The validity of amp iso boxes?

[Ermz]

So, do those small wodden, polyurethane-padded boxes really aid in isolating guitar amps... and more importantly, do they yield anything remotely resembling a decent close-mic'ed tone?

I'm really struggling with space at my place and I need to work out whether mic'ing a cab will ever be a remote possibility! Though the best of my knowledge and sensibilities tell me these things are useless for my purposes, a voice deep inside is hoping they aren't.

Cheers.

 

[Kazrog]

Depends on how they're built. A friend of mine has done it and gotten great results, but I've also heard awful results with similar boxes.

Your biggest enemies are going to be exaggerated proximity effect, weird brittle reflective noise, and "boxy" tone because your amp is in a box. But I think if the box is big enough, well constructed enough, with very good foam, it can sound great (and potentially cost a fair amount as well.)

 

[Ermz]

Hmm yeah, that's a fair point. How well would it isolate SPL though? I've never even once been in a full studio facility which had a live room adequately isolated enough to stop me hearing the amp blasting from the outside. There's always some sub and midbass which makes its way through. Given we're just working with fairly thin sheets of wood here, I can't imagine the isolation would be excellent.

 

[Kazrog]

The isolation can be good enough to not bug your neighbors, unless you live in a high rise apartment building or something. It depends on your needs really. My friend puts his iso box in the garage and runs all his cables through the roof. Works well!

 

[Notuern]

Hmm yeah, that's a fair point. How well would it isolate SPL though? I've never even once been in a full studio facility which had a live room adequately isolated enough to stop me hearing the amp blasting from the outside. There's always some sub and midbass which makes its way through. Given we're just working with fairly thin sheets of wood here, I can't imagine the isolation would be excellent.

One of my friends has a BIG isobox.
How his works is basically that its a huge box that is covered with foam on the inside, and then he put blankets in it.
Inside this huge box there is a smaller box with the speaker(This has foam too.), and when both boxes are closed, you only hear some bass "woofing" through(Not that much though.).

 

[Soundlurker]

I've tried recording guitars in my DIY vocal booth. For a single v30 without a box it works reasonably well - you get a useable tone and acceptable SPL levels. I was barely able to stick my 4x12" in the booth and naturally it didn't produce very desirable results, the sound was boxier and lots of lows and low mids escaped from the booth.

Of course you can do a far better job than my amateur DIY booth but my feelings is that the best results you can get would still be compromised in one way or another, most probably in a number of ways. You can probably get decent results if you pour a lot of money and effort into it but I really doubt you'll ever be completely happy and I'm sure you won't settle for this. And finally, If you really want to make it sound good, it would have to be quite a big iso box, more like a small iso room.

 

[Metaltastic]

Your biggest enemies are going to be exaggerated proximity effect, weird brittle reflective noise, and "boxy" tone because your amp is in a box.

From the clips and testimonials I've heard, as well as just the theory behind it, this seems to pretty much sum it up! Ermz, is space or noise an issue at your place? Cuz a cab is not a very big thing, and more importantly is very narrow in depth, so it shouldn't be too hard! (and as for noise, that's the beauty of re-amping; track with an ampsim, and just re-amp short bursts of deafening volumes! )

 

[Metaltastic]

Also, I would much rather have a 1x12 cab than an iso cab, I've heard some sweet recordings from 1x12's

 

[abyssofdreams]

I haven't heard any convincing iso cab tones yet. In fact, I found them to sound awful so far.
A friend of mine recently recorded some 1x12 v30 tone with his sm57, I will ask him for clips next time I see him but so far he wasn't impressed himself and I trust his judgement.

 

[lolzgreg]

I own one. I built it. It doesn't sound boxy:

http://forum.recordingreview.com/f43/infamous-speaker-isolation-box-b-clips-14690/

I'm not retyping it all, enjoy.

As soon as I get a reamp box, you can send me DI's and I'll reamp for you and you can decide if its worth building one.

