I just bought this. Now, I don't want you to tell me I'm crazy, I already know that. What I want/need is someone to ask, how have I gone so long without it. Anyone?

https://snapstudio.com/

I can answer your question but I will give you a word of warning. The last time I saw someone enter a box like that a magic wand was waved and they disappeared! So check for magic wands prior to entering!

I don't sing, but it looks way cheaper than $400/hr at your local studio so long as you don't have 6'9" Britney Griner in there with you.

She might poke thru the roof

Does it come with microwave oven and color TV?

Steve, when I pull the curtins and you hear what is coming out you're going to think Rod Stewart is in there... Our current project will be the test of this addition to my spare bedroom, opps, I mean my Studio.

NYC studio apartment.


Funny stuff aside, I am a big fan of these kind of pop filters that I will link. They were limited to only a couple of makers, now they are spreading faster than flu:

https://www.amazon.com/Microphone-Sound-absorbing-Isolation-Canceling-Windscreen/dp/B0BHQ4RCRB

These actually eliminate a lot of room noise...for me.

PVC pipe and moving blankets for less than 1/4 the cost

You're crazy Whoops, you asked me not to tell you that

Actually, it might be neat. Yes, there may be cheaper methods and other methods, but this one allows you to get going straight away. Keep us posted

Looks good Dan, and probably will make you feel even more pro when you use it.

Enjoy.

All kidding aside, does it work to help keep external noises from getting in?

external noises, yes... but the vocal booth's super power is its ability to eliminate room echo by absorbing everything that gets past the mic.

If you watch much youtube you may have already noticed that a lot of content providers make their videos inside their car. The average car is designed to be a good acoustic space. There are very few reflective surfaces and lots of padding

Does it smell like a new car in there?

(I’m thinking of Frank Zappa in “Baby Snakes” saying the best part of a squeezebox is the way the air coming out of the holes smells.)

I live on the lake in a 100 year old cottage house which we gutted and built onto 4 years ago. So outside or external noise is not a problem. There are a lot of reviews avialable on Snap vocal booth and they confirm it is not designed to be an isolation chamber, so it may minimize but will not eliminate external noise.

My studio in the house is my grand daughters old bedroom. (I bought the house originally from my son). There is no acostic treatment of the room. just a typical 12 x 12 carpeted drywall construction with two large windows. I never had the interest in trying to attach foam on the walls and corners. The room is crammed with computers and music gear! But I can make room for the 33 x 33 inch footprint of the booth. The booth promises "- efficiently absorbing reverb, leaving vocals dry and clear". And it claims to be portable for easy dissassembly and storage.

I thought about making the booth. As mentioned, PVC and moving rugs as best I can tell. At $500 this is not a "no-brainer" purchase for me. Drew up the design and was heading for Home Deport when when my daughter told me Prime would deliver the unit "Tomorrow". That was the deal breaker for me.

OK, why do I feel I need this? I figure I have thousands of dollars invested in making my music. And every purchase was based on the assumption that my music would sound better. Time is chasing me. I can't put things off for much longer. On top of that, my voice is not getting sweeter with age.

And why now, at this moment I am starting a new recording project (collaboration with Steve). Vocals are waiting on the booth.

I thought someone here would have experience with this type of setup versus an open mic in a home studio.

Dan

It's a neat, tidy, fairly comfortably portable, quite possibly more effective, quite possibly cheaper alternative and to my old trick of hanging curtains across the room. It closes fully, which curtains can't easily do. The fabric has probably also been designed for the job. It packs away quite nicely, too. Buying one does not appear to me to be the slightest bit crazy!

Edit: Ah yes ... after reading some later posts, an English:American translation:
curtains == drapes

Interesting unit. Janice facing a quilted table runner hanging down file cabinet in a combo office, "studio" and workout room has worked for us for 30 years. Guess we've gotten used to the room ambiance good or bad

Bud

Oh brother do I feel that exact same thing . . .

Let us know how the booth works out!

~Russell~

The relative value of this depends on how much you actually record that isn't line level. I have seen stories here and on youtube of people building home studios and when you see the studio at work, they record 95% of what they do in line level, so there are no room acoustics involved at all other than on the vocal track. I had a guy come here and start telling me everything wrong with my room and I asked him straight out "When I plug a keyboard into my interface and record parts, how does the room come into play? Other than that the computer generates everything. It's all line level direct to disk recording." At the time I had 2 sets of bifold doors faced with absorbent foam, and when I sang I would take those 2 sets of doors, open them both 90 degrees, and make a cube out of them. It was horrible. If I bumped them they would fall over, etc... There are 2 spots I had to repair the wall where one fell and poked through the drywall. LOL!

