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Post by Quint on Apr 8, 2023 15:14:51 GMT -6
Oh man, if it’s just computer noise and the room sounds great otherwise, a vocal booth is serious overkill. Even my suggestion of tube traps would be excessive. I would just find a way to isolate the computers/fans and save yourself thousands. I agree. |
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Post by thehightenor on Apr 8, 2023 15:15:09 GMT -6
How big is your studio room? It's 4 meters by 7 meters, the walls are covered with books. It's almost symmetrical, It has a lovely sound. I could record in it. But it's the sound of the computer that's the main issue. And then also the sounds of all the cheap synth power supplies, some old screens hiss, that bother me. Well if you know a good solution to make the computer sound disappear, a large computer isolation booth with air flow inside of some sort, I'm interested. It could be the start of something. As mentioned maybe cheaper to get a new quiet computer! So my room is smaller at 4.5m x 3.5m My approach has been to have it treated acoustically by GIK acoustics and it’s in three zones, very dampened, medium dampened and a live defused end. I then use a GIK portable vocal screen double height hinged panel behind me in the zone that suits the track. My whole room is then my booth, well in effect actually more like three different booths and all in all the whole approach has worked very well. |
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Post by lowlou on Apr 8, 2023 15:27:01 GMT -6
Ok I'm now considering the possibility of putting my computer in another room, it would be very close to my desk, but just behind a wall. The cables could pass thru a hole in the wall. That would make it silent at last. The other noisy gear, maybe put them all in a special rack in the room, and change my screens. I read that the computer Isobox get hot, and it's not a good idea, even if attractive in concept. Or... I could put the computer in the vocal booth I guess. Lol. Thank you so much for all the help  !!!! |
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Post by Quint on Apr 8, 2023 15:39:17 GMT -6
Ok I'm now considering the possibility of putting my computer in another room, it would be very close to my desk, but just behind a wall. The cables could pass thru a hole in the wall. That would make it silent at last. The other noisy gear, maybe put them all in a special rack in the room, and change my screens. I read that the computer Isobox get hot, and it's not a good idea, even if attractive in concept. Or... I could put the computer in the vocal booth I guess. Lol. Thank you so much for all the help !!!! Yeah, it doesn't take much to isolate computer noise. The other room idea should work fine. The other room then becomes your machine room. |
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Post by lowlou on Apr 8, 2023 16:00:11 GMT -6
Ok I'm now considering the possibility of putting my computer in another room, it would be very close to my desk, but just behind a wall. The cables could pass thru a hole in the wall. That would make it silent at last. The other noisy gear, maybe put them all in a special rack in the room, and change my screens. I read that the computer Isobox get hot, and it's not a good idea, even if attractive in concept. Or... I could put the computer in the vocal booth I guess. Lol. Thank you so much for all the help !!!! Yeah, it doesn't take much to isolate computer noise. The other room idea should work fine. The other room then becomes your machine room. Yes, that sounds like a plan indeed !  ------------------------ ((( I hear some of you suggesting I should look for a better computer. But I can't really improve my computer. It has to be a PC for compatibility with my current setup. It's a 4 years damn good machine really, but with two video cards inside, and the video cards are incredibly noisy. I really envy the Mac users. The new Macs with the new processors, they look terrific. And totally silent at that ? Wow... ))) |
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Post by Quint on Apr 8, 2023 17:09:46 GMT -6
