Help me decide what treatment to buy

[bryan_kilco]

Guys, I've been debating this for forever now.

I'm about to start vocal recording in my totally untreated room. I NEED something. I know the "proper" thing to do would be to buy a bunch of OC703 and build some absorbers. But lately I've been toying with the idea of some type of sound blankets such as Audimute or similar.

I'd like to keep the budget around $200-300 if possible.

So far, it's a toss up between the sound blankets, building my own panels (which I don't have all the tools needed at home), or buying some type of Aurlex or similar "pre-made" absorbers.

Also - best and cheapest way to make some ceiling clouds?

Experiences with any of the above? Thoughts, comments, advice?!

 

[ForHerDeadEyes]

When are you planning to purchase?
I've been building (rebuilt) a vocalbooth that I planned on sharing the process on, here.. next week I think..
Anyway, I used a cheap acoustic foam that's for speakers (sold for carspeakers here) that works great.. here in Sweden they're 5 pieces, 40x60cm, for just under $20..
I'm sure it's cheaper in the ole' US of A..

 

[bryan_kilco]

Was planning on buying materials this week sometime. I'm out of state on a job for about a week and figured now is a good time.

Watching a bunch of YT videos right now. I'm pretty sure I've heard a few guys on here say, basically, "Don't buy the Aurlex/foam crap/whatever"......but I'm on a pretty tight budget and my band has been bugging me about getting vocals started and I just do not want to even try tracking in a totally untreated room.

 

[ForHerDeadEyes]

I've experienced expensive foam before, but.. the cheap does the trick..
Even using eggcartons dampens the acoustics, though not isolate sound.. I'm guessing you don't need isolation, just dampen the acoustics? (If my wording is correct)
Check for foam for speakers or something cheaper, the expensive stuff takes care of most frequencies, but some people just use a "dampening-screen" infront of the mic..I've also seen a box version just for your head.. That might also work..

 

[ArthurD]

DIY all the way

 

[aortizjr]

OC 703 or equivalent and build frames out of furring strips. Use burlap or go super cheap with muslin as the covers.

Cheaper than foam and way better. You can look online for plans. But I just did a square frame, and use the fabric to hold the insulation in place. Works great.

Those mic mud guard things work pretty well too. You know the half circle things with foam.

Or fuck it, just rock it in an untreated room. Just don't place them near a wall or corner. If it sounds good, it sounds good. Dead rooms done wrong (ie. foam, stuffy, and boomy) are way worse than a untreated room. Vocal booths kind of suck too IMO.

 

[egan.]

I agree with everyone about DIY but here is an alternative:

This was around $250 worth of panels. Even if you decide to go with packing blanket solutions you should apply the principle of treat the area you need and not the whole room to maximize the bang for your buck factor.

 

[bryan_kilco]

Thanks for the input so far guys! I'm pretty sure I've started a thread or 2 about this before, and never actually got around to doing anything. I just wanted to hear some opinions from anyone who's done it for fairly cheap. Actually, has anyone tried Audimute blankets?

http://www.audimutesoundproofing.co...s-acoustic-curtains-band-rehearsal-space.aspx

Doesn't seem like a bad price for (5) 8ft x 4.5ft blankets.....not sure if they are any better than moving blankets or just plain old heavy blankets though. I'm also debating just buying some super thick comforters or sleeping bags to make a makeshift vocal booth but that would just be silly because I'd be putting off, yet again, properly treating the room.

 

[The StabbinCabin]

Check out Thermafiber SAFB batts. May be worth checking out since it can be considerably cheaper than OC703 with very similar response. Good luck!

 

[mstone564]

GIK traps are honestly worth the price. The shipping cost kinda blows, but their traps are seriously fantastic.
I basically do exactly what egan does.

If you don't have the mic stands or "boom brackets" that GIK sells you could always use chairs to prop the traps up and then put one on top as a cloud for support.

 

[schismatic]

I agree with everyone about DIY but here is an alternative:

This was around $250 worth of panels. Even if you decide to go with packing blanket solutions you should apply the principle of treat the area you need and not the whole room to maximize the bang for your buck factor.

Shouldn't your mic be pointing away from the corner, not into it? The theory being that the mic points at the absorption, thus picking up less reflection from the room?

