DIY Portable Mic Sound Booth - Fantastic Sound For VO's

Tommy K

Tommy K

Well-known member
I thought someone else might be interested in this portable sound booth. Everyone that does VO's should have one of these. It works unbelievably well. VERY SIMPLE and CHEAP to make. You can buy a pre-made one for $150 or you can make this for right around $40+- depending on where and what kind of acoustic tile you buy. The mic sits in the booth so there is no need for you to go to a studio sound booth to do voice over work. This is just as good when used in a quiet room. Just use a decent mic with it. I use a Senheiser K6-ME66 shotgun with it.

It is 2.5" acoustic tile cut to fit in a 14"x14" Whitmor collapsible storage cube sold by Target and Amazon.com

I was amazed by the sound quality it gave when we did our first VO test using it. Rich, full and absolutely ambient noise free. We checked the waveforms in Sound Forge and it was 100% free of any outside noises.
 

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That's interesting. I'll build me one!

I see you have a shotgun in there. How does it sound with different kinds of mics? (omni, cardioid, hyper, pzm...)
 
I am told it will make any decent studio mic sound cleaner and richer. I have only used the Senheiser shotgun in it, and it sounds amazingly clean.
 
Thanks so much for the idea! I was surprised to see that amazon has an option to ad the foam on the page for the storage cube. Is this what they are meant for? Or is this just a super popular DIY?

Here is the storage cube: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0HCH0T4Y12FCM7Q1FYZP


And here is the foam: http://www.amazon.com/Acoustic-Foam-2-1-24-18/dp/B0002ZPLP2/ref=pd_bxgy_k_text_b


Questions:

How many sheets of that would I need? How about if I wanted a bottom layer of foam?

Why didn't you cover the bottom in foam?

Wouldn't it be better with a shock mount?
 
It's not necessary to line the bottom of the cube. This design comes from Harlan Hogan who is a legend in the VO industry and actually takes one of these cubes with him anywhere he travels. He does VO's for CNN, NBC and other major outlets from his hotel room using this cube.

Yes Amazon sells the kits because it is a very popular DIY. They also sell the finished PortaBooth that Harlan Hogan builds and sells for $149.

I do have the Senheiser shotgun mounted on a shock mount. I also put a pop filter in front of the condenser when doing a VO.

The cube is a 14" square all the way around. You need 14x14 for the back and 12x14 for the sides and top. This is assuming you are using the 2.5" thick acoustic tiles. The 2.5" is reccommened because it has better sound isolation. I didn't make a perfect fit with mine as it sticks out of the cube a little bit. But it works great and that is all that matters.
 
Well wait... the already built one on amazon doesn't have a bottom piece of foam because the mic is facing up... your mic is facing a different direction... that has got to make a difference. Why would it not need foam on the bottom? All it can do is make it sound better. I will add some on the bottom if I make it I think.
 
It might need a bit of "live" reflection to make it sound good.

test, test, test.
 
Jackson Miller said:
Well wait... the already built one on amazon doesn't have a bottom piece of foam because the mic is facing up... your mic is facing a different direction...
Click to expand...

Technically, they're "facing" the same way. The one pictured on Amazon is a side-address, large-diaphragm condenser. It's off-axis rejection, assuming it's cardioid, will also be to the back of the cube, not to the bottom.
 
Hey man, that is slick! Thanks for the post. If you go to the amzon link for the box, it shows customers also bought.. and there's the foam and mic stand lol.
 
i wonder how well just sitting in the middle of a closet (clothes on both sides, and carpet on the bottom) would work in a pinch?
 
Sorry for the double post... Duh... I missed that old post lol. But for the benefit of those of us who did miss it, here it is again. I really love this simple little box. It was brought to my attention at the perfect time. I have a ton of VO work to do on my current project, and it needs to sound great. This did the trick for sure...
 
Very clever! Pretty funny that DIYers have managed to make foam sound insulation material appear as a "customers also bought" on amazon. Some soccer mom looking for a way to store laundry is scratching her head at that, right now.

It's worth noting that "accoustic foam" is pretty fancy stuff (and it works!) But there are ways to DIY a similar solution. Just like insulating your house, a thick layer of a cheap material has the same effect as a thin layer of an expensive material. With that in mind, dollar store kid's play mats (the giant puzzle-piece kind) are a popular sound proofing solution for ultra low-budget recording artists. You can cut it, layer it, glue it, disassemble it, and if you can manage to find it in black it looks not bad at all. It still gives that walk-into-the-room-and-instantly-notice-the-deafening-quiet effect at a fraction of the cost. Overall though, I think you'd find the ways it modifies sound waves are not as uniform as the $10/sq foot stuff, but surely you'd have to invest in a pretty expensive mic and recording interface to justify nit-picking about that.
 
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what exactly does harbor freight have that you're referring to? I looked on their site for "mats" and "foam" and couldn't find anything similar.
 
It's the spongy floor mats. I bought them in the store but can't find them online. If memory serves, it's like $10 for 6 18" black pieces. Walmart has the same in blue for $20.

Another nice thing Harbor Freight has are black moving blanket. I've got them on sale for $7 ea.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93156

Those are great, I used them to cover a picture window wall by hanging a curtain rod with clip on rings. Sounds great, looks great. They are not as thick as normal moving blankets (about 1/2), but they come in black and are cheap.
 
j; Another nice thing Harbor Freight has are black moving blanket. I've got them on sale for $7 ea. [URL said:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93156[/URL]

Those are great, I used them to cover a picture window wall by hanging a curtain rod with clip on rings. Sounds great, looks great. They are not as thick as normal moving blankets (about 1/2), but they come in black and are cheap.
Click to expand...


Do you use these blankets for location sound proofing, or in your editing room? How well do they cut down on the outside ambient noise? This seems like a good low budget solution for on location if they work well enough.
 
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