Home made isolation box?

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death by analog

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Hi guys,

I'm thinking about building a home made isolation box for recording voice. I have a super small room and I read on the net that you can build yourself an isolation box to put your mic in.

Any one tried it? feedback? suggestions?

Thanks!
 
Instead of an isolation box I use a homemade vocal booth I stick in the corner and it doesnt take up much room. All it is is 3 wooden hollow doors with no knob holes, hinge them together, and three mattress pads, one for each door, stapled on. Not sure if this suits your needs but it only cost me around $40 to make and takes up hardly any space
 
Hey thanks man that's a good idea! However believe it or not, my room is too small to even consider this. I saw the pictures of the isolation box and it's super small so it seems like a good idea...
 
death by analog said:
Hey thanks man that's a good idea! However believe it or not, my room is too small to even consider this. I saw the pictures of the isolation box and it's super small so it seems like a good idea...
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I know a guy who built one and really likes it. You can use one of those square crates (like are used in stores for stocking and such) and put a couple of foam panels on the inside. You can go super cheap and get some foam from walmart or you can get some actual acoustic panels and cut them down to size. From what I've read online, people who build their own reflection filters tend to like them so I'd say it's worth a try.
 
:eatpopcorn:

:facepalm:

(first time I ever use the Face palm Smiley and the Pop Corn smiley together. In fact, it's the first time I ever use either of them).
 
Allright I'm gonna try that then...I've read so many good things about these home made babies....Thanks a lot for the feedback!
 
Rami is probably face palming because there are drawbacks to these homemade units. They will give you some isolation but at the expense of killing your vocal mid and high frequencies (at least that's what I've heard). This type of filter won't do anything for low frequencies, so it will skew the sound of your voice when it's recorded. You have to make a decision between isolation or good sound.
 
HoldenH13 said:
Rami is probably face palming because there are drawbacks to these homemade units. They will give you some isolation but at the expense of killing your vocal mid and high frequencies (at least that's what I've heard). This type of filter won't do anything for low frequencies, so it will skew the sound of your voice when it's recorded. You have to make a decision between isolation or good sound.
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Exactly that. I tried to do it in a humorous way, hope I didn't offend anyone.

But I've explained this over and over and just wasn't in the mood to do it again, so I "face palmed" so that I can get subscribed to this thread and see where it goes. (you should see how I would have posted about a year ago :D )

But Holden pretty much summed it up. A "booth" is usually a horrible idea. Pro studios that have "booths", those booths are the size of most people's complete "studio". A small room is trouble, making it even smaller by sitting in a box is worse. Packing it with foam is suicide.

I know I sound like a broken record to some, but the word "foam" should never enter into a conversation about acoustics. Foam is 99.9999% useless. All it does is kill your hi's and mids and nothing for the low frequencies, which are 99.999% of the problem in 99.999% of rooms.

So, now one has a "booth" killing all their hi/mids, packed with foam which is also killing the hi/mids. It's an acoustical nightmare.

There.......you made me explain it.....again......:eek:

:D
 
RAMI said:
Exactly that. I tried to do it in a humorous way, hope I didn't offend anyone.

But I've explained this over and over and just wasn't in the mood to do it again, so I "face palmed" so that I can get subscribed to this thread and see where it goes. (you should see how I would have posted about a year ago :D )

But Holden pretty much summed it up. A "booth" is usually a horrible idea. Pro studios that have "booths", those booths are the size of most people's complete "studio". A small room is trouble, making it even smaller by sitting in a box is worse. Packing it with foam is suicide.

I know I sound like a broken record to some, but the word "foam" should never enter into a conversation about acoustics. Foam is 99.9999% useless. All it does is kill your hi's and mids and nothing for the low frequencies, which are 99.999% of the problem in 99.999% of rooms.

So, now one has a "booth" killing all their hi/mids, packed with foam which is also killing the hi/mids. It's an acoustical nightmare.

There.......you made me explain it.....again......:eek:

:D
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If only you could put so much text in your signature...
 
Every time I read this Home made isolation box? I think of this:

090501-karaoke-01.webp

Alan.
 
Rami what would you suggest then? My room sucks but I still want to be able to record somewhat decent vocals.
 
death by analog said:
Rami what would you suggest then? My room sucks but I still want to be able to record somewhat decent vocals.
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I would suggest learning about and applying proper room treatment. A box isn't the solution, it will most probably only make things worse.

I would spend some time in the Studio Build forum. Also, read every article and watch every video on Ethan Winer's site. This page has articles and a link to the video page: RealTraps - Acoustics Articles

Unfortunately, sound treatment isn't as simple as sitting in a box or throwing "foam" all over your walls. Fortunately, it doesn't have to be expensive and you don't have to be a carpenter to do some very effective DIY sound-treatment.
 
Ok thanks for the feedback. I'm definitely going to spend time in the studio build forum and try to learn how to make the most out of my room.
 
One thing I am gathering from these forums is that one should be very patient in experimenting with getting the best sound. One thing you could do is to find the optimum spot and direction in which to sing until you think you have found the best spot possible in your room. Every room has spots where the sound waves are going to reinforce each other rather than cancel out.

Experiment, rather than just setting up without regard, listening back, and saying "that sucks, I need an isolation box." Some place in that room is going to help you rather than hinder you.
 
david42 said:
One thing I am gathering from these forums is that one should be very patient in experimenting with getting the best sound. One thing you could do is to find the optimum spot and direction in which to sing until you think you have found the best spot possible in your room. Every room has spots where the sound waves are going to reinforce each other rather than cancel out.

Experiment, rather than just setting up without regard, listening back, and saying "that sucks, I need an isolation box." Some place in that room is going to help you rather than hinder you.
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The reason I asked about an isolation box is because I tried that already. Yes some spots sound better but the ambient noise is just too loud.
 
death by analog said:
The reason I asked about an isolation box is because I tried that already. Yes some spots sound better but the ambient noise is just too loud.
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What is this "ambient noise" you mention? A room doesn't just make noise all by itself. Do you need to close windows? Is there a fridge or a washing machine near-by? What's making this noise?

You'd be way better off taking the money you were going to spend on a sweat-box and spend it on properly treating your room. A properly treated room should sound good pretty much anywhere and you won't need to record sitting 15' away from your recorder, standing on one leg with your back turned and your face pressed against the wall. :D
 
RAMI said:
A properly treated room should sound good pretty much anywhere and you won't need to record sitting 15' away from your recorder, standing on one leg with your back turned and your face pressed against the wall. :D
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Now, when I'm twisted wreck of a human being, he tells me ! :D
 
LOL Rami I can tell you've been there! hehe I have a fridge close by and an air trap inside the room...
 
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