Recommend good Sound Blankets?

Hi Bill,

I'd agree the red arrows are probably best, although from a practical standpoint I'd guess either mode will work okay. Actually, what catches my eye is the problem with the background - can you move the subjects 8 feet from the door and pull the camera back 16 feet? That would certainly improve the depth of field (opening the iris and kicking up the ND filter will help, too). There's also a few shadows casting off the talent (lighting on the subjects is fine). Oh sorry, we were talking about sound, weren't we? Okay, the bookcase with books make a good sound blanket!

Regards, Michael
 
I'm curious to know if anyone has tried balloons on ceiling. how effective for reflection are they?
 
Err, I'm guessing the echos would not only be distored due to the round membrame shape of a baloon (certainly sound bounces off a drum) but would be further distorted across the audio spectrum - not quite what we want.
 
About the shoot itself, that original shoot was in my client's home and there was no space, as it was also her office. So to get an attractive angle they had to be close. This upcoming shoot, I'll have more space to work with and will keep the cameras back a bit. Using two JVC HD 720p cameras.
 
Results - Blanket quickie testi to absorb testing

Results - Blanket quickie testi to absorb testing

Barry_Green said:
What sounds good to your ears (and to the mic, of course) is all that matters. If you're getting great results with such lightweight materials, that's fantastic and I wish I knew the secret! :)


You ain't kidding. The big blankets are expensive and huge and heavy; it's certainly not convenient to leave 'em on the car "just in case"...
Click to expand...

Rehi Barry and company,

Okay, I had a moment to try some simple A-B-C testing.

Common equipment: Rode NTG-2 shotgun, Marantz PMD660, 4 feet to subject

#1. Inside dining room without sound blankets (standard room with sheetrock ceiling, partially carpeted floor, wallpaper, etc)

#2. Inside dining room with inexpensive lightweight moving blankets from Harbor Freight on three sides (left, right, behind subject)

#3. Outside on lawn (perhaps 5 feet - was dark outside and I boosted in post)

While using the sound blankets inside weren't as effective as outside (without sound reflections), I'd say the blankets definitely made a big improvement in a normal room - perhaps 10dB+ echo improvement using a low frequency male human voice. The sound blanket would provide a more dramatic improvement in a reflective room.

I've attached a zipped MP3 file - comments?

Regards, Michael
 

Attachments

There's certainly a difference there. Was that with the $5 Harbor Freight blankets? If so, that's very surprising. If that was with the big heavy blankets, that's about what I would expect.

The bigger and heavier the blankets, the more it'll help. I bought a dozen of these (http://moverssupplies.com/MOVING-BLANKET/BW-Cotton-Blanket-Producers-Choice/) to hang from the ceiling of my studio. I don't expect them to have a huge impact, but a dozen 8.5-pound blankets, that's a hundred pounds of sound-absorbing cotton spread around, so it should help.

Actually, I should try your test, since I've got a total echo chamber and three of each. I'll try to run that tomorrow and see what happens, comparing the lightweight harbor freight blankets against these monster blankets. If the performance is comparable, I'll jump on the bandwagon and tell people how good the results can be from the much-less-expensive HF blankets.
 
Rehi Barry,

They are the 3 pound wool blankets - I also put one of thier lightweight quilted blankets on the floor but I doubt it helped much (overhead on the ceiling would have been better but no way to easily do that with my C-stands.

Indeed Barry, we look forward to hearing of your test results. My sense is the heavies will help a bit more but nothing dramatic compared the basic blanket vs no blanket test. Then again, at lower frequencies perhaps the thicker blankets would have a perceptible improvement. And if we're trying to attenuate loud non-voice noises, we'd need the co$tly foam to do much good.

Happy Trails, Michael
 
Okay, that makes more sense. My initial reaction was that the little black/white HF blankets would be practically useless, and I still think that's the case. 3 pounds of wool is pretty decent and your results show that it did have an impact.

