So when I recorded at this professional studio, the iso booth had what seemed to be carpet on the walls. In fact, the entire room from floor to ceiling was a carpet like substance. I'm looking at building an iso booth myself and I was wondering if that's a good idea? (They also had sound absorbing tiles on the walls)
Carpet on walls of iso booth?
- Thread starter inbloom27
- Start date
While a "carpet like substance" may help to cut down on reflections - it would not logically have a dense enough profile to be effective (not to mention the potential fire fire).
Dense products like rockwool or dense fiberglass, etc. can be much more effective. We are not talking about placing inside the walls for insulation (although that may be desired and cna help limit sound in and out of the booth) - but rather accoustic "panels". Many people purchase the material (I use OC703) in 2'x4' sheets, build a frame around each sheet and then staple some type of relatively porous material (as an example burlap) around the frame. Often people choose a material that serves to enhance the color of the studio - basically eye candy as well as sound treatment.
The panels can be strategically hung to provide alternating treated and untreated sections of wall to control reflection with creating an environmental that is too "dead" - they can be doubled up to create a thicker surface if bass traps are desired.
There are a lot of threads on this site and all over the internet to help explain the concepts of sound treatment and even provide construction designs.
Dense products like rockwool or dense fiberglass, etc. can be much more effective. We are not talking about placing inside the walls for insulation (although that may be desired and cna help limit sound in and out of the booth) - but rather accoustic "panels". Many people purchase the material (I use OC703) in 2'x4' sheets, build a frame around each sheet and then staple some type of relatively porous material (as an example burlap) around the frame. Often people choose a material that serves to enhance the color of the studio - basically eye candy as well as sound treatment.
The panels can be strategically hung to provide alternating treated and untreated sections of wall to control reflection with creating an environmental that is too "dead" - they can be doubled up to create a thicker surface if bass traps are desired.
There are a lot of threads on this site and all over the internet to help explain the concepts of sound treatment and even provide construction designs.
May I suggest you take a look at these sites? I believe they mention what they use to cover the walls...
Sound Isolation Enclosures - Sound Isolation Booths - Iso Booths - Vocal Booths
VocalBooth
Sound Isolation Enclosures - Sound Isolation Booths - Iso Booths - Vocal Booths
VocalBooth
Ethan Winer
Acoustics Expert
It's worth mentioning that carpet on walls could be covering more substantial treatment behind. This is aside from any safety concerns.
--Ethan
--Ethan
R
RAMI
Guest
This is what I was thinking. They probably had proper acoustic treatment covered with something that looked like carpet.
phriq
Freon Productions
That, OR.... the studio was built in an old mental hospital and the "iso" room was actually a padded room that they have just left the original padding on the walls on?
Jeff_D
New member
For some reason, I don't see STC values listed for the products on either of those sites. I have a feeling I know why.
I have a feeling I know why, too...you didn't really look at the site...
On the Whisper Room site they are listed on both the "Product" and "Pricing" pages for each model.
On the Vocal Booth site they are listed on each "Product" page, and their testing method is show via: the "Decibel Reduction" link on the "side" menu...
Jeff_D
New member
They list NRC number which is not relevant to the stopping of sound from inside to out. There are standard methods for testing STC... and it didn't say anything that said STC in the literature. You are right though, I didn't spend much time on either site, but you'd think that would be prominently listed. If you find anything that says STC, feel free to point it out- I'll happily stand corrected.
PanTyrimos
New member
i reckon it will sound quite nice
Jeff_D
New member
Not taking sides, Jeff D, but the reply made me laugh!
Its all good. He hasn't been back to correct me. I even went back and looked at his links again. Still no stc ratings.
While they didn't show all 16 data points, what they did show looked like STC measurements to me.
And JFTR: My position on booths is neutral. Ideally, we would all be able to have a nice sized space with good acoustic qualities and low noise transmission into the space.
But not all of us have such a space, and while not necessarily ideal, a booth may be the best way of solving particular problems. Due to the construction in my basement (and my limited budget), I may end up having to use a booth for vocals. I'll try to get things so I can use the full room, but if I can't, I'll use a booth rather than have to try and filter out the sound of my AC/Furnace fan.
Like I say, we have to work with what we've got...
And JFTR: My position on booths is neutral. Ideally, we would all be able to have a nice sized space with good acoustic qualities and low noise transmission into the space.
But not all of us have such a space, and while not necessarily ideal, a booth may be the best way of solving particular problems. Due to the construction in my basement (and my limited budget), I may end up having to use a booth for vocals. I'll try to get things so I can use the full room, but if I can't, I'll use a booth rather than have to try and filter out the sound of my AC/Furnace fan.
Like I say, we have to work with what we've got...
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
There are uses for booths...no argument there....I just don't find them a good choice for singing.
Maybe for super-dead spoken word or if I wanted to really isolate a guitar cab or something else, a booth might be the way....but if *isolation* is not the main purpose, IMHO, with a little treatment, most typical house rooms of average size will get better results than doing it in a small, dead booth. Too many people on home rec forums are under the impressions that small, dead booths give "pro" results automatically, by their design...and that's really not the case.
And it's not just about having an "exceptional space" in your house, and if you don't, then the next best thing is to get a booth.
No...IMO, a booth would be my last choice over most of the rooms in most houses, in most situations.
I would rather record in a completely untreated, typical living room or den...as-is, with the furniture and the pictures on the walls, etc...than in a small booth.
Maybe for super-dead spoken word or if I wanted to really isolate a guitar cab or something else, a booth might be the way....but if *isolation* is not the main purpose, IMHO, with a little treatment, most typical house rooms of average size will get better results than doing it in a small, dead booth. Too many people on home rec forums are under the impressions that small, dead booths give "pro" results automatically, by their design...and that's really not the case.
And it's not just about having an "exceptional space" in your house, and if you don't, then the next best thing is to get a booth.
No...IMO, a booth would be my last choice over most of the rooms in most houses, in most situations.
I would rather record in a completely untreated, typical living room or den...as-is, with the furniture and the pictures on the walls, etc...than in a small booth.
Jeff_D
New member
Not me... I'll shut off the furnace for a bit if I need to. My studio is in my basement, with one wall separating it from the furnace. I've never found a need for a booth in any of my modest home-recording endeavors.
As for the STC, there is a standard ASTM test method for establishing STC (sound attenuation through a building element). As far as I can tell, one of a booths primary functions would be to provide isolation (the other function, I suppose would providing a 'good' acoustical environment). So, if there is a clear objective, AND a standard test, I guess I'm curious why they wouldn't use it. The numbers that WisperRoom present curiously 'test' at the same frequencies as the NRC test and even label it "noise reduction"... but, NRC has pretty much no correlation to the STC. It's not beyond the marketing department of plenty of companies to present useless, or irrelevant, or even incorrect data in the hopes that whoever looks at it will be impressed enough that the number are there that they wouldn't have to (or know how to) scrutinize them. So, at the very best, the numbers provided are suspect IMO. Maybe someone that knows better can come along and explain the test procure and the format of the data, but it's not what I would expect to see.
as Miroslav pointed out, the acoustical environment created within a booth has limited applications. And you're right, we all have to work with what we've got. My studio isn't exactly pretty- most of the walls are just painted concrete basement walls, but I've added enough treatment to have a very usable space and I've probably spent less on treating my entire room that what some of those booths cost. A 4'x4' booth wrapped in foam isn't an ideal environment for much of anything IMO.
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