VO Booth - 450Hz Issue

[TheVoiceOfBrian]

First Post! Thanks for your time. I'm a voiceover professional of almost 30 years. Sadly, I own a 3.5 x 5 x 7 isolation booth (I know, that's my problem). Due to the inherently horrible boxy sound of these challenging booths, I've fabricated panels that cover all three walls in 4" Roxul, I have panels on the roof that are about 3". The corners are straddled as well. The door has a window and I've tested by putting some coverage on it, but little help. I still deal with a bit of honky/boxy tone at around 450Hz. These panels have really helped from what it was originally, but just wondering if there is any hope of taming this just a bit more. The dang booth is so small inside now (about 2.5 feet wide due to the panels) I'm guessing there is no hope and that reduced space is a large part of the issue.

I only record spoken word - nothing else.

Microphones are: Sennheiser 416 & Neumann TLM103

Just wondering…….

[TheVoiceOfBrian]

I know - I'm guessing the only recourse is EQ the audio when I'm done.

[Soundman2020]

Hi there "TheVoiceOfBrian", and Welcome! Sorry for the delay: It's pretty busy on the forum right now, and I'm also tied up in other projects...

Anyway, I'm wondering how you determined that the problem is at 450 Hz? That's unusually high, even for such a small room. From those dimensions; I would expect major issues at around 80, 130, 161, 197 and 240, to name just a few. The booth has mathematically related dimensions (height is exactly twice the width), so there will be pretty serious issues at two of the above: 161 and 197. But it seems strange that you have an issue way up at 450. I would not have expected that form the room itself. Maybe it is something in the room that is resonating at that frequency? Or maybe it's the way the room is built? For example, if the walls happen to have two sheets of drywall with a very small air gap between them, then that might explain it: that would be a resonant cavity.

I would suggest that you test the room with REW acoustic software, and post the resulting data file here, for analysis, so we can help you figure out what is causing the issue, and what to do about it. REW is free. Just st up your speaker and mic decently far from each other, at the same height as your head is when you are doing voice-overs: For example, set up the speaker against the far wall, and the mic a foot or so away form the near wall, so there is about 4 feet between them: Aim the mic up towards the ceiling, not directly at the speaker.

Based on what REW shows, we'll try and figure out what your next steps should be.

I'm guessing the only recourse is EQ the audio when I'm done.

Actually, even that isn't a usable solution! Most small room acoustic issues are in the time domain, not the frequency domain, so EQ cannot do anything about that. The reason is simple: Once the speaker cone stops moving, there is nothing at all that the equalizer can do to the sound waves that are still bouncing around inside the room, causing trouble! EQ can only act on the signal that goes out to the speaker, but once that signal stops and it is the room itself doing the ringing, then there is zilch that the speaker, amp, or EQ can do: Only room treatment can handle that.


- Stuart -

[TheVoiceOfBrian]

WOW, thank you so much! The reason I say the issue is around 450Hz, is because of the boxy/honky sound - even with Roxul panels in there covering all three walls and straddling the corners. When I use an EQ and pull it down in that area, I can hear it diminish as I dip it down about -3dB. I've tried different mic placements etc, but still not happy. It's a WhisperRoom Model 4260 (42"x60"), then the Roxul panels on 3 sides, so I end up with a lot less than that.

[TheVoiceOfBrian]

Stuart, if sending a link to an audio file you can download would help, I'm happy to do that as well.

[Soundman2020]

if sending a link to an audio file you can download would help, I'm happy to do that as well.

Yes, that would help to get an idea of the problem, but a full REW test will reveal all the ugly truth! An audio file can tell me something about what is going on, but the REW test tells me pretty much everything, and suggests what is needed in order to fix it.

What you describe sounds like the issues of a typical over-damped room done with absorption that is sucking out too much of the highs and not enough of the lows. There are ways of dealing with that, but the REW test will help decide which of those ways would be most effective.

It would also help if you could post a couple of photos of the interior of the booth.

But please do post that link: the more info you can supply, the easier it is to figure things out and suggest a course of action.

That said, it IS a very small room, so there are limitations on what can be achieved, simply due to the laws of physics themselves. So it won't ever sound like Abbey Road in there, but it can still very likely be improved considerably.

- Stuart -

[TheVoiceOfBrian]

You are a jewel

[TheVoiceOfBrian]

Trying to get set up on the HTS site so I can download the program, but it's not sending me the confirmation email yet. I'll get it as soon as I can

[TheVoiceOfBrian]

Stuart, here is a link to download the file - it's good for 3-days: https://files.secureserver.net/0skWgSleyAMz3Y

[TheVoiceOfBrian]

Still unable to download the software from HTS and they have not replied to my request for sign up assistance…..so I'm slow in getting you the info. I'll keep trying

[Soundman2020]

PM me...

- Stuart -