VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

ballenberg · Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 6:43 am Post subject: HVAC Reflections

I've been living with this for a while but decided to do something about the problem.However, I'm looking for a better solution for my next studio.

The basement room is well isolated from upstairs..a long story for another time..and it pretty quiet. But space considerations put the room adjacent to the air handler. To be avoided if possible, I know. I t wasn't. So. My longtime mic position was pretty much center of room. But when air handler is running, I notice an amount of rumble that wasn't making me happy. However, as I moved to different spots in the room ( 7x9x7), the sound level dropped a lot. So I wound up just moving the mic and problem is essentially gone...But for next time, how can I avoid this? I'd like to be able to record at multiple places in the space This is an absorption issue rather than transmission reduction if I'm understanding correctly. So how to best mitigate that rumble frequency and/or figure out what treatment to place and where.

Thanks!

NorthEndVoice · Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 7:53 am Post subject:

I've found that the 75/80Hz Lo Cut filter works wonders. That, along with making sure that your mic boom is as isolated from the floor as possible. Resting it on closed cell foam worked well for me. That, along with a proper mic shockmount.

ballenberg · Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 9:12 am Post subject:

Right..but yet with everything else the same, moving the mic 2-3 feet to the right, and re-directing it to an orientation where it was pointing toward the rooms shorter walls, made a world of difference. And it's not just a mic thing, by the way..you can hear the difference just standing in the room and turning and taking a step or two.

vkuehn · Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 1:41 pm Post subject:

We know that when we get close to a wall (or other object) we get the "proximity effect" that changes tonality.... and maybe loudness.

Corners are always an interesting study in acoustics. and where a corner meets the floor or the ceiling, that corner "acoustic trap" really does something wonderful.

If your thinking that this is not a transmission-through-the-wall problem/solution, then maybe pieces of foam stuck in corners will give you some relief. Its just one of those thing you try, move the foam and try again. Foam in the right corner(s) might give you more freedom to move the mic where you would LIKE for it to be.

ballenberg · Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 7:02 pm Post subject:

Thanks Vernon----Yeah, it's interesting. Plenty of treatment in corners. In fact, new mic position much closer to a corner and it's clean as a whistle.

Pretty sure it's a matter of the small amount of remaining transmitted sound, which would otherwise be totally acceptable being magnified by reflections at the offending frequencies. No actual room changes need to be made for now..the sound is really good and the room tone pretty clean. Just want to learn to avoid this issue in future studio(s)

vkuehn · Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 8:26 pm Post subject:

I just went back and read through the thread again. You said your room was 7x7x9. When we build SMALL spaces for booths, we don't have a lot of choices, but one of the prevailing thoughts of people I trust on this subject is to NEVER have a room with two or three dimensions that are identical. An 8x8x8 room would be a nightmare. A 9x9x9 room would also be a nightmare. (The horses would just be another color.) A 7x7x9 will keep you awake at night. My room is 12 x 20 x 8 which gives me a lot of freedom of movement and location without creating the kinds of problem you are discussing.

ballenberg · Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 9:09 pm Post subject:

Yup, no doubt about that..wasn't much choice though. Build was probably 8-9 years ago..before wall treatment , it definitely kept me up many nights and learned a lot. Would not use those dimensions again..And maybe that's exactly why the problem I mentioned exists..nuit it's not an issue that's evident (to me) with voice..or maybe it is and I don't quite recognize it as what it is. Oh, and in addition to the problem sound clearing when I move off center. the same happens if I move lower, as if seated for example.

As far as two dimensions being the same, many WhisperRooms are sized that way..How do they handle this?

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

What mic are you using? If I remember correctly you have a 416 and a TLM 103.

In my experience the 416, though supposedly supercardioid, picks up more sounds outside my booth like my ceiling fan, if it's on.

ballenberg · Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 8:06 am Post subject:

You have a great memory..Using the 416..You make an interesting point..It may be picking up up a reflection from the door. May try a little experiment with that. Thanks

Dayo · Cinquecento Joined: 10 Jan 2008 Posts: 544 Location: UK

A 416 is highly directional so it's doing it's job well in this instance, I guess.
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ballenberg · Posted: Sat May 23, 2015 10:40 am Post subject:

Yeah, I guess so Wink

Of course I can hear the difference in positions without even using the mic or phones. It's just there.