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When it comes to running a studio, one area that often gets overlooked is power. But clean, reliable power is essential for avoiding ground loops, electrical noise, and keeping your gear safe from surges or voltage fluctuations. In this article, we’re going to break down the various power protection options available for studios and help you understand how to set up a system that keeps your equipment and your sound clean. This topic came up in a recent conversation with a client of mine who was wondering about star grounding, transformers, power conditioners, UPS units, and balanced power systems. Before we break down all your options I want to first mention the importance of wiring your studio correctly to begin with before even considering power conditioners or UPS units.
Practical Tips for Studio Power SetupBefore choosing the right power equipment, following best practices for studio wiring is crucial for avoiding noise and ground loops. Here are some key tips:
Dedicated Circuits for Audio: Wire all audio equipment on its own 15 or 20-amp breaker, depending on power needs. While computers can introduce noise, it’s often best to keep them on the same circuit to avoid ground loops.Separate Circuit for Non-Audio: Lights and non-audio electrical outlets should be on a separate circuit to minimize interference.Panel Management: Try to place the audio circuits on the same leg of your panel if possible, though this can be tricky to balance with other loads.EMI Reduction: Keep electrical and audio lines at least 1 foot apart at all times to reduce the risk of electromagnetic interference (this includes ethernet lines used for audio transmission).
Understanding Your Power OptionsStar Grounding: Do You Need It?
Star grounding is a method where all the ground connections for your studio are routed to a single point, or "star." This helps avoid ground loops, which can cause hum and other interference in audio systems. While star grounding is a good practice for reducing noise, it’s not always practical in smaller home studios—especially if you are not wiring your studio from scratch with an electrician involved.
Best Practice Tip: If you're building a studio where you can easily run wiring through the walls and have a talented electrician who understands the concept of star grounding then it is a great solution. However, if you do not want to spend the extra money for star grounding or don't have the ability to rewire your entire studio than star grounding is not a good option.
There are several ways to protect your studio’s power, each with its own pros and cons. Let’s walk through the most common options.
Transformers: Voltage Regulation and Power ConditioningThe SolaHD 23-23-210-8 provides voltage regulation, surge protection, and power conditioning, which helps protect your equipment from unstable power and electrical noise like electromagnetic interference (EMI) or radio-frequency interference (RFI). While it improves overall power quality and can reduce noise, it doesn’t specifically address ground loops unless you’re using an isolation transformer designed for that purpose. This system is great if you are wiring your studio from the ground up because it will protect multiple outlets in different rooms without the need to buy multiple individual power conditioners.
Recommendation: The SolaHD is great if you want to regulate voltage and protect against surges and noise, but if your primary concern is ground loops, you might need to look into grounding solutions or use an isolation transformer.
Power Conditioners: Clean Power for Audio GearPower conditioners, such as the Furman M-8x2, are a more familiar solution for many studio owners. These units filter the power coming into your gear, smoothing out surges and spikes while also providing noise filtering. While not nearly as robust as the other models on my list, the Furman M-8x2 ensures that your gear receives consistent voltage and power surge protection, which can help protect your home studio gear and provide some cleaning up of the power at the same time.
Recommendation: If you notice your power fluctuating or you live in an area prone to brownouts or surges, a voltage regulator/power conditioner combo is a great solution. Keep in mind, though, that these protect only what’s plugged into them directly, not the entire room.
UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply): Protecting Against OutagesThe Furman F1500 UPS is a great example of a unit that combines power conditioning with a UPS. A UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) ensures that your sensitive gear—like computers, DAWs, and audio interfaces—stay powered during short-term outages, giving you time to save work and shut down safely. This unit also provides surge protection and power conditioning.
Recommendation: This unit might be one of the best options for home studios where you notice the power going out frequently. For example, my studio has many outages per year. This unit would be a great addition so that I don't lose work or suffer any damages to my gear due to surges when the power comes back on.
Balanced Power Conditioners: The Top Of The Line SolutionBalanced power systems, like the EquiTech Model 1.5R and the Furman P-2400 AR, offer a high end solution for reducing noise and interference. Balanced power delivers equal voltage on both the hot and neutral wires, which dramatically reduces electrical noise and hum. The EquiTech Model unit can power up to 12 outlets, while the Furman offers 14. These are both high end and expensive units. The EquiTech Model 1.5R costs $2,990 while the Furman P-2400 AR costs $993.43.
