VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Frank F]

Thanks Don.

The McGuyver method still works and works well.

FF
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

[Diane Maggipinto]

if corey has hardwood floors above, none of that will work. i know ...
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sitting at #8, though not as present as I'd like to be. Hello!

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[cyclometh]

Unfortunately, Diane has it spot-on. The house is a two-level with a daylight basement. My studio is in a corner of the basement, so two walls are cement backed by earth- that's good. But the first/top floor is all hard floors and the house is built with a massive "spine" beam that essentially transmits every step from end to end.

I can't record if my wife is walking in the kitchen upstairs at the other end of the house, nor can she run the dryer, etc.

It's a bite because you'd think the site is perfect, and in a lot of ways it is, except that there is so much acoustic transparency and mechanical connections to the exterior.

I've considered injectable foam, but based on my research and tests I don't know that I could really get enough dampening, and then I'd be committed.

The three options that I think are most likely to be the biggest gain:

* Rebuild with a massive addition of mass, acoustically-opaque insulation and such.
* Floating walls and ceiling inside the current room. I don't like this option because it's complex, makes the room smaller and probably would cost about as much as the other options.
* A good-sized booth.

Personally, I like option 1 the most. I think option 3 is the most realistic for the near future, with option 1 becoming more viable within a few years as I grow my business.
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Corey "Vox Man" Snow
http://voxman.net

[Rob Ellis]

I am a boother and after the booth and the treatment it ain't cheap, but it does work and none other than our own soundgun recently heard very little acoustical difference over a Source Connect line between me in my booth and me in my room (which is well treated but not so well isolated)

The key with a booth is a healthy measure of rockwool or OC703/705 panels, positioned properly, along with a definite proclivity to NOT be claustraphobic.

But I can say that with the aforementioned setup, any important/live sessions I have are worry -free as far as outside noise goes.

[whalewtchr]

Interestingly, these Booths were originally designed for musicians to practice their instruments and when they closed the door, the rest of us in the immediate area would not have to hear it. Somewhere along the line, it was decided they could be used to keep sound out as well as keep sound "in", so a recording booth was born.

There are some excellent threads in the archives and maybe some answers that work for you Corey.

I am a "room guy" it is treated, but to avoid external noises (not all mind you) I record in the middle of the night-my wife has a life and is appreciative ;>)
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jonahcummings

[ballenberg]

Corey-
+1 on Option 1--it's more expensive and time-consuming but you won't regret it. I will say however, that hardwood floors above, even with studio construction techniques, may still cause issues. Impact noises are the hardest to eliminate--Even been in some rather costly NYC studios where I could hear high heels on the next floor. Luckily, it was not a clogging class.

Heavy rugs and padding will certainly help--as will the "slippers only while Daddy's recording" technique. But having the room not have any physical attachment to the floor above does make a huge difference.

[heyguido]

That beam is the killer issue. A plump rug and a good pad under it could allay some of the noise from the daughter's room directly overhead, but that beam will transmit every thud and hum from one end of the house to the other.

What's your ceiling height down there, Corey? Can you float a ceiling, and back it up with insulation?
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Don Brookshire
"Wait.... They wanna PAY me for this?"

[cyclometh]

The ceiling is 7 foot 7 inches, give or take an inch. The spine beam is just outside the door. I don't think I could float a ceiling that wouldn't be claustrophobic for me (I'm 6'4").
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Corey "Vox Man" Snow
http://voxman.net

[D Voice]

The man seems to have considered this pretty carefully and feels he needs a booth, so we should probably answer his question and try to help solve his issues, rather than tell him to want something else.

However, I must be missing something. The booth will have some opening for cables, etc. to go through, correct?

Took me a while to discover that (my) PCs- and Mac- will accept a second mouse and keyboard via USB. So I have one set at the desk, and another in the recording space (a room but the same principle applies), and a video splitter for the screen- which in Corey's space could be inside the booth, or visible through a window, Assuming, of course that the booth is not too far from the computer.

Not as sexy as wireless remote controls on a new-fangled device, but it should work.

Alternatives would be using a footswitch, or the PowerMate USB assignable controller, the knob you can program something like six functions, as long as it works with Cubase.

http://store.griffintechnology.com/powermate-1

[cyclometh]

[georgethetech]

A 7'7" ceiling – is going to be very tight for any sort of prefabricated voiceover booth solution. However if you leave the wheels off of the booth you might be able to fit something relatively comfortably. To completely stop the sound of footfall coming through the structure above the booth must be extremely well isolated. One of my clients has a vocalbooth.com gold series which is a double wall booth and you can still hear the kids walking around upstairs in her three-story apartment. With enough ceiling clearance he might just have to beef up the ceiling of whatever booth you buy with layers of gypsum board.
To preserve as much ceiling height as possible you might be able to get away with a floorless booth that sits right on the concrete slab. That's assuming the concrete slab is transmitting a very minimal amount of noise. A custom-built isolation space will likely cost very little more than a prefabricated booth while providing much better isolation, if you go the DIY route.
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[Dayo]

[graemespicer]

Or just a cheap generic tablet to read the F documents on.
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Graeme Spicer
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[Neil K. Hess]

I have tried all three, paper, ipad and 2nd monitor and for me the second monitor is by FAR the winner. If you can make it work, my vote goes to a second monitor.
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