VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[bransom]

Ahhh, summer. Three kids at home plus two noisy dogs plus my wife who usually works evenings (so she's at home during the day) plus a/c plus lawn mowers plus... (and the list goes on.) The normally not-terribly-quiet house is beginning to sound like a train station. Time to build a booth.

So I bought the Dawbox plans, looked at Bobbin's blog and pictures for inspiration, and am about ready to dive in. But, first, a couple questions (probably the first of many):

What exterior material to use? Dawbox recommends OSB or MDF, the latter for better sound-proofing, but then there's plain old plywood, too, which I see is what Bobbin used. Can anyone give me pros and cons of any of these? Is one seriously more soundproof than another?

And, foam: Is pretty much all foam, like say 2" wedge foam, the same? Or do different manufacturers sell different qualities of foam?

Thanks for your help!

Bob

[ChrisMezzolesta]

I would ask many questions of Justin - While my booth came together ok thanks to my dad's 50-year experience as a master carpenter, we hit a lot of snags inherent in his plans. Sometimes the DVD contradicts the spartan printed instructions and vice versa, he assumes everything on the parts list is available everywhere (i.e. pinkboard 2" was not available here in the South), and he does not take into account the fact that lumber comes in different widths, which threw us off and we had to rip a wall apart to re-do it. Honestly my dad couldn't even make heads or tails of those plans. If you only dropped the $50 on the plans you may want to eat that cost and look for something better. I am not out to diss DAWbox, but his "weekend" project took us nearly 4 months to do and is only together thanks to my dad saying "screw the plans" and building it from that point the way he knows how to build.

Also, if you are not in the North or in a cool enough room, the ventilation system as it is is woefully inadequate. I am in coastal NC in a "FROG" room over my garage and in the booth it gets ridiculously hot. He says that if the room is cool enough it will keep the cool air circulating into the booth, this does not happen.

Add to that that he is anally over-protective of his product and plans and treats the client like a potential criminal, just left a bad taste in my mouth. Of course, YMMV!!

Good luck with the booth! It is a tres cool thing to have!!!
_________________
Chris Mezzolesta, Voice Talent
800.356.5519 www.voiceatile.com

[bransom]

Hmmm. "FROG" room. That's a new one for me. Mine will be in the basement (currently unfinished) which stays reasonably cool year-round, even here in St. Louis where it gets stupid hot in the summer.

Meanwhile, yeah, I can see that there's gonna be some trial and error in building this though I'm guessing the plans might be a little bit better than when you built yours. (Or at least, I'm hoping so.) I'm think that they've changed as I don't see pinkboard listed on the materials list.

After looking over the booklet of plans then watching the DVD, I think I'll be following the DVD rather than the plans as it seems to have much, much more info in it. In fact, I'm debating printing the video screens as needed to make it easier to work with.

I've enlisted my architecture-major college student son to help me build it so it will either be easy, or painful, very bizarre looking and wildly over budget.

What material did you end up using for walls?

Bob

[ChrisMezzolesta]

We used OSB tho I wanted to use MDF, but thought it might be too heavy for this floor (FROG: Finished Room Over Garage). We did the double wall design, which negates some of the items on the original list (or a certain amount of the lumber) - We ended up not even using the 5/8" J-channel, my dad used a wood product (not quarter round but something like it) for all the framing. The Auralex does well for tightening it up, tho I think I need to further insulate the door on its inside (most likely shoot it up with Great Stuff) so that it does not transduce any passing trucks, this still makes it thru the Auralex....We added stuff like a 24" monitor on a swivel arm to a PC right outside the booth, LED lightbars in the ceiling (less heat) and a 4-outlet AC box wired into the booth interior using a heavy duty short extension cable wired to the box. I made sure to mount the inside window panel at an angle, and siliconed EVERYTHING. Must have gone thru 24 tubes of the stuff, maybe more! We built the 4x6x7 design with the double wall, so it adds some weight, but it is not square so that helps a teeny bit. Hopefully yours will come together easier than mine did...there were enough inconsistencies to make it a bit of a pain, and again, my dad has built many intricate things over the years and he couldn't understand various parts of the "why" of the design...If you get thru it OK, that's great....Hope it goes well.
_________________
Chris Mezzolesta, Voice Talent
800.356.5519 www.voiceatile.com

[ChrisMezzolesta]

Doesn't he have some sort of hardboard (pink foam board insulation) to go between the cross pieces? They were supposed to fit in the open squares on the interior walls (or sit in between the outer wall and the masonite inner walls in the double wall plans)...Or does he have the Auralex applied right into those squares made by the interior lumber? Can't remember, it was only a few months ago...
_________________
Chris Mezzolesta, Voice Talent
800.356.5519 www.voiceatile.com

[bransom]

I'm doing the single-wall 4x6x7 and, yeah, the foam goes right on the wall material, so no pinkboard.