Recommendation: If you want a top of the line solution that gives you peace of mind, these two options are your best bet. Some people swear by balanced power, but you are paying for higher quality gear. These units are geared toward high-end, professional environments where electrical interference and power purity are crucial, such as high-end recording studios, broadcast facilities, or other mission-critical applications requiring the best possible power conditioning.
Answering My Client's Questions: What Should You Choose?He was wondering how these various options compare. Here’s what I told him:
For clean, isolated power, a transformer is the way to go, though it’s usually a bigger investment and best for commercial setups.For regulating voltage and conditioning power, the Furman P-2400 AR is excellent. It ensures stable power and clean filtering for critical gear.For backup power during outages, the Furman F1500 UPS is a great option to keep your most important gear (like your DAW or computer) safe.For comprehensive, clean power that is top of the line, a balanced power system like the EquiTech 1.5R or the Furman P-2400 AR offers the best long-term solutions for high end studios. They will power multiple outlets and significantly reduce noise and interference across your studio. Final Thoughts: What’s Best for Your Studio?Every studio has different needs, but in general, asking your electrician about installing a star grounded set up if you are building a new studio is the best option. If you can't do a star grounded system still follow my basic electrical install tips. Then use the SolaHD 23-23-210-8 for extra conditioning and surge protection on your audio circuit. This will be a more cost effective way to ensure protection if you have multiple rooms or multiple outlets that you want to protect. If you do all those things you probably won't need an expensive power conditioner for your studio. I like the term don't fix a problem you don't have. In this case power conditioners may not be needed and are quite costly.
If you don't have the luxury of wiring your studio then a power conditioner is a great option. Honestly, the Furman 8x2 is a tried and true piece of gear that will work for all home studios. The UPS is great as well, but you don't have to buy a UPS built into your power conditioner, but it is a nice streamlined approach. If you opt for the higher end balanced conditioners they are a great option if you have the budget, but might not be necessary for your average home studio.
If you're working on designing a studio and want professional help reach out! I’m always happy to help.
Links to Products:Furman M-8x2 (affiliate link)Furman P-2400 AR (affiliate link)Furman F1500 UPSEquiTech 1.5R Balanced PowerSolaHD Transformer -
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IntroductionIn today’s home recording studio world, high-quality audio transmission over Cat5/Cat6 has become a game changer. From real-time audio processing to networked systems that allow for future scalability, audio over IP (AoIP) solutions offer a flexible, affordable way to streamline your workflow. In this guide, we’ll explore the best systems for home studios, what hardware and software you’ll need, and a price breakdown for each option.
***I am using affiliate links below***
1. Dante by AudinateWhy It’s Great for Home Studios:
Scalability: Easily expand your setup as your studio grows.Compatibility: Works with popular audio brands like Focusrite, PreSonus, and Yamaha.Low Latency: Perfect for real-time recording and monitoring.Software Flexibility: Dante Virtual Soundcard runs on your computer without extra hardware.Hardware Needed:
Dante-Enabled Audio Interfaces: Focusrite RedNet X2P ($1,300) or Yamaha Tio1608 ($1,550).Dante Switch: Netgear ProSAFE GS724T ($300).Optional Dante PCIe Card: Audinate Dante PCIe-R ($750).Software Needed:
Dante Virtual Soundcard: ($50).Dante Controller: Free software for managing your Dante network.Estimated Price: $1,680 - $3,000 for a basic setup.
Best For: Small to large home studios that require real-time recording and monitoring with the ability to expand over time.
2. AVB (Audio Video Bridging)Why It’s Great for Home Studios:
Cost-Effective: Affordable and reliable for home studio budgets.Synchronization: Ensures perfect sync between audio and video.Simple Setup: Works with AVB-compliant switches for easy network creation.Hardware Needed:
AVB Interfaces: MOTU 828es ($995) PreSonus StudioLive 32R ($1,700).AVB-Compliant Switch: Extreme Networks X440-G2 (~$750).Software Needed:
PreSonus UC Surface (free) for StudioLive or MOTU AVB Control (free).Estimated Price: $1,745 - $2,450 for a basic setup.
