The Freeport SD and XT are sculpted foam panels measuring two by four feet, and when mounted on the included stands, stand six feet tall. The thickness is generous — about three inches — and each piece is stiffly backed, with two sockets on the underside where you insert the stand. They’re flat-packed two to a box, along with PVC pipe segments and connectors out of which you assemble the stands. Ever played with Tinkertoys? You can get a panel up in about 60 seconds without a glance at the instructions. The SD and XT are cosmetically different but functionally identical, while the GT is a lowboy model ideal for placing around guitar amps — it has a “landscape” rather than the SD or XT’s “portrait” orientation.
We’ve had half a dozen Freeport SD panels (i.e., three of the boxes you’d buy in a store) at Keyboard central for two years now, and we can’t count the number of projects on which they’ve saved our butts. Like a lot of media companies, we rent space in an office park, and if you think your landlord is a hard-ass, you haven’t met ours. We’ve used the Freeports for everything from getting ideal room sound for a video shoot of a lobby concert by Beth Thornley (see “Music Makers,” Nov. ’06) to product roundups that involved setting up different tracking areas and mix positions in empty offices and hallways.
The ways you can use them are too numerous for one little product review, so check out www. primacoustic.com for several configuration examples. Are they worth the bucks? Unless you’re a serious do-it-yourselfer, we’re not aware of a more affordable way to turn any room into a recording studio and leave no trace when you’re done.
Portable acoustic treatment panels for home and project studios.
Pros
Lightweight. Very easy to set up, tear down, and throw around to meet your needs. Full-spectrum sound absorption.
Cons
Foam panels are a little wobbly on their PVC pipe stands.
SD, XT, or GT models, $390/pair
Primacoustic, www.primacoustic.com