But bottom line here is that it all comes down to you. If you wanted this and had the money to spend on it, you do you bro! In my case, for me, this would have been spending a mortgage payment and gas bill for something I would use 3-4 times a year. But again, I am not you and you are not me. I do very little with music anymore.

I use this. Foam squares I bought on Facebook Marketplace for $20 and this little collapsible isolation attachment I got for $25. It works well for me like your booth will work for you.

The "time passing by" thing makes me too depressed to talk about. LOL

Ya, this is for vocal work only. Just me and my microphone and my computers...



Otherwise, Eddie, I am just guessing here, but I think you are 3 - 5 years my senior. I have friends in that age range. They were working musicians but are no longer. Hense, the reason I have to push while there is still time for me.

Well, it ain't small! Many would have found it easy to install. But I ain't like many. The frame itself was a piece of cake, literally minutes, but hangin those heavy drapers was a bear for me. The velcrow was not error free. On two occasions I needed a blade to snip away some stitches which held the straps together. I suspect it will be easier now that I did it once.

My Rode condenser mic fit in nicely and luckly I have long cables for mic and headphones. Hope to be using it shortly.

Kudos to PRIME, less than 24 hours from the time I order to delivery.

Dan

What is the texture of the drapes? Is the finish on them hard like a moving blanket?

They are soft and absorbant. But very very dense and heavy. More than a typical moving blanket.

And it looks big enough for my fat azz to fit in it. Also to double as a changing closet or a porta-potty.

Boy, I hope you don't get scared of the dark

I don't need anything like that... My studio dead-room-treatment is "clutter", much clutter.

A battery (usb charged) 3 level light is hanging on the inside. Also a IPAD holder is mounted on the inside.

You going to do an A/B demo for us so we can hear the absorption?

+1

I'm back...

I have just completed my first full session in the Booth. I will be posting the result shortly.
My first initial attempts were catastrophic fails. The booth is 3 – 4 steps from the control panel monitor. So setting the levels from the mic was actually a two man job and I was all along. When it came time to record, I punched the record then I had to quick step over into the booth (with headphones on squeezing between the curtain doors and waiting as I listened for my que. The song had a 4-5 bar piano intro before my verse starts, which I missed the first couple times. I was used to sitting/standing in front of the video monitor so I always had a visual que for when I was to come in. Without that visual que it was a challenge.

Then there was the dark. I don’t think I had ever sung in the dark before. Difficult to read the lyrics. Then the light went out and left me in pitch black while the recording continued (several times since I needed to charge the battery). By this time, it was starting to get hot in the booth. Literally a comedy of errors!

That was day 1. Nothing of any value recorded.

Truth be told it took 2 – 3 days before I settled down on the new workflow. Luckily my producer (Steve) was patient and didn’t put any pressure on me.

Over this time period, I set up a Rode condenser mic in the booth and a SM57 outside the booth by the computer monitor. I was able to do an A/B comparison over the first days. The two mics are generally very similar in my hands but I have always consider the Rode to be a bit warmer. I found this same conclusion when the Rode went in the booth. So I did not notice any significant difference in the recording between in and out of the booth - at first.
The song I was covering was a Rock tune. So when I got to the louder passages (including a rebel yell) that is when I noticed the value of the booth. The yell in the booth was much clearer and cleaner where outside I could hear the echoes from the room.

Fact is I don’t often sing “loud”, so I am not sure how much improvement I will hear in the long term or how much value the $500 booth was. I need to do a couple more songs to be more comfortable with it overall. When you hear the final result listen for the “yell” and tell me if it was worth the money?

I should have our cover Collaboration up by tomorrow morning. That is, if it passes my “final listen before posting test”. I will come back here and add a link.

Dan

You can insert 16 empty measures before the click countdown to ease the need to rush into the booth. Or 24, 32... And edit them out later.

https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=760631#Post760631

So it has been almost a year and I bet you are thinking the Vocal Booth was converted to an ice shatee for fishing here on the lake. Not So. Here are a couple pics proving its value. I added lighting and monitor and a nano controller. Plus a small cooler for beers on the floor.

Not too shantee . . . . oooopps I meant shabby

Can we look forward to more great recordings in 2024?

Looks good, Dan. And if the power goes out, your family won't freeze

Somewhat relavent.

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6iWUHL7Ue7o[/video]

I wouldn't suggest turning a couch on end, a broken window or broken shoulder could result when it tips over.

Your approach is much better, plus it can always double as an outdoor punitive porta-potty for any unruly house guest that can't behave himself.
Just add a 5 gal pail