Best For: Small to medium-sized home studio setups that are budget-conscious but need reliable audio performance.
3. SoundGrid by WavesWhy It’s Great for Home Studios:
Real-Time Processing: Great for integrating Waves plugins into live recording and mixing.High Channel Count: Supports multiple devices and high channel counts for large setups.Waves Ecosystem: Seamless integration with Waves plugins.Hardware Needed:
SoundGrid Audio Interface: DiGiGrid MGB ($3,000) or any Soundgrid Compatible Interface ($1,050+)Optional: Waves SoundGrid Proton Server ($849) Switch: Netgear ProSAFE GS716T ($230).Software Needed:
SoundGrid Studio: Free with SoundGrid hardware.Optional Plugins: Waves Plugin Bundles (~$200 - $600 depending on the bundle).Estimated Price: $1,280 - $4,079+ for a basic setup, depending on the hardware and plugins used.
Best For: Home studios that already use Waves plugins and need real-time processing for recording and mixing.
For home studio setups using Waves SoundGrid, a DiGiGrid MGB or another SoundGrid-compatible interface is essential to convert your audio into the network. However, the Waves Proton Server is optional. While not required for the system to function, it provides the power needed for real-time Waves plugin processing, making it a great addition for those working in live sound or heavy plugin environments.
4. Q-SYS by QSC (AES67 Support)Why It’s Great for Home Studios:
All-in-One Solution: Integrates audio, video, and control into one system.Highly Customizable: Perfect for flexible home studio setups that may expand into video or streaming.AES67 Support: Provides compatibility with other AoIP systems like Dante.Hardware Needed:
Q-SYS Core 110f (~$2,300): Integrates audio, video, and control in one system.DB25 to Phoenix Connector Cable ($100-200) - Allows you to patch from your audio interface into the Core 110f and convert that audio to ethernet.Software Needed:
Q-SYS Designer Software: Free with the Q-SYS system.Estimated Price: $3,000 - $4,000 for a basic setup.
Best For: Advanced home studios or content creators who want to integrate audio, video, and control into a single networked solution.
ConclusionWhen deciding which system to use in your home recording studio, it's important to consider both your current needs and future scalability.
Best All-Around Choice: Dante is the most flexible and future-proof option, perfect for growing studios.Best Budget Option: AVB offers a reliable, cost-effective solution for small to mid-sized studios.Best for Real-Time Processing: SoundGrid is ideal if you need real-time plugin processing with high channel counts.Best for Advanced Needs: Q-SYS is a powerful, all-in-one system for studios incorporating both audio and video production.No matter your choice, investing in audio over Cat5/Cat6 systems will ensure that your home recording studio is equipped for today’s demands while staying flexible for future expansions.
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Since building my home recording studio, I’ve learned a lot—especially about what really matters in the long run. One thing I often see first-time studio builders overlook is focusing solely on soundproofing and acoustics, while missing the bigger picture: how you’ll use the room and how to set up your audio lines for the best workflow.
The truth is, you’ll eventually care more about how efficiently your studio runs and how comfortable it feels than about perfect acoustics or obsessing over specific soundproofing materials.
Yes, soundproofing and acoustics are important. But the point of this article is to encourage you to think bigger and design like a pro. Consider how you want to use your studio and what audio setup best supports your needs.
1. Clearly Establish Your Main GoalsA single room can’t be perfect for everything. If your primary goal is mixing, your design approach will be vastly different from someone using their room for band rehearsals. Sure, your room can have multiple purposes, but it should be optimized for what you’ll use it for 80% of the time.
With this focus, everything else—soundproofing, acoustics, lighting, audio wall boxes, cable runs, electrical, and HVAC—will fall into place more easily. Trying to build a room for mixing, rehearsing, live recording, and Dolby Atmos all at once is overcomplicating things.
If you’re lucky enough to build multiple rooms, you can dive into the more complex world of designing spaces for specific purposes, much like traditional studios where the live room and control room serve very different functions.
