Window for recording booth

[SPANISH_ARMADA]

I built a recording booth, but have run into bit of a problem.I dont know what to do for the window. Should i do the double window "V" technique?, glass or plexi?, or should i just use a single thick glass?.

specs of my booth.

awkard dimensions/ avoided 90 degree angles

built frame with 2x4

will fill walls with sand

and instead of using drywall, i will be using mdf. Very dense, heavy wood.

then cover booth with a rubbery, cork material mat, then foam on top of that.

any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Seidy]

the best solution would be double glass windows on angle.

 

[tmix]

Really... there is not enough info to make a good recommendation.

How big is your booth and what will be going on inside? Vocals only? amps? drums?
There are 3 areas of the booth build that need to be equal otherwise you have a weak link in your sound transfer.

If your walls can stop 70 db of sound but you have a single hollow core door with gaps all around it, you might as well use a single piece of cheap glass because the door won't hold back any sound either.

If your floor wont support much weight filling your walls with sand with be a safety hazard probably collapsing your floor.

if by some miracle your wall and door provide similar decibel reduction the glass needs to match it.
I am not certain about MDF but glass is about 3 times the density of drywall so if you had about an inch equivelent of drywall you would need a well sealed pane of glass approximately 3/8ths of an inch to match the decibel reduction.

I don't mean to sound negative but you need to consider the entire booth and how much reduction in sound transfer you really need, because sound blocking requires mass, and lots of it, as well as air tight well sealed doors and windows.
This gets very heavy and expensive. if you really don't need to block more than casual noise it is a lot easier.

My sound booths have 2 single leaf walls spaced about 3 inches apart with 1.5 thk drywall and double sealed solid core doors and I am lucky to get about a real 60 decibels of reduction. Since a drum set can easily put out arout 100 decibels you can still hear it slightly out in the main room.

 

[SPANISH_ARMADA]

Thanks for the response tmix!

One end of the booth is about 4 1/2 feet wide and the other end around 3 1/2 feet and its 5 feet long, 9 feet tall.

MDF is a quarter of an inch less than 2 inches, i will be using that for the walls

door is a very heavy thick, sealed door. and will also be covered by both sides with cork mat and acoustic foam.

and heavy weight will not be a problem for the floor because the booth is getting built in a room that has concrete floor.

the booth will be only used for vocals

i will also be monitoring through headphones.

this is a home studio.

 

[tmix]

No Prob,
Hey I will make a few observations.
First off, that is a tiny booth, if there is a way to make it bigger , you will like it more.
A booth that small will have a very distinct sound to it unless you are able to kill off all the reflections inside.
If what you have is a typical 2 by 4 stud wall sandwiched with the MDF on either side...I would like to propose an alternate design.
I would put all the mass on the outside wall surface leaving the stud cavities to the inside.
I would fill the stud cavities with Compressed fibreglass, or mineral wool or sound absorber of your choice and then cover it with a thin fabric of your choice to conceal it by stapling it to the studs.

seperating the mass on either side of the same stud does not really afford you any benifit, while putting it all on one side gives it more bass frequency reduction.
I don't know what thickness of glass you will want to match the density of the nearly 2 inched of MDF...I can't remeber where my density charts are any more.(LOL) sorry.

Vocals only requires very little to contain it so I would not personally want to deal with the sand filled walls, but to each his own.

 

[Weasel9992]

will fill walls with sand

You don't want to do that unless you're building with cinderblock or something similar. You're just not going to have enough structural strength to contain that much sand, plus it'll eventually get damp...and that means mold. Don't do it.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

built frame with 2x4



and instead of using drywall, i will be using mdf. Very dense, heavy wood.

will fill walls with sand

Don't do it.

Ditto. For more reasons than Frank said. To get the most out your Two leaf MAM system, use regular Batt insulation and don't pack it in. Also, in regards to this...

MDF is a quarter of an inch less than 2 inches, i will be using that for the walls

Let me get this straight..are you saying you are using 1 3/4" of MDF on EACH side of the frame? IF so, that will be terrific mass..but one heavy mothaf...er. And if so, then to keep your window from making a mockery of all that mass, then it needs to be in the same Transmission Loss ballpark..which I would estimate at ONE PANE of 3/4" and ONE PANE of 1" (minimum of one pane 1/2", one of 3/4")thick float glass on Neoprene. Otherwise it simply becomes a WEAK LINK..which makes your heavy sealed door and walls ....well, a waste of money. And while were at it...did you DECOUPLE the booth from the floor? And frankly speaking, personally, I would have built this with a STAGGERED STUD construction or something of that nature. Reason is...now you don't have any meathod of decoupling the inside window from the outside window...their structurally tied togeather with a sill plate. Oh well, like I keep telling people...hindsight is always 20/20.., but damn is it expensive.

btw, how did you solve the Ventilation vs Envelope piercing conundrum?
fitZ

 

[pandamonk]

I built a recording booth, but have run into bit of a problem.I dont know what to do for the window. Should i do the double window "V" technique?, glass or plexi?, or should i just use a single thick glass?.

Double glass window with parallel panes. The V "technique" does nothing to help isolation, and only confuses things with acoustics. Preferably you'd want to completely isolate both panes.

awkward dimensions/ avoided 90 degree angles

Why?

will fill walls with sand

Don't

and instead of using drywall, i will be using mdf. Very dense, heavy wood.

Not a bad idea...

then cover booth with a rubbery, cork material mat, then foam on top of that.

Why the cork?

One end of the booth is about 4 1/2 feet wide and the other end around 3 1/2 feet and its 5 feet long, 9 feet tall.

That's awfully small and the angled walls are pointless.

MDF is a quarter of an inch less than 2 inches, i will be using that for the walls

That's really thick = really heavy. Good for isolation, but might run into structural problems. You say you will be using it. So the booth isn't built yet? Good, you need to change your plans to get the best results.

door is a very heavy thick, sealed door. and will also be covered by both sides with cork mat and acoustic foam.

Again, why the cork? And you don't need to cover both sides with foam unless you're trying to treat the room the booth will be in.

and heavy weight will not be a problem for the floor because the booth is getting built in a room that has concrete floor.

Good.

this is a home studio.

Here, everyone's studio is a home studio

 

[SPANISH_ARMADA]

Thanks for the replies fellas!......

the studio is being built already, as for the walls being too heavy cause of the sand and mdf, we used anchors drilled into the concrete floor, and created a well supported frame for the walls. Our builder knows that this is really gonna be very heavy so he made sure he built a strong frame.

yes, i will be treating the room the booth will be in too.Thats why i am foaming in and out of the booth.

i got a double pane 2 by 3 foot glass window


i thought booths supposed to have akward dimensions?
. Thats why i avoided building a square booth.

 

[Weasel9992]

i got a double pane 2 by 3 foot glass window

Just so you know, the only point to angling the glass is to deal with glare. There is no acoustical advantage.

 

[tmix]

Thanks for the replies fellas!......
i thought booths supposed to have akward dimensions?
. Thats why i avoided building a square booth.

I don't think there is anyone saying anything about not making the booth akward dimensions. It will indeed help alleviate standing waves due to opposing parallel surfaces.
I do believe it is going to be extremely small for all the material and cost being put into it.