Er - Stud my IO? (blush)

[TatterJack]

A friend once told me I had a perfect face for radio. Of course, with friends like mine, who needs enemas, right? But still - maybe not face, and maybe not radio, but he made me wonder if he had a point.
Oh. Right. A point - as in, having one. I knew I had one lying round here somewh... ah! There it is!
I'm an author. Actually I'm not - I guess like no few in the field, I'm more 'authors'. Because yes, there are covers out there with my name on them. And there are other covers 'out there', with a different name on - and they're mine too. But that wasn't it - the 'point' thing, I mean. Because electronic or paper, they're still books. And for a while I've wanted to try to find out if they could be audiobooks as well - some, perhaps, with my Voice as well as my name.
I know. It's not that easy (blush). But neither's sex the first time - but that never put anyone off trying, right?
So, recognising I have no knowledge, skills or experience in the field, I didn't know whether the best approach was to get some useable equipment, try it out in the available environment, then work out what sound conditioning was possible/ needed - or the other way round. My gut - and trust me, it's a damn big one, so I tend to listen - says no. It's the other way round. Do what I can to condition the environment, _then_ worry about equipment with whatever budget is left. Also recognising, of course, I have a budget that would make church mice feel rich - sigh.
So if it's not too much like trying to be a smart-ass and asking for free consultancy services (which is pretty much what I'm doing - I guess I'm just hoping you-all don;t notice :-( ), I thought I'd come alon g here and seek your collective wisdom, based on the research (also known as 'guessing') I've done so far.
Here's a case summary:

THE ENVIRONMENT:
I live in a condo. That means hardwood floors and poured/ treated-coated concrete ceiling and drywall/ gypsum walls. My wife is also wheel-chair bound. That's not a 'too much information' ploy, or a plea for sympathy, I have to keep a range of spaces open and wheelchair roll-throughs free. So the area I've got probably isn;t ideal, but it is just that - the area I've got.

THE USE CASE:
Single mic solo recording of Voice for audiobooks. If it makes any difference (I know this isn't a 'gear' Forum), I'm pondering a base of a Scarlett Solo 2nd Gen or Scarlettt 2i2 2nd Gen, an Audio-Technica AT2020 Cardiod Condenser mic and a set of Studio Monitor phones (no speakers involved in my current head-space).

Thoughts so far, and questions (if I may be so bold). Here's a link to the space I have:

Den - proposed layout

As a point of information, the 'IT rack' currently holds two fan cooled Netgear Network Storage drive units, a Dell Power Connect 5324 switch with a rather noisy set of fans, and a Unified Threat Management router/ firewall (passively cooled). There's a ceiling fan overhead which could, of course, be turned off during recording sessions.

For C1 and C2, I've wondered about these:

ATS Acoustics Corner Trap - 24 * 48

With two stacked on top of each other in each corner. Alternatively, for rather less cost, ATS do these:

ATS Acoustics Bass Trap - 24 * 36 * 4

Two of these could be stacked vertically in each corner as well. Thing is, i have no idea if they fit the use case, if one would be a lot better than the other, or if either was suitable, case whether to go for the 'Full Range' build or the 'low range' build.
Similarly, I've considered these:

ATS Acoustic Panel - 24 x 48 x 4

for the flat walls (3 on W1 and W2, 2 on W3). I have no idea if that's a sensible path. Equally, I don't know if leaving the current 'curtained' line acoustically transparent would be good, because it stops the area being too cubic, or whether replacing the current blackout curtain with something like Producer's Choice audio reduction curtain would help improve the area acoustics. Heck - I don't even know if setting a second desk for recording on the indicated wall, so the IT rack isn't directly behind me but the curtain is, would be necessary/ a good idea, or if the current desk would be fine, even with the rack behind it.

So. There you are - well, if you haven't either fallen asleep already, or just think I'm pushing my luck looking for the level of advice I think I need (blush). If I may - what might be your thoughts, elders and wise? ))

 

[mjbphotos]

Can you turn off the IT rack when recording? If not, then you're going to want to mount up some solid bass traps in front of it. I don't think you're going to need corner superchunks at all if all you are doing is voice recording. A couple of the 4"x24"x48" traps in front of you when recording should absorb most of your outgoing sound that otherwise might bounce of the front walls, then reflect around to get picked up by the mic. I'd try that first before doing anything else. No reason to have a 2nd 'recording desk, you just need to set the mic up on a stand, maybe in corner C2 with a 4" trap on either side of the corner, butting together. Try that first.

 

[TatterJack]

Can you turn off the IT rack when recording?

Unfortunately - no. If I turn the rack off, I lose the switch (so no internal networking, including access to the network shares on the NAS units where all recorded material and stock media is going to be), firewalling, internet access (not so critical during recording, to be sure), network health monitoring, local server access for my alpha and beta readers to get to material they may be reviewing - and internal control of and access to Insteon and Zwave device controls I've installed to help my wife (lights, intercom, breathing monitor and similar).

If not, then you're going to want to mount up some solid bass traps in front of it. I don't think you're going to need corner superchunks at all if all you are doing is voice recording. A couple of the 4"x24"x48" traps in front of you when recording should absorb most of your outgoing sound that otherwise might bounce of the front walls, then reflect around to get picked up by the mic. I'd try that first before doing anything else. No reason to have a 2nd 'recording desk, you just need to set the mic up on a stand, maybe in corner C2 with a 4" trap on either side of the corner, butting together. Try that first.

My thanks indeed. I'll try that - though the desk was mainly because if I'm audiobook recording, depending on the length of material, I didn't know if standing would be comfortable for longer periods. And I'll need to work out a way to post/ hold multiple sheets of script if I don't have a desk/ screen to show them on while recording. If I have a standing mic in C2, I'll have my back to the screens on my current desk and won't be able to see them (blush) .
As another possible option, and working on the C2 corner, or W2 close to C2, would something like this be effective?

ClearSonic S5-2 - 66" x 48" x 1.5" Double Section SORBER Baffle

or would the open space behind it still be an issue?