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

[Anomie]

Inspired by this topic I decided to make a poormans version of this booth.

Cost me 80 euro's, wich is something like 120 dollars. But I didn't have to pay for posting/packaging . But first I've got to mention that I am not quite a handyman.


Two pices of wood.


Isolation. Not as thick, but that can be replaced if needed.


Sawing in the backyard (very small backyard, freezin' cold by the way.


Assemble puzzle.


Screw in rearside.


Made a hole in in for the xlr-cables and something to make it easy to carry on top.


Soft feet. So my floor and table won't get scratched and for some assumed shock absorbance.


Close up of soft foot.



Sticky double sided tape for fixing the isolation.


Allmost finished. Where to attatch the popfilter? First I just used the mounting brace that came with it. Then I drilled a small hole in the side of the box hoping I could fix the screw-on thingy. (But I couldn't...) Searching my toolshed I came across another solution.


Other solution.


And this is the finished product.

I've tested it briefly and feel pretty pleased by the results. The weakest part is my el-cheapo mic. But if needed I can rent or borrow a better one. And my goal was to create something that I can use to let someone voice-over in an office workspace (I made a short documentary being backstage at a festival for work and need the 'owner' of the subject to do the VO for political reasons rogar-BigGrin(DBG).).

And it beats what I had. (I had nothing.)

Showing it on this forum makes me feel a bit like a clumsy fool, but when I take this thing to work tomorow and call for the coworker who has to redo my own voice over (just for editing), I think I feel pretty cool. I hope.

Jasper

(14 september 2012 edit: the pictures were gone as I have another website and the old one holding the images is empty. Now it's original article is here.)

 

[Tommy K]

That is a very nice build! No need to defend it. It should work just fine. Your box just isn't as portable as the one I built, that's all. The idea behind the collapsible Porta Booth is that you can put it in your luggage and travel on an airplane with it. I have been working with my booth for the past few weeks doing VO's (translations) for a documentary. It sound great. I bring the voice talent to my editing studio or I can take it to them. Let us know how it works out for you.

 

[Anomie]

Thanks Tommy, for your reply and the compliment. (Make's me a bit more confident, haha.) When I saw the portabooth in this topic, I wasn't triggered by the porability in terms of flying (Holland is a very small country), but by it's size. I can throw that in the back of my car and store it at work after use. When I need it again, I just take the car to work again (usualy I bike). If I'd be flying, I'd certainly go for the Portabooth in its original appearance.

I hope I can use mine somewhere this week. Probably the week after though (he's a busy man, that guy who's voice I need). When it's done, I'll write how it worked in this thread.

 

[Tommy K]

Thanks Tommy, for your reply and the compliment. (Make's me a bit more confident, haha.) When I saw the portabooth in this topic, I wasn't triggered by the porability in terms of flying (Holland is a very small country), but by it's size. I can throw that in the back of my car and store it at work after use. When I need it again, I just take the car to work again (usualy I bike). If I'd be flying, I'd certainly go for the Portabooth in its original appearance.

I hope I can use mine somewhere this week. Probably the week after though (he's a busy man, that guy who's voice I need). When it's done, I'll write how it worked in this thread.

I think that I will build a solid box like yours for my studio. It has that more finished pro look to it and will stay in the edit bay. I'll stain the wood to match my edit desk. The portable one can go on locations with me. Thanks for your idea and all the pictures of your build. I am sure this will spur a lot of people to make this as well.

 

[j]

My concern would be with potential resonance from the solid structure. Probably from mid level frequencies. Perhaps some neoprene lining in between the wood and foam, or perhaps some rubber bushings separating each of the wood boards might work.

Not sure if it would even be in issue, but seems like a concern.

 

[Anomie]

Hi j,
I worry about that too, a little. If I stick my head in the box and talk loud, it isn't numbed down by the isolation. I can hear and feel the box resonating. But when I tested (quickly) sitting in front of it, talking loud, I didn't notice that. I'm planning to use it for som ADR for a short I'm finishing too. And there's some pretty loud stuff in that. With diffent voices. So that will be another nice testcase. Usage will show it's flaws. And I'll report honestly.

 

[Brickhouse Media]

Anomie, your box makes my milk crate one look like a booger. Nice job. I'm making one like yours.

 

[Anomie]

Haha! I used the box. Below in the picture there's an actual voice-over-recording going on. (It's not me, I made the picture.)

The important question is of course: did it work as hoped?

Answer: yes, but I'm not completely sure how well...

When I was setting up the box, camera and laptop, I tested it with the not-so-good Azden SMX-10 mic I have. It was worthless. Then I plugged in a no-name presentation/interview mic I also carry with me and that worked much better. I had used that same presentation mic to do the voice-over myself earlier on, just to have something usable in editing. So I can compare quite well, but with absolutely not high-end stuff. (But then again, I am nog so high end dvxuser myself... so that's balanced. You should see me in a couple of years...)

Maybe a high end mic would suffer from the box. We'll see (one day).

I am afraid I can't post samples of both recordings, as it is a company film and I don't have or will get permission to disclose any of it. But I got persmission to post the picture on this forum.

February 14th I have an appointment to do some ADR for a short I'm making. If that tells me more that this topic would benefit from, I'll post it. If not, that means it was okay but nothing more...

Jasper