo

[@Dobrovinskiy]

Nice, I must try it

[@BagusWibisono]

hi.. you prefer this m audio or edifier?

[@Rio-uv1gs]

Which is better: 1. Foam with speakers on the desk 2. Stands with the speakers off the desk 3. Short stands on the desk with speakers 4. Stands with speakers off the desk with foam in-between stand and speaker. ????

[@thesiamface]

look Yo' Im in the same research. good pointing. Have a fkcn neighbor shouting about my lower frequencies, so looking for a good way to isolate them. Think that the stands were the solution till I found the magic foam, which I think does the job Im expecting. The stands aren't bad, specially if you got a pair of Technics like I do. Read over there that yoga bricks are usefull too, dont think they match with a classic pair of stands, but just wrote it down. peace.

[@Franciobr]

Hey, made the same research and did some tests. The stands are a must for me because I want the speakers' tweeter at ear level. The foam diminished the vibration on my desk by about 20% when I played a 90Hz sine wave through it. I measured the vibration with an app on my phone. So, for me stands for tweeter height adjustment and foam for vibration dampening made a big difference.

[@thomasb4163]

Video was helpful, thank you. BTW, I love Thom Yorke's Eraser album desktop theme :) Great music taste. Cheers

[@320roscoe]

Isolation Pads for PC(1")?? 1/4 wood under a Game stream the fans and power supply fans vibrates the table think it would help?

[@elijahnang90]

Would this effect my neighbours from upstairs in a good way

[@Jarxiel]

This is exactly what I want to know 😂

[@White1nsane]

Nice vid, Can I ask what keyboard is that ?

[@Myxo14]

It's a Drevo Calibur. I made a review of it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/epekkmt4qtmVY6s

[@Myxo14]

Just realized I was using my old keyboard in this review. It was a corsair k95 I think.

[@White1nsane]

@@Myxo14 thank you very much :)

[@matrixate]

Nothing beats spiked stands. You get the same results with two large dictionaries.

[@laptech3767]

My edifier are already angled

[@myheaven2626]

For me its yamaha hs8 with the sub hs8s

[@Pirxel]

yoga blocks are cheaper and do the same. I still prefer proper stands, work and look better.

[@mrkinetic]

In my experience these kind of foam pads don't do that much to isolate. They do a good job of raising and angling the speakers though.

[@robertct06]

I noticed my desk has a lot of noise coming from the speakers. (I can hear the sound coming from the desk). You think that would help with that?

[@Isthatchicken01]

The sound difference you are probably hearing is the sound not bouncing off the surface it is sitting on with it raised and angled

[@taxi615]

Does this really work or its the same snake oil that 500$ cables make a difference

[@Myxo14]

Most recording studios implement some form of speaker isolation...if it didn't work, they wouldn't pay for it. I think with all things audio, you have to balance the law of diminishing returns. Conversations in the audio community rarely end diplomatically (specifically the 'snake oil' ones), so I try to avoid them. With that said, I personally believe if you have $20k Magico speakers, connected to $20k mono blocks, a $500 does sound better than an average speaker cable. I know this is true cause I've heard it with my own ears. If you can afford $40k of audio equipment, the $500 cable is a moot point. In a system like that, the weakest links are in the cables.

[@taxi615]

@@Myxo14 yeah but that's talking about millionaires building systems that 99% won't have. I'm taking about the average joe. Even I consider myself above the average Joe having a total HT kit over the 30K mark and don't use anything close to 200$-500$ cables. Never tried pads under speakers but I real doubt it will change the sound of anything. All I see is to modify the angle of speakers. Im curious thats why Im asking no hate from me but I always find it funny when people tell me why aren't you using these 500 or more cable for your speakers aren't you wasting sound. Honestly if it does make some cleaner difference our ears will never hear it. From the tests I've done a simple cable you can get from monoprice will do just fine. Its a debate that will go one years beyond out death lol

[@Myxo14]

In the case of my bookshelf speakers making direct contact with my wooden desk, I did find the pads helped with sound clarity. If book shelf speaks came with spikes, the need to decouple may not be an issue. Over a year ago I swapped out my book shelves with Gallo Micro speakers, and I use rubber rings to decouple them from the desk...works great. Further to the great cable debate, like you said, that one will go on for ages!

