a "portable" sound booth

If you've read the book "The Voice Actor's Guide to Home Recording" by Harlan Hogan and Jeffrey P. Fisher then you've read about this idea.  I had some spare acoustic foam lying around so I thought I would build it this past weekend:



If you have power tools it would be easy enough to cut your own panels, but the Lowe's down the street sells pre cut 2 x 2 plywood so I just bought some of that.  I've secured it with duck tape, but you could use hinges I suppose.  The book goes into more detail than I will here, but the gist of it you can see in the picture.  2 x 2 panels, foam attached to that.  The book suggested laying a towel down on the table, but the foam pictured worked better for me.

Here's a clip I recorded in it so you can hear the sound.  Mind you the audio is cheesy.  It was for a friend of mine who does a morning show down in the Caymans.

Sample

Conclusions:  I've recorded a few things in it.  In an empty room it does a good job killing a lot of , but not all of the reflections.
I moved it to a bedroom (with the bed, drapes, an upholstered chair) and it did a great job.  In the empty room, if I drape a blanket (the ugly yellow one in the picture) over the box and me then it takes care of what little reflection was left.

I don't think I would use this as a primary method for recording, and of course it does nothing for the concept of "sound proofing," but overall I like it.  I can definitely see taking it along with my laptop, mic, and firebox next time I go on vacation so I can still record.

lol thats ghetto right there

[isolation booths]

Looks like an interesting idea Hart.  As long as it's working for you, that's what matters.  It kinda reminds me of the Randall guitar isolation box.  Or something from the Wizard of Oz....  (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!).  

Every time I go to Home Depot I see these sitting out front:


I never realised that Rubbermaid makes isolation booths!

Just kidding of course.  Not trying to make fun of anybody....I've just been waiting for the perfect time to reveal this Rubbermaid secret!

lol thats ghetto right there

I thought so too, but I had to try it knowing it wouldn't work.  It does, and quite well I might add, for producing a "dead" area for your mic from an absorbtion standpoint.

No, it doesn't replace a proper recording area but in my mind beats the heck out of recording in the closet of the condo next time we are on vacation.

Somewhere, I ran across a "build" diary on the internet of somebody that used a rubbermade container to build a vocal booth.  Don't recall where though.  

Necessity is the mother of invention.

how about this???


An inside look:

Well, I don't know about the booth, but the sound from that monitor is going to be incredibly inaccurate as a result of its positioning...

Well, I don't know about the booth, but the sound from that monitor is going to be incredibly inaccurate as a result of its positioning...

   

But the booth does look nice.

The Problem:
When working from the road, recording voiceovers becomes extremely difficult due to environment issues like room noise, sound reflection from untreated walls, etc.  The need for a portable voiceover booth is critical, so that high quality voiceover recording can continue while traveling.

The Solution?

Check out the "Stone-Booth In A Bag"!

http://www.soundsuckers.com/current.htm#current

Didn't Les Paul crack all this for free about 60 years ago?

No wonder he didn't know how high the moon was.

The Problem:
When working from the road, recording voiceovers becomes extremely difficult due to environment issues like room noise, sound reflection from untreated walls, etc.  The need for a portable voiceover booth is critical, so that high quality voiceover recording can continue while traveling.

The Solution?

Check out the "Stone-Booth In A Bag"!

http://www.soundsuckers.com/current.htm#current

These folks have a serious client list!

Check out this mobile Reflection  filter. Does anyone know if it is any good? I'm looking for a portable booth to kill as much background noise as possible. Anyone know any good products?

Check out this mobile Reflection  filter. Does anyone know if it is any good? I'm looking for a portable booth to kill as much background noise as possible. Anyone know any good products?

I don't think one of these things is going to do too much for overall background noise reduction - more useful to kill reflection of the voice from hard walls, etc.

[I'm looking for a portable booth to kill as much background noise as possible]

Check out this mobile Reflection  filter. Does anyone know if it is any good? I'm looking for a portable booth to kill as much background noise as possible. Anyone know any good products?

I don't think one of these things is going to do too much for overall background noise reduction - more useful to kill reflection of the voice from hard walls, etc.

I think I'd agree with Graeme's assessment of its capabilities. To reduce  background noise significantly, you need a completely isolated booth. It really doesn't take much of a hole to let a lot of sound in. If you are lucky, it will improve the S/N ratio by a few dB, mainly because of the reduction of pickup from the rear of the mic, but you could achieve the same result rather more cheaply just by using a very directional mic, I would have thought.

If you read the manufacturers blurb, it makes no claims whatsoever about increasing isolation/reducing background noise.  The purpose is 100% to do with reducing room ambience.

I've had a chance to try the SE "Relexion Filter" and actually it does work.  It's not the same as an acoustically treated studio but it does give a much drier sound in an untreated room.

As Graeme and SteveR have surmised though...it does little or nothing about sound proofing.

An aside:  as often happens, many people seem to confuse the concepts of isolation (sound proofing) and acoustic treatment.  They are very different.  All the Sonex foam in the world stuck to your wall won't eliminate outside noise...and a sound proof room can be a concrete rectangle that sounds awful but has no outside sound at all.

Bob

....but you could achieve the same result rather more cheaply just by using a very directional mic, I would have thought.

Or, even cheaper, a couple of heavy blankets .