Yeah, it doesn't take much to isolate computer noise. The other room idea should work fine. The other room then becomes your machine room. Yes, that sounds like a plan indeed ! ------------------------ ((( I hear some of you suggesting I should look for a better computer. But I can't really improve my computer. It has to be a PC for compatibility with my current setup. It's a 4 years damn good machine really, but with two video cards inside, and the video cards are incredibly noisy. I really envy the Mac users. The new Macs with the new processors, they look terrific. And totally silent at that ? Wow... ))) If it's in the other room, it won't matter though, right. It's nice to be able to just build/buy a computer and not have to worry about how quiet it is. |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Apr 8, 2023 19:41:43 GMT -6
Yeah, it doesn't take much to isolate computer noise. The other room idea should work fine. The other room then becomes your machine room. Yes, that sounds like a plan indeed ! ------------------------ ((( I hear some of you suggesting I should look for a better computer. But I can't really improve my computer. It has to be a PC for compatibility with my current setup. It's a 4 years damn good machine really, but with two video cards inside, and the video cards are incredibly noisy. I really envy the Mac users. The new Macs with the new processors, they look terrific. And totally silent at that ? Wow... ))) Understand, suggestions Move it out of the tracking room. Second upgrade fan computer and PSU to something quieter. If you still need to reduce noise plenty of plans for a DIY quiet rack. |
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Post by lowlou on Apr 9, 2023 6:44:55 GMT -6
Yes thanks Eric ! A quiet rack for the other noisy stuff then , right ? Cause I read computers don't like closed rack, they tend to overheat. |
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Post by ericn on Apr 9, 2023 11:45:02 GMT -6
Yes thanks Eric ! A quiet rack for the other noisy stuff then , right ? Cause I read computers don't like closed rack, they tend to overheat. Well a proper quiet rack has decent venting, the vent is jus serpentine with baffles so in a proper quiet rack computers are not a problem. |
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Post by lowlou on Apr 9, 2023 14:00:28 GMT -6
Ok, I'll also consider these quiet rack then. I see some designs available in Europe. Costly, but why not, if it works. If they have the adequate depth it could work.
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Post by drbill on Apr 9, 2023 14:53:04 GMT -6
It has a lovely sound. I could record in it. But it's the sound of the computer that's the main issue. If the room does sound good, you're way ahead of the game getting your computer OUT of the room, and somewhere else. That's simple (relatively) compared to getting a vocal booth to sound good. |
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Post by drbill on Apr 9, 2023 14:56:00 GMT -6
Ok, I'll also consider these quiet rack then. I see some designs available in Europe. Costly, but why not, if it works. If they have the adequate depth it could work. It COULD. My experience is that they don't. They cook your computer. Big time. If you're willing to build a vocal booth, change that over and make it a machine room. Problem solved. Make sure you have more than adequate HVAC to keep things cool. My experience is that you need double whatever you think you need. Your HVAC guy will think you're crazy. Or move to a fan-less laptop in your main room. For ME - I will never have another studio without a dedicated machine room. It's in my top 3 things I need in a studio. |
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Post by chessparov on Apr 9, 2023 16:01:54 GMT -6
Before or after Autotune?
Chris
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Post by lowlou on Apr 9, 2023 16:06:18 GMT -6
What comes out of the discussion, clear as daylight, is that small vocal booth don't work well for wanna-be-pro recording vocals.
HVAC is something I plan on doing too. Could be situated in the soon-to-be-the-machine room first, then.
I also need to up my game on one window and one french window. I love birds, but they should not be featured in my songs without me asking. If you know some solid resources online about this topic, I'm interested ; intuition tells me thick glass is the ticket.
Can't thank you guys enough for engaging this much. 40 answers, all full of wisdom &/or good spirit.
