VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Matthew Houston · Joined: 19 Feb 2018 Posts: 10 Location: London, England

Hi all,

I've recently acquired two large Acoustic Bass Traps for my studio (I'll link to the exact model below) and am interested to hear what the recommendation would be for placement.

I'm in the process of designing and building stands for these to raise them off the floor closer to speaking height (as pictured with the temporary bar stool stand), but would love some advice on how tall to make these.

My main question would be 'is there a noticeable acoustic disadvantage to their being a gap between the top of the bass trap and the roof panel? Ideally, I'd prefer not to remove the original Vicoustic panels that are attached inside and simply integrate these bass traps alongside them, but I'm absolutely open to suggestions!
Also, I've currently placed them in what I would believe to be the most suitable location in such a space; to either side of the rear of the voice artist opposite the most reflective surface (the large glass door). I tend to have the rear of the microphone facing this door with the speaker as close to the centre of the booth as possible.
Again if anyone has alternate advice or experience on mic placement in such a space I'd love to hear it.

Hopefully, this might be useful info for other people with Studiobricks - sized booths.

Images for reference below (FYI speaker = voice actor)

https://gikacoustics.co.uk/product/gik-acoustics-tri-trap/

Jack Daniel · Cinquecento Joined: 23 Jun 2016 Posts: 585 Location: SoCal

Hi Matthew. I don't see any dimensions but I'm assuming it's a pretty tight space? If so, bass trapping becomes even more important. That said, I'm no expert, and most of us rely on folks like George Whittam to help us. He does consults via Skype and phone if you want to check him out and obtain a professional opinion and advice.

Despite my professed non-pro status as an audio advisor, I have tons of opinions. One is that I would avoid having a gap at the top, preferring it, if anywhere, on the bottom. Such gaps should not be anywhere near your head.

If the space is small, then treating that space to near deadness is probably going to be necessary. But again, I would check in with George and get his thoughts.
_________________
Jack Daniel
Narrator / Man About Town

Matthew Houston · Joined: 19 Feb 2018 Posts: 10 Location: London, England

Jack Daniel · Cinquecento Joined: 23 Jun 2016 Posts: 585 Location: SoCal

If it sounds good, you have succeeded :)
_________________
Jack Daniel
Narrator / Man About Town

Frank F · Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2020 2:27 pm Post subject:

Just a thought Matt: Bass is low frequencies. the concept of having the traps placed higher than floor level "works" if there are no transients being bounced around FROM the floor.

As you are speaking in towards the traps (this is good) the reflections are mitigated. However, any bounce from the "door" side, behind the speaker will be forced into the mic.

Floor bounce are the transient sounds which are not mitigated. Floor rumble, vibrations from outside the box, etc. are a bit harder to control.

Finally, as Jack mentioned: "If it sounds good, you have succeeded."

F2
_________________
Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

Jack Daniel · Cinquecento Joined: 23 Jun 2016 Posts: 585 Location: SoCal

Yes, as Frank says it's best to have the whole corner trapped, so if you can extend the traps it'll be even better, Matt. You can also experiment with different "heights" of the traps to act as diffusion at the same time as trapping. In other words, how far out the traps extend. I say this in case extending all the way takes too much room. But I would stop if things sound good.
_________________
Jack Daniel
Narrator / Man About Town

iannyc · Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:02 am Post subject:

Not to mildly thread-jack, but, I am in a small, professional booth (lavocalbooths.com) and have a bit of neighborhood AC-Hum come through... Would floor-level bass-traps help with the situation? It's pretty well reduced (around -56dB for most recordings) but would be nice to get the extra edge if they would help

-I

Frank F · Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 12:29 pm Post subject:

Bass traps would not help AC hummmmmm. Different frequencies involved here, bass low, 60 HZ hum is different frequencies including lows, mid, and highs.

If you are SURE it is AC hum, isolation of your electrical cables; changing/isolating/re-routing YOUR mic and connection cables, isolating your AC connection to a different circuit within the house, and a multitude of other simple fixes is a lot easier than you may think.

Most often, what you are hearing in a neighborhood based "noise" is vibration from road noise or rumble (if it is a low frequency). There may be a circuit in your own residential location which may also be the cause of AC noise levels. Further noise may be from an A/C (air conditioning) ducting fan into your booth or even the residence.

Understanding the the problems involved is a first step in determining a course of action to mitigate the issue.

F2
_________________
Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

iannyc · Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 3:38 pm Post subject:

Thank you Frank!

JohnV · Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 4:38 pm Post subject:

Pretty much you indeed want to first kill your upper corners first. both the wall-ceiling runs and the wall-wall-ceiling ones.
You can do a fair bit of that with just good absorber panels on the vertical wall, covering all the way to the ceiling (even without something on the ceiling there, that eliminates a LOT of the boujnce-back from there and, for now, as far down as they may extend. Getting the bass traps all the way up into those wall-wall-ceiling corners is a win.
_________________
SoundscenesDC, main talent and production offices just 385k km up the gravity well in LuNoHoCo Center, old satellite studios still bookable at the future site of Johnson City!

JohnV · Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 4:45 pm Post subject:

as for the hum... thats a nasty. it's almost certainly transmission-born thru-along the walls/ceiling and they are acting as speakers... right into your area

only way is a MASSIVE build out of a room-within a room (or a pro booth) with isolation buffers including the floor ($$$) ... or just shut the AC down when you track.

Might apply... I had gotten my space down to a VERY good level of neutral-damped and isolated but had this residual 120hz humm coming from somewhere... figured out that it was one of several hard drives outside the barriers at the far other end of the room on the edit desk. put several layers of folded rubber shelf-mat sheets under it to keep it from resonating the desk top. done
You;rs is the same only likely a lot bigger!
_________________
SoundscenesDC, main talent and production offices just 385k km up the gravity well in LuNoHoCo Center, old satellite studios still bookable at the future site of Johnson City!