Minimum vocal booth dimensions

[notCardio]

I'd like to build a vocal booth in my as yet unfinished basement. Mostly for sound isolation as opposed to improved acoustics, but on the other hand I don't want it to significantly impede my results. In other words, I don't want it to sound so bad that that's all you notice. I realize it'll have to be dead, with reverb added later, and I'm fine with that. I'm OK with not having a nice room sound, I just don't want a glaringly bad room sound. I'd prefer to have no room sound at all.

This will have to fit under a standard 8ft ceiling. It will serve as a booth for vocals, acoustic guitar (not simultaneously), and guitar amp, with the main focus being on vocals.

I know bigger is better, but what are the minimum dimensions I can get away with, or is this a silly question, the answer being 'as big as you can go'.

 

[Chili]

I'd like to build a vocal booth in my as yet unfinished basement. Mostly for sound isolation as opposed to improved acoustics, but on the other hand I don't want it to significantly impede my results. In other words, I don't want it to sound so bad that that's all you notice. I realize it'll have to be dead, with reverb added later, and I'm fine with that. I'm OK with not having a nice room sound, I just don't want a glaringly bad room sound. I'd prefer to have no room sound at all.

This will have to fit under a standard 8ft ceiling. It will serve as a booth for vocals, acoustic guitar (not simultaneously), and guitar amp, with the main focus being on vocals.

I know bigger is better, but what are the minimum dimensions I can get away with, or is this a silly question, the answer being 'as big as you can go'.

I'm no expert, but I'm thinking if it's COMPLETELY dead, then any size room will do. Sounds like the dimensions would be derived from how much you're willing to spend for OC703 or equivalent and space needed for moving around with a guitar, amp, etc.

 

[jhbrandt]

Sort of, kind of, maybe, but not really.

Still you want to pay attention to room modes. In a small booth, if dimensioned improperly, you can experience very bad ringing in the low-mids in spite of treatment. This will color vocals and anything recorded in the booth.

Try a few room dimensions on my mode calc here or here to find some dimensions that work well. Then trap the crap out of it.

Cheers,
John

 

[notCardio]

Yeah, I was trying to avoid any standing wave kind of stuff. I thought that maybe there were minimum dimensions based on the wavelengths of the human voice or something like that.

I'll check out that calculator.

Thanks.

 

[pathdoc]

I think my vocal booth is about 3x4 feet. Don't think you would want to go much smaller than that.

 

[Supercreep]

Do you really need this kind of isolation for vocals?

How loud do you sing?

I mean, how big a problem is it, really? If it isn't the world's biggest issue, my suggestion is to spend the money on a nice LDD such as the EV RE-20 or the Shure SM-7.

These will largely ignore how bad your room sucks, have very little proximity effect (especially the RE-20) and have a long pedigree of being excellent vocal mics.

 

[notCardio]

How loud do you sing?

I mean, how big a problem is it, really? If it isn't the world's biggest issue, my suggestion is to spend the money on a nice LDD such as the EV RE-20 or the Shure SM-7.

These will largely ignore how bad your room sucks, have very little proximity effect (especially the RE-20) and have a long pedigree of being excellent vocal mics.

I'm actually not very loud at all, but painfully shy about my singing and playing, the reason being I suck at both.

The booth is to serve two purposes. It's a place for me to practice where I can't be heard, as well as minimizing noise for recording. The furnace is not too far away, along with the water heater, and I'm directly below the blaring living room tv. I don't expect it to be soundproof, just as soundproof as I can reasonably get it. I don't expect it to be flat across all frequncies, just as flat as I can reasonably get it. And I realize reasonably is a relative term.

FWIW, I have an SM-7 for the very reasons you pointed out, and because I need the proximity effect.

 

[Supercreep]

I'm actually not very loud at all, but painfully shy about my singing and playing, the reason being I suck at both.

The booth is to serve two purposes. It's a place for me to practice where I can't be heard, as well as minimizing noise for recording. The furnace is not too far away, along with the water heater, and I'm directly below the blaring living room tv. I don't expect it to be soundproof, just as soundproof as I can reasonably get it. I don't expect it to be flat across all frequncies, just as flat as I can reasonably get it. And I realize reasonably is a relative term.

FWIW, I have an SM-7 for the very reasons you pointed out, and because I need the proximity effect.

If you use your SM-7, you can probably go pretty small.

Disclaimer: I am not anything close to an expert at anything except masturbation.

The trickiest thing about small booth isolation is ventilation, I reckon.

Generally speaking, when you've got a standalone structure with enough mass and it's airtight, you're going to have decent isolation - if you can prevent structural transmission with neoprene pucks or something like them.

So far so good. But now the whole "I have to breathe" thing comes into it, and you would have to cut holes in your formerly functional iso booth.

If you were to approach it like Whisperroom and Vocalbooth do, you would need an intake and and outtake. You would need to use big (at least 120mm) fans at running at low speed to circulate air quietly through similarly sized ducts.

You would need to construct baffling to enclose these ducts in long runs with many 180 degree turns - enough that the sound loses enough energy that it approaches the attenuation you got before you cut great holes in your iso booth.

However, I don't own either product and don't know how well either system works. Probably very well for vocals. Not so much for a drum set.

 

[notCardio]

Well, I figure I don't need airtight, just severe attenuation. I was assuming I was going to run some labyrinth-like ducting also. And I planned on only using it for very short periods at a time, coming up for air, so to speak.

 

[Supercreep]

Well, I figure I don't need airtight, just severe attenuation. I was assuming I was going to run some labyrinth-like ducting also. And I planned on only using it for very short periods at a time, coming up for air, so to speak.

Well, if you want attenuation, you want airtight. If you don't want to build a room within a room, with two entry doors, you want airtight.

Think of your isobooth like a fish tank. It doesn't matter where the hole is or how big - you're gonna get wet.

This is why little things like ill-concieved door seals and cable runs and wiring for lighting ruin otherwise functional booths.

Use way more acoustic sealant than you think you'll need, and make sure it's acoustic sealant - it doesn't dry and shrink - and not caulking.

Should be a fun project. Be sure to post pictures as you go.

 

[jhbrandt]

Well, if you want attenuation, you want airtight. If you don't want to build a room within a room, with two entry doors, you want airtight.

Think of your isobooth like a fish tank. It doesn't matter where the hole is or how big - you're gonna get wet.

This is why little things like ill-concieved door seals and cable runs and wiring for lighting ruin otherwise functional booths.

Use way more acoustic sealant than you think you'll need, and make sure it's acoustic sealant - it doesn't dry and shrink - and not caulking.

Should be a fun project. Be sure to post pictures as you go.

I wholeheartedly concur.