I want to build a DIY ISO booth, but all my research seems to be for 'sound proofing' instead of isolation.
Or I find info on Whisperbooths (which is what I am trying to avoid purchasing - my wife LIKES eating food instead of puppy chow).
Here is the criteria:
1. PORTABLE: Must be able to lift and shift it out of the house when we move.
2. ISOLATION: 'nuff said.
3. Interior/working space should be about 4'x4'x6'.
HELP.
NOT a sound booth but an ISOLATION Booth
Originally posted at johnlsayers.com, topic 8688.
You Might want to let us know what your usage is going to be.
For guitar amps?
It would'nt have to be 6 ft tall. You could build sections out of 2 layers of 3/4 plywood sandwiching 2 x 4s and mineral wool, and close it off with a solid core door.
You could put absorber panels inside to tame the boxy sound.
I'd build the sections to where you could caulk and screw the sections together so that later it can be disassembled when you move.
If you want it for vocals but don't need a window... just make it taller... although 4 x 4 is small to sing in... at least for me
Sorry. This would be for voice recording (audio books, narrations, commercials). Right now I have a scratch together 'sound proof' area. It's fine for submitting auditions, but I'd like to avoid shelling out money for the longer projects on studio time. I know everyone is different, but for relatively 'short' narrations I like to work standing, but have found that sitting during audio books doesn't take away from performance and let's me record longer w/o breaks. If I'm saving money by building vs. buying, I could splurge and expand it to 5'x5'. I'm switching from recording on a PC to my laptop so I don't know if a window would be essential either. If window, any suggestions though. Hope that helps. So for the walls, if I have it right, your suggesting 'rigid foam' like a 703 Owens Corning in a frame between plywood sheets - with acoustic foam on the inner surface?You Might want to let us know what your usage is going to be.
It's tricky to be both soundproof and portable.
First, a note about terminology. There are great misconceptions out there about what "soundproofing" means. Just look at the "buy our soundproofing foam" ads to see what I mean. In general, soundproofing is related to isolation, in that a well-soundproofed room will exhibit good isolation characteristics.
For your vocal booth, the key factors for isolation will be airtightness and mass, and to a lesser extent flanking noise, which I wouldn't worry too much about given your application (ie, not much low-end SPL to worry about in your recordings).
You'll need a good, heavy, solid core door. From there, I'd probably build John's inside-out walls into a vocal booth. Seal the booth with plenty of caulk so that it is airtight, and use 2 layers of sheetrock on the outside. sealing the door will be the trickiest part. Then inside the booth put insulation between the joists and cover the whole inside with cloth. You'll get a nice dead vocal booth.
Presuming you do the construction correctly, that should get you a pretty good performing booth; good isolation, but again making it portable will be a trick.
I suppose with the inside-out walls, you could fasten them together with bolts that you can remove, but you'll still need to deal with the caulking issue.
Where are the schematics on these inside out walls? Thanks for the feedback from all so far.It's tricky to be both soundproof and portable. You'll need a good, heavy, solid core door. From there, I'd probably build John's inside-out walls into a vocal booth. Seal the booth with plenty of caulk so that it is airtight, and use 2 layers of sheetrock on the outside. sealing the door will be the trickiest part. Then inside the booth put insulation between the joists and cover the whole inside with cloth. You'll get a nice dead vocal booth. I suppose with the inside-out walls, you could fasten them together with bolts that you can remove, but you'll still need to deal with the caulking issue.
Paul,
I have 2 ideas, you can ignore both if you like.
If i understand your needs correctly, you just need a non-reverberant quiet, semi-dead enviornment to record spoken word. It also needs to be free from your computer noise.
If so then:
a)If your room is already isolated enough where you only need to trap the noise inside the room, you can simply make / buy (3-4) free-standing absorbers that you can place around you when you record. they can be as simple as 1 x 4 wood frames with plywood etc on one side, with mineralwool or compressed fiberglass inside and material cover on the side facing you. You can mount them to a legs, stands or each other by hinges to where you can get them out of your way when necessary. just place them around you between you and your noise source (computer)
b) If your noise problem is only the computer you can build a cabinet to place around you computer to quiet it, although you have to take into consideration it keeping cool enough to not overheat
but if your problem is more severe than that see JWL idea about the inside out walls, which are basically all the mass (wood / sheetrock, etc.) attached to the outside of the wall with the insulation in between the studs and material only for the inside so that the insulation in the wall cavities are also your sound absorbers.
I am thinking that unless it is pretty noisey in your room, you only need minimal mass, probably mostly absorption.
My thoughts obviously.
Tom
Tom, Thanks for the input, no I won't ignore any of it. a) That is in essence what I have now. The problem is that, for longer narrations (audio books and the like), the low rumble of deliver trucks, the bass from the 'Whips' in the neighborhood...can screw with the recording. Sometimes so that I only hear it during editting. What I am thinking is possible after reading your post is this: close off the cloth wall side of the partitions with wood and caulk the seams in order to make them air tight, as has been suggested. THe dead space and air tight qualities will be there because of the caulk and insulation. Then I could construct a top and fourth wall/door and foam up the inside of this box... Thanks for the spark of an idea.Paul, I have 2 ideas, you can ignore both if you like. a)If your room is already isolated enough where you only need to trap the noise inside the room, you can simply make / buy (3-4) free-standing absorbers that you can place around you when you record. Tom
I couldn't find any schematics for the inside out walls, but check this thread:
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8657
That's the closest you'll find, I think....
THanks for the info.
Dumb question maybe but what is the difference between acoustic caulk and plain caulking? What is the approximate cost of the acoustic stuff in the N.E. USA (Upstate NY, Western NY area around Buffalo)?THanks for the info.
You mention caulking...would rubber sealing between the wall units/ceiling do the job to allow for portability?It's tricky to be both soundproof and portable. I suppose with the inside-out walls, you could fasten them together with bolts that you can remove, but you'll still need to deal with the caulking issue.