2. Think Through Your Cable RunsIt’s easy to get so wrapped up in designing soundproof walls that you overlook how you’ll actually wire your studio. From my experience, there are three main ways to manage your cabling:
A) Using a Snake or Individual XLR Cables
This is often the simplest and most cost-effective solution. Running a snake or individual XLR cables to the back of your room lets you easily connect instruments like drums and guitars to your interface by your desk.
While this is my current setup, it does have drawbacks—namely, the constant challenge of tripping over cables. Careful cable management is required to keep things organized, but the upside is easy access for repairs and re-routing.
B) Snake in the Wall with Custom Wall Boxes
If you want a cleaner, more professional look or are working with multiple rooms, consider running a snake through the walls to a custom wall plate. Companies like Redco make it easy to connect your XLR cables directly into the wall near your instruments, making for a clean and efficient setup.
This approach is more complex and expensive but ideal for higher-end studios or anyone prioritizing a polished aesthetic. You can even add a patch bay to easily route different audio signals to your interface—a great option if you want to reconfigure your channels depending on the session.
For more advanced setups, check out Redco or ProAudioLA, and take a look at SoundTools’ audio-over-Cat5 system for an innovative option.
C) Ethernet System with Specialty Interfaces
The most advanced and versatile option is to run audio over ethernet using shielded cables and specialty interfaces. This system allows for flexibility, especially in larger homes or studios with multiple rooms.
For instance, I’m working with a client who will run ethernet from his studio to different rooms in his house, allowing him to record from any room while controlling everything from his main mixing desk in the garage. It’s a powerful, but highly technical, solution.
Popular Ethernet-Based Audio Systems:Dante by Audinate – Scalable and compatible with major audio brands like Focusrite and PreSonus, Dante is perfect for growing home studios.AVB (Audio Video Bridging) – An affordable and straightforward option, especially with MOTU and PreSonus gear.SoundGrid by Waves – Designed for real-time processing with plugins, great for studios already using Waves.AES67 – Ideal for studios with equipment from different manufacturers, providing universal interoperability.Q-SYS by QSC – More than just audio, Q-SYS integrates control and video for advanced studio setups. Conclusion: Think HolisticallyThe most important takeaway here is to think holistically about your studio design. Don’t leave critical infrastructure like audio cabling until the last minute—it should be integrated with your electrical system from the start. Plus, you’ll need to consider electromagnetic interference (EMI) between audio and electrical lines.
I recommend beginning your research on audio networks alongside your soundproofing and acoustic plans. This way, you’ll end up with a home recording studio that truly meets your needs.
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When I first soundproofed my own studio, I chose the I-B1 clips from the Soundproofing Company. They were affordable, easy to install, and provided decent sound isolation. However, after years of working with various soundproofing products and testing different methods, I've changed my perspective. Today, I want to share why I've come to prefer Hush Frame Rafts, and why I believe they're a superior choice for home studio soundproofing.
1. The Decoupling Advantage: Rubber or Silicone vs. MetalThe primary reason I now favor Hush Frame Rafts is the improved sound isolation they offer due to their silicone decoupling feature. Unlike the I-B1 clips, which are entirely metal, Hush Frame Rafts and their competitors, like RISC-1 clips, use rubber or silicone to decouple the clip from the studs or joists. This added layer of decoupling significantly reduces sound transmission, making these products more effective for serious soundproofing needs.
That said, I-B1 clips are still a viable option if you're working within a tighter budget. They do provide good sound isolation and are certainly better than nothing, but if you're aiming for the highest level of soundproofing, I now recommend opting for clips with rubber or silicone components.
2. Low Profile Design: Maximizing Ceiling HeightAnother key reason I've switched to Hush Frame Rafts is their low-profile design. In home studios, every inch of ceiling height counts, and even gaining a fraction of an inch can make a big difference in the feel of the room. Hush Frame Rafts, paired with 1x3 furring, only add about 1" of extra space to your wall or ceiling system. This is a significant advantage over other options like the RISC-1 clips, which, while offering similar isolation benefits, don’t provide the same low-profile benefit.