I'm sure you could make one to fit any size cab. Ideally, I would have built two (one for bass cabs and one for guitar) but they take up a mighty amount of space, which I don't have in my room as of now. They are stackable though, which is wonderful (if you built two with side address openings). I would recommend simply doing it with a good 1x12.

 

[Metaltastic]

Hmm, actually, the top clip does sound kinda boxy to my ears Greg Not unusable, just not really my thang!

 

[Metaltastic]

And what the hell does this mean?

WOW !! sounds like fort knox. that will be there forever.

 

[Ermz]

Ermz, is space or noise an issue at your place?

A lot of both, actually. My current residence is scum, not unlike most inner-suburbian Australian housing at this pricepoint...

It's primarily noise that's an issue. In effect I don't HAVE anywhere to reamp. My 'control room' has every ounce of space used up. Alongside that, the room shares a wall with the next door neighbours, with seemingly no insulation in it (oh yeah, one of those). The only options are to use the living room (with an iso box... a damned good one), or somehow treat my wardrobe after ripping half the clothes out of the fucker. The latter I would imagine to be an EPIC bass trap with a cab in it.

I'm at a point where I'd love to stop bothering GH and a few others to reamp everything I do, yet not have the only other option involve using impulses (goddamn you, Nebula)

My thoughts were to give the ENGL Pro 2x12 a shot, but I honestly don't think I can pull it off in my current residence.

 

[Ermz]

I own one. I built it. It doesn't sound boxy:

http://forum.recordingreview.com/f43/infamous-speaker-isolation-box-b-clips-14690/

I'm not retyping it all, enjoy.

As soon as I get a reamp box, you can send me DI's and I'll reamp for you and you can decide if its worth building one.

I'm sure you could make one to fit any size cab. Ideally, I would have built two (one for bass cabs and one for guitar) but they take up a mighty amount of space, which I don't have in my room as of now. They are stackable though, which is wonderful (if you built two with side address openings). I would recommend simply doing it with a good 1x12.

Thanks for the link. Shame about needing to sign up over there just to hear the files and view pics.

TBH that tone really didn't do it for me. It was partly what I expected when I thought of an iso-box being involved (though less low-mids! so that's something). Sounds like there's a blanket over the speaker and absolutely no 3d depth or body to the tone.

Thanks again though. Clips are the best way to judge these things, and this counts as another strike against the idea. It may be interesting to try just as an experiment, if I get any leftover insulation from making new traps, but I won't be expecting too much.

I haven't heard any convincing iso cab tones yet. In fact, I found them to sound awful so far.
A friend of mine recently recorded some 1x12 v30 tone with his sm57, I will ask him for clips next time I see him but so far he wasn't impressed himself and I trust his judgement.

I've made the same observations in the past. You always manage to reality check me, bernhard. It's a great thing, just sometimes feels hopeless when I have no other options . I lose so much time and money by mic'ing up the cab at the studio, plus with the Millennia now there's no reason for me to be doing it. I'm also bothered by getting others to reamp as I'm not actively involved in the process and it make me feel like I have a teeny engineer winkie.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

I hate my upstairs neighbor. (Slightly OT but not really).

.... ....

 

[Metaltastic]

I'm also bothered by getting others to reamp as I'm not actively involved in the process and it make me feel like I have a teeny engineer winkie.

 

[KeithTidd]

too much bass buildup for me. I can get a decent sound recording at low volume.

 

[kass]

Zorran's newest clip was recorded with the new randall iso cab


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=147856&songID=7351450



pretty sick if you ask me

 

[Metaltastic]

So Ermz, now that you've registered at recordingreview...

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/andy-sneap/476294-any-all-homerecording-org-members.html

Old buddy old pal

 

[Wolfeman]

Don't bother with one if you are in an apartment.... It quieted the amp down very well, but the bass was still able to find its way down to my neighbors....