Vocals sound muffled in booth

Also,
Heres some pictures to give you an idea of what im working with(p.s. I took out the yellow blanket on the floor whats a good replacement?)

IMG_0964.jpg

3-1.jpg


Again,thanks for all the help.
 
Why not post up some samples of the sound? And info on your signal chain.
I can understand why you have built a booth and it looks like you have put alot of effort into the construction, I'd be interested to hear the results.
 
CDs will reflect the sound. But what's the point of all that foam if you're going to bypass it before getting to it. CDs will alter the results, whether that's a positive or not??? Not that I've used that type of foam, but if the foam is reflective you have it reflecting towards the ceiling. What's on the ceiling to handle that reflection? You should have alternated / staggered the orientations IMO. And your corners look UNtreated, which might be where a lot of your issue(s) are located.

Muffled is also a function of some mics. Or mic plus preamp combinations. Dynamic mics IMO tend to sound more distant. Baring some pretty extreme proximity. The audix i5 I just sold I would characterize as sounding muffled, if you weren't like 2" or less from it, speaking voice wise. Even trombone from a yard out had that sort of half there sound. Relative to the other mics I've got laying about used in that same manner.
 
There aren't enough :rolleyes: smileys in the world for me to convey how useless foam is.
 
Not to mention the "saver" screw-in fluorescent bulb in the booth....those things are the worst for adding noise to your AC and audio signals.
If my neighbors house was closer to me...and he had those bulbs outside on his deck...I would throw rocks at them! :D ;)
 
tek2yuhdome said:
Also,
Heres some pictures to give you an idea of what im working with....
Click to expand...

How do you breathe in there? :eek:

Man...I can understand about not wanting to disturb people...but I don't think I could bother recording in such a space.
Can't you just jog your recording schedule and do it when it's less disruptive...and then move OUT of that coffin?
 
You could always record in your car. (assuming you have one). Those are actually quite treated for the most part. More so on the higher end. But there's a lot in there to isolate you from road noises and such. Which has other uses as a treated space.

IMO, you might be better served with a few of these things:

absorption-sheets

But per their own admission, they mainly work on the highs, not the lows. Although 2x layers thick and / or spaced from the wall in a layered fashion, they could work on both. Baring that get yourself a corner office in a flat so you only have to shield your neighbors on two fronts, not four or more. Or a trailer in the middle of a corn field. (closest analogy to my current living / recording situation).
 
99.999% of the time, highs are not the issue. Lows are. By damping the highs, you're not helping anything. In fact, now you're making low end issues 100% of your problem.
 
miroslav said:
The cymbal stands wouldn't fit.... ;)
Click to expand...

But sex symbols will. ;)

Will they fit in a 4' x 4' space? with a person to hit them in there as well? I think that the big gongs are in the neighborhood of 40" (aka 3'4" aka P0502), not including the stand to suspend it (Zildjian P0560 - 45" x 58").
 
I'll try to get a voice clip to give you an example. If im recording voiceovers it doesnt seem to sound muffled but for some reason when I add backround music to my voice thats when you really notice its muffled. Oh and I have the AT2020 Condenser mic. Breathings not a problem as I dont stay in the booth for long periods of time. To be honest I kind of like the small dark space its comfortable for me. I also put in a stool and a LCD monitor,which are obviously not in the picture. Is there any good way to treat the lows?
 
Oh BTW you said the corners might be adding alot to the problem. What if I put more foam facing down covering the corners (to kind of round out the inside of the booth) would that help at all?

Like this:
Untitled-1-4.jpg



I also have 2 framed posters on the sides (instead of cds) they seem to help a bit. I was thinking of also taping a few cds under the lcd(behind the mic). Also,If you have any ideas on helping my floor plan it'll be much appreciated.
 
FOAM is useless. I think it's been said about 5 times in this thread. Are you in denial? You yourself said it sounds muffled. That's because of the foam.

Yeah, put even more foam in there....that should help. :rolleyes:
 
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tek2yuhdome said:
I was thinking of also taping a few cds under the lcd(behind the mic).
Click to expand...

HUH? :confused:

How do you think that will help...???...
...and especially behind the LCD?

Look...if you are going to put up foam and then put up hard/reflective shit on top of it to reduce the muffled sound...
...well then, just rip out some of the damn foam! :)

I really DON'T want to give you more band-aids for that foam mess, as I think you need to reevaluate your entire setup...
...but maybe what you call "muffled", is really just "dead" sounding, so try adding a touch of reverb to those vocal tracks and see if that helps when you mix them with the music.
But I still think you need to get out of that foam coffin....save it only for "must-use" situations, and try to do your tracks out in a more open/live space.

I think RAMI is right...you are in denial, and determined to stay the course with that foam booth. You may end up recording stuff in there and eventually get it to sound almost OK...but in the end...IN THE END...you will find out that the foam booth is not the way to go if you want to improve your audio quality.
 
miroslav said:
HUH? :confused:

How do you think that will help...???...
...and especially behind the LCD?

Look...if you are going to put up foam and then put up hard/reflective shit on top of it to reduce the muffled sound...
...well then, just rip out some of the damn foam! :)

I really DON'T want to give you more band-aids for that foam mess, as I think you need to reevaluate your entire setup...
...but maybe what you call "muffled", is really just "dead" sounding, so try adding a touch of reverb to those vocal tracks and see if that helps when you mix them with the music.
But I still think you need to get out of that foam coffin....save it only for "must-use" situations, and try to do your tracks out in a more open/live space.

I think RAMI is right...you are in denial, and determined to stay the course with that foam booth. You may end up recording stuff in there and eventually get it to sound almost OK...but in the end...IN THE END...you will find out that the foam booth is not the way to go if you want to improve your audio quality.
Click to expand...

tek2yuhdome said:
I was thinking of also taping a few cds under the lcd(behind the mic).
Click to expand...
Like I said I use the vocal booth as to not disturb my family. So obviously I want to keep the booth. Im asking for advice on treating it,not recommendations on where I should record.
 
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