#How to make a cheap vocal booth portable#
#How to make a cheap vocal booth pro#

The first, which took place in the small reverberation chamber, was designed to evaluate the claim that portable vocal booths can help to block unwanted sound such as traffic rumble and computer fan noise. The two tests devised by Professor Cox are described in detail in the вЂTest ProtocolsвЂ™ box.

The concave shape of most screens risks amplifying this effect through acoustic focusing. Because the screens are designed to be placed in close proximity to the microphone, these reflections will arrive very shortly after the direct sound, and will thus be audible as coloration of the wanted sound rather than as reverberation or echo. However, as we have just seen, these screens cannot be equally effective across all frequencies, and will inevitably reflect some of the source sound back into the microphone, especially in designs where the shell is not perforated. The main way in which portable vocal booths reduce room reflections is by absorbing the sound before it can escape into the room, though they also prevent some returning reflections from reaching the microphone. In principle, therefore, you would expect these screens to be most effective at mid and high frequencies, though in designs where the rigid shell is perforated, this should offer some bass absorption too. Below this, absorption will be incomplete, but will still be useful down to wavelengths of 25cm, which equates to a frequency of 1.36kHz.

This, in theory, should achieve complete absorption of sounds where the wavelength is 10cm or shorter, which corresponds to frequencies of 3.4kHz and above. Most of these screens have an inner lining that is around 2.5cm thick. The degree to which an absorber can attenuate sound is dependent on frequency. With the exception of the Kaotica Eyeball - which is a completely different design - and the much larger Real Traps booth, all are within 5cm or so of each other. There is also a surprising degree of consistency in the dimensions of these devices. Design variations include the extent to which the rigid shell is perforated, and the choice of lining materials: while the SE screens have a complex multiвЂ“layered structure, many others use simple acoustic foam, usually shaped into wedges. The design is similar in almost all cases: a rigid outer shell is curved or angled to enclose a microphone, and lined with acoustically absorbent inner material. All are claimed to reduce the audible influence of room reflections on a recording, and many manufacturers make the additional claim that their screens can reduce the extent to which external sounds such as traffic, computer fan noise or airвЂ“conditioning hum are picked up. We tested 10 such screens, ranging in price from well under ВЈ100 to almost ВЈ300 under $100 to almost $400. (See the accompanying media pageВ for the audio files) Screen One, Screen Them All Trevor then oversaw the analysis of the results. The test protocols were devised by Trevor Cox, Professor of Acoustic Engineering at Salford, and the tests carried out by doctoral student Nikhilesh Patil.

#How to make a cheap vocal booth pro#

Thanks to their expertise and worldвЂ“class test facilities, we were able to compare the performance of 10 rival products, including both the original Reflexion Filter Pro and SEвЂ™s latest RF Space. Photo: Chris Foster Photography Salford postgraduate student Nikhilesh Patil carried out the tests.To find out the answers to these questions, Sound On Sound teamed up with the Acoustics Laboratory at the University of Salford. Professor Trevor Cox in the anechoic chamber at Salford. Do they actually do what their manufacturers claim of them? And what, if any, are the negative sideвЂ“effects of using them? Yet there is no reliable information in the public domain on their effectiveness, and, as far as we know, none of them have ever been subjected to rigorous testing. The Reflexion Filter was a great commercial success, and though certain aspects of its multiвЂ“layered design are covered by an SE patent, the basic concept has been widely imitated by other manufacturers.Д®ight years on, there are hundreds of thousands of these вЂportable vocal boothsвЂ™ in homes and studios across the world. The idea of a portable acoustic screen that can вЂdry upвЂ™ recorded sound by preventing unwanted room reflections from reaching the microphone has obvious appeal to the home recording market, where people often find themselves working in untreated recording spaces.

When SE Electronics launched their Reflexion Filter Pro in 2006, they created an entirely new product category. Portable acoustic screens are designed to make it possible to record goodвЂ“sounding vocals almost anywhere.