Is this a stupid idea? Sound-dampening booth around computer desk

[Wyrd]

I do commentary for StarCraft 2 games. I want to stream, but am worried about my dog barking/siblings being loud and the mic picking it up. So I want to construct a soundproof/sound-dampening booth around my computer desk.

I use a Blue Snowball mic.

My idea is pretty basic. My computer and desk are in the basement of my house. I want to buy a bunch of acoustic foam and put some over the windows when I am using my mic to help block out the dog(s) from outside, and I want to attach the rest to 3/4 cardboard walls to have a booth I can quickly set up around my computer when I am going to record something, then quickly take down and store when I am done.

My desk is against a wall. I want to make 3 sound-dampening walls to stand up around the desk.

What I want to do is get big pieces of cardboard, maybe 6' tall and however wide I need (I'll probably have to frankenstein them, but whatever) and completely cover the inner part of the wall with acoustic foam, so when I set up the booth, the outside is all cardboard and the inside is a room of acoustic foam. I'll hold them up with zip-ties or something--I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. But here are my questions:

1.Will this work/be helpful at all for drowning out outside noise?

2. Should I make a "roof" for the booth? It would be of the same material as the walls.

3. Is it better to have the acoustic foam on the outside or inside of the walls, and is it better to completely cover the walls or attach it in a checkerboard pattern?

4. Taking a guess here, but if the walls are each 6x6 and I cover them with acoustic foam, what are we looking at in terms of cost?

I have 0 soundproofing experience, which is why this idea sounds so basic, but I really need something for sound-dampening and this seems logical to me. What do you think?

 

[Mark Jordan]

Hi Wyrd,

Before I can give a complete answer I would need to know a couple of things.
What type of microphone are you using for commentary? Are you commentating on the game live over the internet or a run-through of the game afterwards (editing and dubbing the speech)?

Im really thinking that a quick fix would be to avoid using soundproofing, this can be quite expensive if you want to do it properly and it would involve a lot of thought and application to get it right. You could however look at the type of microphone you are using as well as the use of an effect. For example a noise gate. This would allow you to make a really sensitive setting whereby just your speech pass the gate and be audible, the background noise would not pass the gate as it is at a lower level than your mouth being right up against the mic.

I hope this helps so far but we would need a little more information from your end. Can you specify the exact model of microphone you are using and how you are connecting it?

Cheers, Mark

 

[Wyrd]

Thanks for the quick reply! Okay, bear with me, because I know nothing.

I use a blue snowball mic. It has omnidirectional and cardioid settings, as well as a -10 dB cardioid setting. It is connected via USB. I usually use the cardioid setting for live recording to ensure I am heard over game sounds. The -10dB setting certainly helps to reduce background noise, but sometimes it is just too quiet.

I commentate live and pre-recorded. The majority of the stuff I do is on my YouTube channel and pre-recorded, but the reason I do so little live stuff is because I am embarrassed and worried about bad sound pickup from my house. My dogs love to bark.

What is this noise gate you speak of?

 

[MrWrenchey]

He said he's using a Blue Snowball Microphone.
The idea makes sense to me... It would probably work a bit better than a noise gate, because (particularly if you're talking constantly) if the dog barks or your siblings are talking while you're talking, it's still going to let that sound right on through.
It seems the only thing you can do is either...
a) Deal with the excess noise
b) Buy a couple books on acoustics and try your best to fix the problem from there
c) Put on a noise gate as Mark Jordan suggested and hope the siblings/dogs are quiet when you are.

 

[Tim Gillett]

I would try a "noise cancelling microphone". They've been used in very noisy work environments for a long time. From memory, they contain two omni mic elements, one for close speaking and the other mounted a couple of inches below. They're wired in antiphase so that sound common to both mics is almost completely rejected, but sound not common, namely your voice speaking into the top mic only, is passed.

 

[Wyrd]

I would try a "noise cancelling microphone". They've been used in very noisy work environments for a long time. From memory, they contain two omni mic elements, one for close speaking and the other mounted a couple of inches below. They're wired in antiphase so that sound common to both mics is almost completely rejected, but sound not common, namely your voice speaking into the top mic only, is passed.

Would you be able to recommend a brand/specific microphone? How much do they usually cost?

 

[Tim Gillett]

Sorry I dont have any more information. I suggest you do a search using the words "noise cancelling microphone". You may have to change the plug to a standard XLR type and use a USB interface.