 

[aortizjr]

Thanks for the input so far guys! I'm pretty sure I've started a thread or 2 about this before, and never actually got around to doing anything. I just wanted to hear some opinions from anyone who's done it for fairly cheap. Actually, has anyone tried Audimute blankets?

http://www.audimutesoundproofing.co...s-acoustic-curtains-band-rehearsal-space.aspx

Doesn't seem like a bad price for (5) 8ft x 4.5ft blankets.....not sure if they are any better than moving blankets or just plain old heavy blankets though. I'm also debating just buying some super thick comforters or sleeping bags to make a makeshift vocal booth but that would just be silly because I'd be putting off, yet again, properly treating the room.

I bought some Audiomute blankets to help block sound leakage from a door. While they are really nice blankets and worth the money, Sound wise I didn't find much difference between them and cheap heavy moving blankets online. For sound absorption it definitely deadened the sound and for proofing in multiple layers it definitely helped with the mids-highs.

They don't absorb bass for shit though, so maybe just space a bit from the walls. If you want to go that cheap, go cheap. Just get some 85-95 lb per doz moving blankets and drape them over mic stands. 4 run around $60-70. I think you can get like a dozen for $150-$200.

After the session, they make great moving blankets, blankets for touring bands crashing, protecting gear, or even cheap ass treating for rehearsal spaces and such.

 

[Sloan]

1. Roxul Safe N Sound Insulation (47"x15")
2. 1"x4"x8' Whitewood Boards (pine)
3. Burlap (I chose black, duh)
4. Screws

I used this to make some 3.5" thick 47"x30" panels and they are cheap and work.

 

[egan.]

Shouldn't your mic be pointing away from the corner, not into it? The theory being that the mic points at the absorption, thus picking up less reflection from the room?

I'm not sure what you are seeing exactly as the mic isn't pointing into a corner at all. There is about 15' between the microphone and the wall it faces (the wall behind the singer). In this case I did have a packing blanket on a mic stand behind the singer however the rear wall was an non issues compared to the off axis stuff you get from side walls and ceilings. Most anything coming off the back wall would be minimized by the fact that what's coming out of the singers mouth is hitting panels on 4 sides, plus a carpet. It's about minimizing the area you are trying to control rather than a whole room. Anyway, theory aside it worked and worked well.

 

[neptunian]

If you want low-toxicity / irritation, then check the Applegate Acoustic Cotton batts. They're 2' x 4' and 2" thick, come in a pack of six for $100 after shipping. Slightly better NRC than equivalent fiberglass or rock wool. They're about as stiff and springy as a scotch-brite pad. They're stiff enough that you could stick them onto a screw or nail in the wall for a barebones ghetto setup, or get some big fat black binder clips with the metal fold-down wings. If you do build a frame, furring strips from Home Depot are cheap if you can find reasonably straight ones. For fabric, black cambric is a good value. You can screw eye hooks into the frame or string picture wire across to hang from hooks in the ceiling.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

DIY is totally the way to go. Finding a local distributor for unfaced 703 and 705 is even fucking better because shipping on that shit is fucking stupid.

 

[botus99]

Haven't tried AudiMute blankets, but Producer'sChoice/VocalBooth2Go blankets have worked surprisingly well for me. I think they're cheaper too.

 

[Inceptic]

What exactly do you hope to achieve? To acoustically treat your room, or to soundproof it?

 

[bryan_kilco]

1. Roxul Safe N Sound Insulation (47"x15")

I actually was just at Home Depot and was looking for OC703 and saw some of this Roxul stuff. It was a huge roll of it. Never heard of it before. Couldn't find any OC703 though, and I'm actually out of town on a job so I wouldn't have been able to pick any up today anyway. But yeah, the Roxul stuff seemed to be super dense and lots of it for cheap.

What exactly do you hope to achieve? To acoustically treat your room, or to soundproof it?

Treat it. Don't care about soundproofing it right now. I just want to tame any reflections because we're about to start screaming vocals in there and, as the room is, I get crazy flutters if I clap or crack a beer can open in there.

 

[Sloan]

I actually was just at Home Depot and was looking for OC703 and saw some of this Roxul stuff. It was a huge roll of it. Never heard of it before. Couldn't find any OC703 though, ...

That's why I went with that stuff. It's not rigid fiberglass, but it does something. I got a pack of the batting that is 47"x15" and put two in each panel. They are big. I hang them in dry wall with two "Monkey Hooks" each.