I'm planning on doing something similar to yours: wire in power, use LED lights, and a 24" monitor (though I may shrink that; probably won't decide until the booth is built and I can stand in it.)

I've got my fingers crossed that this won't turn into a complete fiasco.

[Dan-O]

Here's a link to John Sayer's Forum: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=4510e0206ed896a59295f1719abdec14

It has more information than you will need, but they are extremely helpful when you follow the guidelines.

[bransom]

Thanks for the link, Dan-o. <gulp> There's, umm, ah ... a LOT of info there. Like, 76 pages of messages on floating a booth over a concrete basement floor.

Yikes!

[georgethetech]

Yes, the John L Sayer forum is extremely useful, and makes you aware quickly how much goes into building a truely quiet room. Those DAWBoxes are a far cry from having adequate noise reduction for most people's needs, as the materials they choose aren't heavy enough and the fit and finish generally doesn't come out so hot, unless you are a master carpenter.
If you have all the time and patience in the world, and good carpentry skills, it could be a fun project. If not, don't go there, count your pennies (and blessings), and get a WhisperRoom. Heck, if you are going in the basement, what sort of noise issues do you have down there to deal with? People walking above? Water pump? Air handler?
_________________
If it sounds good, it is good.
George Whittam
GeorgeThe.Tech
424-226-8528
VOBS.TV Co-host
TheProAudioSuite.com Co-host
TriBooth.com Co-founder

[bransom]

[Monk]

Just a couple of thoughts when building a quiet room.

There are two things that you need to control, vibration and air. You cut down on external vibration by using mass. Heavy walls can be double layers of drywall de-coupled from the exterior wall. You're trying to stop that low end vibration from entering your space by stopping the wall from resonating.

The other thing to control is air, sound needs air to travel, and any crack or gap will let in sound. So exterior style doors with magnetic seals and foam all accesses that wire or cable would pass through.

You can pipe in AC with silent ductwork, a fiberglass duct that kills noise transmission. We have it in our house and you can not hear a peep from one end of the house to the other and you can not hear the air handler.

Depending upon your neighborhood, you dial in how far you need to go. A garbage truck once a week may not be worth all the expense of double thick walls and decoupling. High frequencies are easier, and airtight rooms control that pretty effectively.
_________________
Company, villainous company, hath been the spoil of me...

www.monksvoice.com

[georgethetech]

Regarding what material to use, MDF vs. OSB vs. Ply, DEFINITELY MDF.
It is far more dense than OSB or Ply, which is why it is so darn heavy, and resonates poorly (that's a good thing). Acoustic Guitars (cheap ones) are made of plywood because it resonates nicely. Use 3/4" MDF on all surfaces, including the door. Foam does NOTHING to reduce mid to low frequency noise from the outside, nor does Touch n Foam or Great Stuff. Those things are OK to fill small cracks, but really you should use acoustical caulk. Any two piece of material should be joined with that.

Basements are great because they are naturally cave-like, maintaining cool temps. I lived in my parent's basement for a couple years after college, and when they were sweating in the PA summer heat in bed (no central air, Dad doesn't believe in it), I slept comfortably. Only problem was I needed a light on a timer to come on down there, or I'd never wake up!
_________________
If it sounds good, it is good.
George Whittam
GeorgeThe.Tech
424-226-8528
VOBS.TV Co-host
TheProAudioSuite.com Co-host
TriBooth.com Co-founder

[bransom]

Monk and George,

Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, the basement is definitely the most temperate room in the house so heating and cooling the booth is less of an issue than if I put it in a spare bedroom on the second floor. It will be sitting reasonably close to an overhead duct that isn't terribly noisy but can tapped to supply air if necessary. I won't be spending that much time in the booth every day — not at this point, anyway — so I'll probably be okay without extra ventilation for now.

George, I was leaning towards MDF though man that stuff is heavy. But I'd rather build it to function as best I can. (My back and groin don't agree and would prefer I build this thing out of tar paper.)