VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[Darren]

moving to a new house and as much as I love building a sound room, our new place does not have a space to accommodate a built in studio, so...

I'm pricing out some options and quickly got up to $8-10k

Anyone have any thoughts/experience with buying & using any of these :
vocalbooth.com
whisperroom.com

and any other recommendations are appreciated.

Thanks

[Bruce]

From my experience and from reading dozens of examples here on the VO-BB, you can create a very nice recording space within just a portion of a room for a whole lot less money than a booth. Keeping outside noise out of your space and deadening the sound bounce within your recording space are the two big tricks.

There are lots of examples and great tips on how to do this in the archives here.

Maybe someone can highlight a worthy thread for our other Darren to read?

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[paulstefano]

Worthy related thread

http://www.vo-bb.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=18531
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http://www.paulstefano.com

[FinMac]

Here is an interesting link to Lance Blair's blog. It is about having a Studio/Office and I have been working on setting something up at my place using a version of this idea.

http://lanceblairvo.com/blog/2015/08/voiceover-office-setup/
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www.scottsvoiceover.com - An American voice in Finland

"If you want to get to the top, you have to get off your bottom". (Unknown)

[Monk]

If you're sold on a booth, and not handy, keep an eye out on Craigs list.

A quick look, and I found this

https://albany.craigslist.org/msg/5465421043.html

https://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/msg/5510996049.html

So you can find stuff that people have given up on.
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Company, villainous company, hath been the spoil of me...

www.monksvoice.com

[Philip Banks]

Best option is to find space big enough to replicate my "Wee huttie". Whisper Rooms, VoiceBooths, StudioBricks et all, for the most part will not deliver what you want. Two days and no more than 2 grand will get exactly what you need. The smoke and mirrors surrounding the purpose build vo booths is amazing. I bough an old pre-fab isolation booth from a place used to teach brass players.

"It's awesome!"

It sucked, I could hear the phone on my desk ring. New, someone paid over $10k for that. I bought the booth as a lining for a room I had already built so for me there was no harm done. Rob, a local carpenter charged me $1,200 to put box A into room B.

Most studio build stories tend to be written by people who are too proud to say that they were disappointed. They are impressed by the Hulk Hogan portabooth which is simply an M&S picnic cool box with some foam inside.

"I used it on the flight deck of my Boeing 777 and couldn't hear a thing"

Yes Captain that was shortly before you were grounded for being deaf

[Rob Ellis]

If you go with a booth (new or used) make sure you get one that has the noise reduction/isolation specs that you will need.

There are some sellers out there who are marketing "booths" that may look legit but will most likely be a huge disappointment when it comes to blocking out outside noise. The material with which they are constructed has to be extremely dense and heavy to block out the typical noises that ruin recordings.

And that type of isolation usually comes at a price.

I looked at the links that Monk provided. As A WhisperRoom owner, I would advise you to stay away from the first one. The second one looks much better.

[paulstefano]

Chiming in that even the best booths will not provide complete soundproofing. I'm in a Drumperfect booth that knocks down the sound by about -30db. Which is fine normally.

However...I still get vibrations from the nearby highway as well as anytime anybody walks on the floor below (I'm in the 2nd floor) in my recordings.

Also, I found out that hard way last night that when really loud, other people in the house can hear me outside the room. I was trying to record a car spot and my kids were sleeping. So, I had to stop and wait until this morning to do it.

Bottom, line, plan ahead for lots of work and/or expense.
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http://www.paulstefano.com

[paulstefano]

A double walled Whisper room, Vocalbooth.com Platinum Series, or Studiobricks are as sound proof as you can get with the pre-fab stuff. Even then, they are not completely sound proof.
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[Bish]

I used to be hyper-interested in the technicalities of booths. I have certificates, badges and things from college that tell me I know this stuff and I worked for a long time with waves, reflections, and things what make noise. If someone throws at me the fact (or opinion) that a half-cycle bounded reflection of a lamb shank in a bowl of porridge on a Wednesday is going to give you a nasty little bounce at 5,273.5Hz (as compared to a felted tennis ball hurled at a crepe suzette on Whit Sunday)... then I understand the technicalities, principles & practicalities involved. I could wax eloquent.

... but I got better.

What problem are you trying to solve?
1) Reducing outside interference
2) Tuning internal characteristics to make it all sound good.
3) I need one because I think I need one because I'm a VO and that's what I need.

If you have external noise, then you have to isolate. Buy as big a (non-square) booth as practical and be prepared to modify it extensively or build your own. If you build, keep in mind what you are trying to accomplish and don't let it become a cause celebre engineering project. If you don't have an external noise issue, just take the space you have and tune it, testing all the time as to how it sounds. Bass traps, wall panels, clouds... use whatever.

While all the theory is great, it sometimes has no bearing on what actually happens and creates a massive pot-hole in the road to completion... paralysis by analysis (or just plain over-thinking it) stops more projects in their tracks than anything else!
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

[Monk]

another thing I would recommend is Try Before You Buy!

I can't use a booth, and a 4x4 booth would be terrible for a baritone.

I would build or have someone build it for you.
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Company, villainous company, hath been the spoil of me...

www.monksvoice.com

[Rob Ellis]

Also, if you do get a booth it will need treatment with acoustic panels.

Expect to spend at least $300-$600 on either the material to do it yourself or buy the already -assembled ones.

[DenaliDave]

Acoustic foam squares, foam bass traps for the corners...a few cans of 3M adhesive spray and you can get a pretty good noise floor for less than $500.

Now, if you live by an airport or freeway...or have loud neighbors...that might be a tricky proposition.

I ought to take some room tone samples from my studio. No expensive whisper room needed, and I can get about -75db if I'm home alone. The foam I've used makes the interior sound good (reflections, echos ect) -- and I didn't pay more than $300 for everything.

I find it odd that people are so willing to spend so much money on these booths....
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"The wise ones fashioned speech with their thought, sifting it as grain is sifted through a sieve." - Buddha
www.alaskamic.com

[Jason Huggins]

I spent money so I could record while my kids were home or my neighbor was mowing or it was hailing outside. You are talking about sound 'deadening' not sound proofing. You can't put a session on hold because the neighbors dog is barking or a plane flies overhead, that's not professional. The whole point of the booth (and not all booths are soundproof enough) is to allow you to record no matter what noise is around. Most people can get a silent recording at 2am but that's not when clients want a session.

[DenaliDave]