soundproofing for vocal only (vocal booth?)

UNIQNESS

New member
i have a small room that's right next to my suitemate's room with one wall between us.. so it's kind of easy to hear each other (when someone talks loud) through the wall or if one stands right in front of their door. i'm planning to record singing/rap in my room, but i have not come up with a good solution for sound isolation. i don't want to bother my suitemates when i sing or rap.. all of the instruments and sound are going to be digitally recorded so vocal recording is the only thing i'm concerned about.. i've searched this forum and am now confused what i really need to do since everyone says different things.. i was thinking about getting something like this:

booth.jpg


would that work well? what other options do i have? please keep in mind that this is for vocal recording only.. i'm not willing to spend too much money for this.. maybe $200-300 maximum.. but i will try to spend as least as possible if i can.. i was also thinking about getting something like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3278&item=7323599107&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

thanks in advance! :)
 
the picture posted above will not soundproof anything. The only thing it will do is make your room sound better, with less reverb or echo. Pictured above are what are called gobos. They are basically rigid fiberglass wrapped in fabric and attached to a microphone stand. If you dont want to make your own, check out www.realtraps.com
 
i actually took that pic from the website u provided.. i'm currently more concerned about sound isolation (so i won't bother others) than quality of the sound.. i'm going to work on the quality of the sound as soon as i get the sound isolation problem solved..
 
doing this will do absolutley nothing to stop the sound. If you dont want to bother people, and soundproof a room its going to cost over 4 grand.
 
UNIQNESS said:
ummm any cheap alternatives? :(

Woah, for vocals it's not that bad. Figure you have about 85dB max volume and little to no bass content. If the room isn't too big, and you do the work yourself, you can do it for a lot less.

First, please describe the existing construction of your room.
 
mshilarious said:
Woah, for vocals it's not that bad. Figure you have about 85dB max volume and little to no bass content. If the room isn't too big, and you do the work yourself, you can do it for a lot less.

First, please describe the existing construction of your room.
my room is approximately 9 feet X 12 feet.. and about 10 feet high.. i think the room is too small to build a vocal booth.. i was wondering if there's anything i can use to put on walls for sound proof..
 
UNIQNESS said:
my room is approximately 9 feet X 12 feet.. and about 10 feet high.. i think the room is too small to build a vocal booth.. i was wondering if there's anything i can use to put on walls for sound proof..

No not really. Putting foam or such on the walls doesn't do anything really for "soundproofing" (preventing the leakage of sound). It's more effective for sound treatment, so that the room won't have as much echo. That stuff that you linked to on ebay is a rip-off. It's not going to stop the sound from getting out of your room. Your best option would be if you had a closet. You could use that as a booth and treat the inside of that with pretty decent results. Is that an option?
 
There are TWO concerns with a vocal booth. Isolation and absorbtion. Absorbtion requires placing of accoustic materials on the walls, like rigid fiberglass or foam or the little screen you pictured.

Isolation on the other hand requires MASS and really carefull construction and sealing to stop all the paths that sound might leak around. Doing it cheaply is almost impossible. For those with a budget it is almost better to skip trying to fix an existing construction and instead buy a "Whisper Room" type kit or do-it-yourself something similar as a standalone booth.
 
depending on where you're at, you can pick up whisper rooms pretty cheap used. i'm in SoCal and have seen them pop up anywhere between $1000 and $2000 locally. there's one now for $1500, 4' x 6' or so. there was a 10' x 15' for $1000 a few months ago. i went for it, but it was too tall for my ceiling...
 
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