"Acoustic Foam" in recording booth. good or bad?? Pics inside

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I built this booth with a friend of mine 3 years ago without any plans. We just went to Lowe's, got some material, and went at it. I ordered the foam online somewhere.

The walls you see are 3 walls thick with that pink insulation stuff in the middle.

Everything was built custom in a garage corner.

I put acoustic foam on all the walls and ceiling and back side of door and left a slight hole for the door knob. then I put carpet on the floor.

I drilled some holes in the corners for cables to come out of and BAM! We made a recording booth.


Did I do something wrong 3 years ago when I made this with no plans?


Why do people not recommend the foam so much?
 

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some more pics
 

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Looks great.

I think "you done good". As long as you get a good recording result, what's the diff? I insulated my very small room with fibreglass in the walls and covered it with thick carpet so the room wouldn't reflect sound. I wanted a "dead room" and it works pretty well. I'm jealous of the space you had to work with. I would do the same if I had the room. GOOD ON YA!
 
How does it sound with all the insulation added? Is it totally dead?
 
I love it. When I first built it 3 years ago I had very little recording/mixing knowledge.

I use it mostly for vocals. Recording hip hop and r n b artist. Doing voiceover work. And some radio imagery. But recently, I've recorded some acoustic and electric guitar in it and it turned out very well.

The mic in the booth in the pictures I sold. I have an AT-4047 now (for sale) and an AKG-420 and a few other older AKG mics.
 
Looks like you did a nice job... and if you're happy then I'm happy. :)

As far as the foam, its marketed heavily, but the reality is, it isn't the best choice for sound absorption in 99% of home studio installs. To make things worse, where foam slacks is where a home studio needs it most; in the bass frequencies. Rigid Fiberglass and rockwool pretty much do everything the foam can do with the added benefit of working well into the low frequencies and the extra bonus of doing it cheaper and looking better at the same time.

Most seem to shy away from "booths" also because of the acoustic problems that such a small space creates.
 
+1 to Jeff's post.

The major problem with small enclosures is the modal issues. In a small enclosure these modal ringings move upward in frequency, into the vocal range, from 250Hz to 500Hz. This requires trapping which foam cannot do effectively. Usually 4" (100mm) of rigid fiberglass or rock wool is required on the walls and the ceiling should be trapped as deep as 18" or 50cm.

Cheers,
John
 
jhbrandt said:
+1 to Jeff's post.

The major problem with small enclosures is the modal issues. In a small enclosure these modal ringings move upward in frequency, into the vocal range, from 250Hz to 500Hz. This requires trapping which foam cannot do effectively. Usually 4" (100mm) of rigid fiberglass or rock wool is required on the walls and the ceiling should be trapped as deep as 18" or 50cm.

Cheers,
John
Click to expand...

There's not a whole heck of a lot going on down there with your typical vocalist, I'd think, though, so I'm wondering if maybe the OP kind of dodged a bullet in that respect.

There IS a lot of energy in that register in your typical distorted guitar, however, so I'd be a little nervous about that...
 
DrewPeterson7 said:
There's not a whole heck of a lot going on down there with your typical vocalist, I'd think, though, so I'm wondering if maybe the OP kind of dodged a bullet in that respect.

There IS a lot of energy in that register in your typical distorted guitar, however, so I'd be a little nervous about that...
Click to expand...

A male vocal in the lower register will definitely be muddy as hell in a tiny room covered in foam. It might work for a VO though. I suppose it depends on the application.
 
moresound said:
You noticed that too huh Paul!!! that's a 7b right?






:cool:
Click to expand...


That picture is 3 years old, i just put the mic in for the picture, the stand it was on was loose and it fell down lol.

I wrote in a early post that I don't have that mic anymore
 
jhbrandt said:
+1 to Jeff's post.

The major problem with small enclosures is the modal issues. In a small enclosure these modal ringings move upward in frequency, into the vocal range, from 250Hz to 500Hz. This requires trapping which foam cannot do effectively. Usually 4" (100mm) of rigid fiberglass or rock wool is required on the walls and the ceiling should be trapped as deep as 18" or 50cm.

Cheers,
John
Click to expand...

I made this booth awhile ago. I believe it's 9ft tall and 5 ft wide (not sure I will measure soon)

It was strictly for vocal recording. I have gotten better results then I was recording in the open garage. I'm interested in trying the rock wool now tho if it would make a huge difference in quality.
 
I built a decent studio in my garage 3 years ago now I want to redesign it again with some better knowledge and defiantly fix the outside with proper room treatment and inside the booth.


a new project of mine......



I have 0 knowledge of treating the room outside of the recording booth. But I want to get a good monitoring environment when I mix now.


(TIME TO SEARCH AND READ) :confused:
 
BLP,

This is the place!!

Post a drawing of your room with dimensions including height & we'll help all we can. -- Or better yet, Start a new thread for that. :D

Cheers,
John
 
jhbrandt said:
Post a drawing of your room with dimensions including height & we'll help all we can. -- Or better yet, Start a new thread for that. :D
Click to expand...

All that stuff is critical. Post it and we'll rip it apart. :laughings:
 
jhbrandt said:
BLP,

This is the place!!

Post a drawing of your room with dimensions including height & we'll help all we can. -- Or better yet, Start a new thread for that. :D

Cheers,
John
Click to expand...


K, thanks. I will soon as I get back later today.
 
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