[@taxi615]

@@Myxo14 cool thanks into the rabbit whole we all go lol

[@bebisibeb]

nice desk, is it real wood?

[@Myxo14]

1/3" is real walnut, but the center is particle board.

[@drampadreg1386]

A box of sand is a wonderful decoupler.

[@matrixate]

Drampa Dreg Yes...that will work. They sell stands that you have to fill with sand. Nice. I just use two heavy dictionaries. I have stands for my larger speakers but I use dictionaries for my smaller monitors. My. Avantones just sit on foam as well.

[@DSRT888]

@@matrixate Are you guys serious? I'm about to go the beach right now lol.

[@Star_Sn1per]

Pads won't really help those m-audio's.. They just sound boring to start with.

[@Myxo14]

You're right, isolators won't alter the sound profile of any speaker. What speakers would you recommend?

[@Star_Sn1per]

Jbl 305 or Mackie MR624

[@gurumajuindonesia]

YAMAHA HS7

[@DarkPa1adin]

@@Myxo14 Adam A7X

[@nlkg7942]

@@Myxo14 jbl 305p or 308p

[@grimegrimegrime1]

Bruv just wanted to point out you have the pads the wrong way round lol , I bought mine from China on ebay for £5 ($7) delivered to the UK cool video though

[@Myxo14]

Nope...i have them positioned the right way for my desk setup. The tweeter should point up at you...if the speakers are sitting below your ears. Thanks for watching!

[@wilhelmjohansson1643]

This is just some gimmick, the difference in frequency response is due to the speaker sitting higher/lower and not due to the pads. The pads only help to not carry the vibrations forward. With that said the pads does not improve the sound by isolation but because they raise the speakers higher up.

[@Myxo14]

+Wilhelm Johansson Thanks for your comment! We are probably going to have to agree to disagree on this subject. If this truly was a gimmick, professional recording studios probably wouldn't still be using them today. There is always going to be sound energy transmission when placing a speaker on any surface. The purpose of an isolator is to limit this transmission. Original when I recorded this video, I talked more in depth about speaker and cabinet resonance and how this resonance distorts sound waves...thus affecting sound clarity. I cut it out of the video cause I felt I sounded long winded. There are many factors affecting sound reproduction...noise floor being one of them; source material being another.

[@wilhelmjohansson1643]

Firstly I'm sorry I was so rude and I really apologize, I found some site that had done a lot of test of different materials etc etc. The most important thing however is "if you like it better just roll with it". I tried some product that resembled these a lot but it did not have any negative nor positive impact on my sound so I kindly returned them. Sorry again for bashing and it's lovely to see content being created by everyone and you did a very good job of editing and recording yours. I were probably in a bad mood or smth, Kindly

[@japonapie]

It is not a gimmick to isolate them, however I have seen this is not the best way to do it but still somewhat effective, also those monitors are not in optimal positioning (too far apart, one behind the screen). Monitors does not give you the best experience in stuff like gaming/movies as they are flat and while you can EQ them it is not cost effective that way, they are expensive for a reason and that reason is to be as flat as possible for mixing, hence the "monitor" term. You would be better of getting a hifi system with better sub sound than these for entertaintment. If you are a into music creation and don't mind the tearing from using them with other purposes then is not a bad idea.

[@Myxo14]

Thanks for you comment! I've been meaning to do a follow up video addressing speaker placement and imaging...I can talk speakers for hours...I'm actually quite uptight about speaker placement and position! I don't want to start an argument with you; however, we definitely have opposing opinions about monitors. Firstly, my monitors are only 3.5 feet apart...so they're definitely not too far apart for near field listening (I wouldn't want them closer together). I've messed around with their positioning and toe-in, and the imaging isn't really affected by the distance apart (maybe it's because of the speaker cabinet size). Secondly, the right PC screen isn't in front of the speaker...I'll agree it looks that way in the video (and various pictures on my instagram), but in person, (sitting in the listening position) it isn't. Lastly, I'm not sure I understand your argument regarding monitors for gaming/movies. Sound is a subjective thing. I personally prefer flat speakers for both gaming and movies...in-fact, my 5.1 home theater is a Gallo Acoustic system which is fairly flat and neutral. Some people like EQ'd speakers and some don't, but I don't feel one is "better" than the other...it's just personal preference.

[@jrr832]

They made a huge difference in my studio. The difference is unbelievable.