I bought the 8.5-pounders because they were the thickest/beefiest blankets I could find anywhere, plus they're black on one side and "white" on the other (but it's not white, it's quite gray).

So I'm presuming your three-blanket setup is a typical "room" around the mic/camera, a blanket on the left/right/back of the mic?
 
Wow, I didn't expect to hear that dramatic of a difference.

Barry_Green said:
So I'm presuming your three-blanket setup is a typical "room" around the mic/camera, a blanket on the left/right/back of the mic?
Click to expand...
Actually I believe he said it was on the left/right/ and behind the subject....
moonlitnite said:
#2. Inside dining room with inexpensive lightweight moving blankets from Harbor Freight on three sides (left, right, behind subject)
Click to expand...

This makes me wonder how far away these blankets were.
Obviously when shooting we can't just put up a sound blanket directly behind the subject.

Were these set up as close as possible, just for a VO style of test?
Or were the blankets set up far enough away to still allow you to shoot while keeping them out of frame?
 
Luis Caffesse said:
<clip>
This makes me wonder how far away these blankets were.<clip>
Were these set up as close as possible, just for a VO style of test?
Or were the blankets set up far enough away to still allow you to shoot while keeping them out of frame?
Click to expand...

The dining room environment was 15x18 feet, the mic was near the middle of the room, subject in a corner, with blankets several feet behind subject.

Yes, the blankets would be on screen for a video shoot in my test environment but that wasn't the point of the test, which was to see if cheap blankets actually absorb reflected audio echos. Admitedly, if the room was bigger so the blankets were somehow off-screen, then I'd expect a smaller improvement; greater distance would yield less reflections without blankets. But the point of my test was to create an environment that produced noticeable echo reflections.
 
Okay, had a chance to put it to the test. I'm finishing up a new studio and right now it's an absolute echo chamber; about a thousand square feet of concrete and drywall and nothing else. It's amazingly echo-full.

So I tried it out a few ways -- I conducted three tests, each about 4' from the microphone. Stood in the center of the room and spoke at a hopefully consistent volume level. In the first test there were no sound blankets, nothing at all, just massive echo. In the second test I did as you said, I put three blankets up on my left, right, and in back (even though that wouldn't be a practical shooting scenario, it should illustrate the amount of effectiveness that the blankets could have). These were the lightweight black/white blankets from Harbor Freight, not the 3-pounders used by moonlitnite (which would perform better than these). For the third test I replaced those blankets with the big beefy 9-pounders.

Is there any echo reduction? Yes, some. But is it what I'd call a quality audio recording environment? Oh heck no. It's like on a scale of 1 to 100 we went from about 4 to about 6, but we need to be above 80 for a passing grade, so any improvement is incremental and not very practical. But yes, it was an improvement. So for the fourth test I demonstrated one of my favorite techniques, close mic'ing. I got rid of all the sound blankets, and instead just moved the microphone to where it was six inches away instead of four feet away. Mind you, this last clip still took place in the exact same ultimate echo chamber, under the same room conditions as the first test; only difference at all was microphone placement.

Anyway, listen for yourself and see what you think:
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/31/1193364260.zip
 
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Wonderful, Barry.
Thanks for taking the time to do that.

There is a definite difference between no blankets and the 'Producers Choice' blankets...
but yes, NOTHING like close micing.

First hand accounts and testing like this are exactly why I appreciate this site so much.
:thumbsup:
 
Hello DVX Users!
The Producer's Choice blankets were created here by recommendations and demand from members of this forum with the help of your memeber Mal. We just made them. http://moverssupplies.com/BW-Cotton-Blanket-Producers-Choice/
Producer's choice blanketa are Black on one side and White on the the other. ("white" is not crispy Bright like your bed linen, just white). All cotton Fabric. Weight about 8.2 - 8.5 lbs per blanket. I had promised Mal that users of this site can make a comment "From Mal" and they would get 10% off.
Someone recently found that offer and asked if it was still in effect. I would like to update the offer. To get 10% off you simply need to add in the comment - "DVX USER - 10% off". I will then refund you 10% of your Blankets purchase.
Also we can put grommets on the blankets wherever you need them.