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Post by lowlou on Apr 9, 2023 16:17:46 GMT -6
Before or after Autotune? Chris Haha autotune is not something my father would allow ! |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Apr 10, 2023 7:58:13 GMT -6
Before or after Autotune? Chris Haha autotune is not something my father would allow ! When the band is a no show and the gig turns into impromptu karaoke you find yourself googling used Anteras boxes. |
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Post by Omicron9 on Apr 10, 2023 8:12:38 GMT -6
There are also computer iso cabinets with rack rails and built in fans that you can buy for this purpose. I got one off Craigslist for like $50, and I think it was like $400 or $500 brand new. I never ended up using it though. It kind of ate up a lot of space relative to the benefit it provided, and I ended up building a dedicated machine room anyway. Now all of my gear with fans is just racked in a big 7 ft tall server rack in the machine room. So, if you're considering building something, and computer fans/psu noise is your biggest concern, you might consider just building a machine room instead of a vocal booth. It wouldn't need to be built to as high a degree of effort and expense as building a vocal booth to achieve all the iso you need. Fans spinning around and transformers buzzing don't require the same amount of isolation to remove said noise from the picture as is required to isolate something louder like a vocal. I've built both and the vocal booth definitely required a lot more work. ^ This. Having a dedicated machine room solves many problems. Also an ideal place to store things like mic stands, cables, etc. -09 |
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Post by Omicron9 on Apr 10, 2023 8:16:04 GMT -6
Ok, I'll also consider these quiet rack then. I see some designs available in Europe. Costly, but why not, if it works. If they have the adequate depth it could work. It COULD. My experience is that they don't. They cook your computer. Big time. If you're willing to build a vocal booth, change that over and make it a machine room. Problem solved. Make sure you have more than adequate HVAC to keep things cool. My experience is that you need double whatever you think you need. Your HVAC guy will think you're crazy. Or move to a fan-less laptop in your main room. For ME - I will never have another studio without a dedicated machine room. It's in my top 3 things I need in a studio. Another big +1 on this. Both the studios I've built have had machine rooms, and I'm thankful for it every time I open the door to it. -09 |
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Post by ericn on Apr 10, 2023 10:57:01 GMT -6
Since only about 1 percent of us run tape these days in many ways we need to think more in terms of an IT closet rather than a machine room. Acoustic isolation, wiring and HVAC should be primary concerns.
In most modern homes a closet, where someone has insulated, and replaced the typical hollow core door with a salvaged solid core, weather stripping a cheap quiet seal kit and run HVAC and AC are more than enough.
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Post by Darren Boling on Apr 10, 2023 12:36:41 GMT -6
Skip the booth and buy 8 - 10 ASC StudioTraps (basically tube traps with adjustable stands) and use them in a Quick Sound Field configuration. Works like a charm and dead simple to setup. Only downside is the price, but pre-made booths aren’t cheap either. 100% second this. My mastering engineer recommended I buy 8 a few years back. I hated spending the money but one of the best investments I've made, instant improvement to vocal recordings in a makeshift studio I was recording in. It does help that they're able to be used all over the place. |
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Post by lowlou on Apr 11, 2023 3:11:08 GMT -6
You ended up buying the 8 Studiotraps then ? That's effectively quite a lot of money. And where do you place them when you're not recording ? I've seen Studiotraps (or very close equivalents ?) in a parisian tracking room (the UVI CEO studio !) ; in the vast tracking room, there was a mic surrounded by a bunch of Studiotraps.
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Post by Darren Boling on Apr 11, 2023 8:38:21 GMT -6
You ended up buying the 8 Studiotraps then ? That's effectively quite a lot of money. And where do you place them when you're not recording ? I've seen Studiotraps (or very close equivalents ?) in a parisian tracking room (the UVI CEO studio !) ; in the vast tracking room, there was a mic surrounded by a bunch of Studiotraps. If I remember right I purchased around the 4th of July and there was a sale on, the 8 cost just north of $4k. Not sure where they're priced now. They tuck away nicely when not recording or you could place them around your desk in a pseudo attack wall. You could probably get away with 4, I've made that work in a reflective room with horrible dimensions but I would've preferred more. |
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Post by lowlou on Apr 11, 2023 11:05:18 GMT -6
You're tempting me, if it's possible to import them where I live then I'll do, thank you nudwig & tkaitkai.
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Post by ericn on Apr 11, 2023 21:21:06 GMT -6
You're tempting me, if it's possible to import them where I live then I'll do, thank you nudwig & tkaitkai. There are also a bunch of DIY versions all over the net. I think our own Winetree built some. |
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Post by the other mark williams on Apr 11, 2023 22:43:36 GMT -6
You're tempting me, if it's possible to import them where I live then I'll do, thank you nudwig & tkaitkai. GIK has recently introduced their version of a tube trap, as well. |
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