Good Filming!
Sincerely,

Jeff Morgan.
www.MoversSupplies.com
 
Doh! Wish I woulda known about the 10% off deal... :) But they're very good blankets, very heavy duty. Need to be aired out a bit before using, but no complaints at all.
 
Hello Barry:

you mentioned the $50 blanket from " the Matthews professional sound blanket weighs over five pounds each:
http://www.msegrip.com/mse.php?show=...ducts_ID=24629 "

Did you try them yourself?
I wonder what is in your opinion allows them to call them "sound blankets"? Is it simply marketing catch or there is something that makes their product different from the moving Blankets? Their blankets are smaller, than my blankets for example and lighter and the description does not even mention the fabric they are made of.

As you might know we had designed a Special blankets by request of your members
see here: http://moverssupplies.com/BW-Cotton-Blanket-Producers-Choice/

At the moment the blankets are out of stock, but we expecting a new and improved shipment. The improved part will be a white side. It will be "whiter" than it was and the material will be more dense , than what we used before. The weight will remain the same - 8.2 + lbs per blanket.

I read in your threads that some of your members trying to make a stand alone "aqustic rooms" . Is this something that you guys would need? As a mediator I wanted you to ask your members a question: if i will be able to come up with a frame and blankets and all to make the "aqustic room' "out of the box" would there be a demand for such product?

Sncerely,
Jeff Morgan
http://www.MoversSupplies.com

 
Sound blankets are typically just heavy mover's blankets, and the better ones have grommets in 'em to allow for easier hanging. I've used many sound blankets from various manufacturers.

I'm well aware of your special blankets, I ordered a dozen of them. They're incredibly heavy! :) Good solid meaty blankets. The only minor disappointment was that the "white" side was decidedly gray, but it sounds like you're already addressing that.

Standalone acoustic rooms? If it could truly be acoustically quiet, I bet you'd find interest in such a thing like that. But I don't know that it could be done with just a frame and blankets...
 
Jeff,

Soundstages wouldn't normally be baffled with moving blankets - regardless of what Matthews calls them. Your's are up to and likely beyond specification for temporary on-set baffling though.

For permanent installations, there is commonly a thick, rubberized commercial batting and Thermafibre backing. With such a system, you might see sound transmission reduction to STC 85+ (a 2x4" and drywall wall is STC 33 typ.). Such systems have fire retarding qualities and carry a UL listing.

Anyway, don't change a thing - your blankets just need to be promoted a little more and they'll literally fly out the door.

e
 
Hello Michael:
About a year ago by request and with participation of the members of this forum we had designed a special sound blankets with light reflection features.
It is a cottom blankets weights about 8.2 - 8.5 lbs per blanket.
http://moverssupplies.com/BW-Cotton-Blanket-Producers-Choice/

(We also offer custom grommets installation. Grommets are $1 each.)

We will have the blankets in stock by the end of January 2008. We have improved on the "white side" to make the white fabric be "more" white and dense. The last shipment we had the fabric was not so dense and the inside filler made it look grey.
I will notify this forum when the blankets will be in stock.

Sincerely,
Jeff Morgan.
http://www.MoversSupplies.com
 
overlandfilms said:
Jeff,

Anyway, don't change a thing - your blankets just need to be promoted a little more and they'll literally fly out the door.

e
Click to expand...
Thank you Eric,
you made me blush...
icon7.gif


so you think the acoustic rooms made of blankets and frames, probably will not be feasible, OK.

If you can think if any other product that could work for you - let me know. we'll make it.


Thank you.
Jeff.

http;//www.MoversSupplies.com
 
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