3. The Ease of Working with Wood FurringOne of the underrated advantages of Hush Frame Rafts is their compatibility with wood furring strips. Most contractors are more comfortable working with wood, especially when attaching wood to wood, and this makes the installation process smoother. Since soundproofing can be overwhelming for many builders, anything that simplifies the job is a huge plus. Using wood furring instead of metal also makes sourcing materials easier, which is another win for both the builder and the client.
4. Positive Feedback from ContractorsFeedback from experienced contractors is invaluable, and my contractor in Nashville, Henry Thompson, had nothing but praise for Hush Frame Rafts. He noted how much more elastic and decoupled the system felt compared to the I-B1 clips, which he believes contributes to better sound isolation. When a seasoned professional like Henry gives a product the thumbs up, it reinforces my confidence in recommending it.
5. Comprehensive Instruction ManualsAnother aspect of Hush Frame that I appreciate is the quality of their instruction manuals. Designing complex home studio builds requires precise information, and Hush Frame provides detailed manuals that cover multiple options and diagrams for different load capacities. This level of detail allows me to easily design varying wall and ceiling types for my clients, ensuring that each build meets the specific needs of the space. Other manufacturers simply don’t offer the same depth of information, which is another reason Hush Frame stands out.
Conclusion: Why I Now Recommend Hush Frame RaftsIn the past, I’ve written about my preference for I-B1 clips, but my experience over time has led me to change my mind. Hush Frame Rafts offer better sound isolation through rubber or silicone decoupling, a low-profile design that maximizes ceiling height, and ease of use with wood furring. Combined with positive feedback from contractors and comprehensive instruction manuals, these factors make Hush Frame Rafts my top recommendation for home recording studio design. If you’re serious about soundproofing, I believe they’re worth the investment.
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FREE Acoustic Treatment Guide: https://www.soundproofyourstudio.com/acoustic
When designing a home studio, many people focus on the height of the room, thinking that higher ceilings will automatically lead to better acoustics. However, recent research highlights that the length-to-width ratio (l/w) is actually more critical for achieving balanced sound, especially in small rectangular rooms.
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It is simple enough to say okay let's build a double wall and decouple our ceiling with hat channels and acoustic clips, but what about soundproofing around pipes, ductwork or beams? They make what seems like a simple design, suddenly become difficult to visualize.
In this video lesson I will be showing three of my client's studio designs where we had beams, existing ductwork and structural posts to work around. I will go over my solutions for each situation and teach you what you can do if you are in a similar situation.
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When it comes to soundproofing, the materials you choose can make all the difference in achieving your ideal isolation. One such option on the market is Deciboard. In this blog, I'll dive into what Deciboard is, its benefits, and its limitations, helping you decide whether it’s the right choice for your project.
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Are you a voice over artist? Do you want to build a soundproof professional recording studio in your basement? In this video I go over a clients project and describe all of the aspects of their design from sound isolation to acoustic treatment.
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You may have spent several hours playing with room ratios and left defeated, or maybe you have a smaller space and don't want to give up valuable real estate to a big double wall isolation system. What is the ideal home recording studio size then? In this article I will give you my wisdom from designing over 30 studios on what size is best for your specific studio needs.
1) The Room Ratio ParadoxIf you have spent any time researching ideal recording studio room sizes you most likely have come across room ratios. The idea behind room ratios is that if you build a room to an acoustically sound room ratio then the modal issues in your room will be less noticeable and manageable.
Now the problem or "paradox" you encounter is that to get a great room ratio you most likely need a higher ceiling height. Let's say you have a basement studio with 8ft ceilings. If you type in 8ft ceilings into the Sepmeyer room ratio calculator here is what you get:
Now Type A is considered the best option and type C the least desirable. However, if you look at Type A your room would be 9x11 which is only 99 square feet. How in the world are you supposed to create music in such a tiny room. On top of that small rooms tend to sound worse because you don't have enough space for the bass frequencies to fully form before hitting a wall, ceiling or floor. All of this is to say, that unless you have a very high ceiling height most of these room ratios are likely to drive you mad.
2) Focus On Which Room Ratios To AvoidRather than focus on the perfect room ratio, instead focus on the absolute room ratios you should avoid. The worst possible room you can have is a cube. So if you had a room that was 10 feet wide, long and tall you would have awful acoustics. I would not build a studio in this room.
In addition to avoiding cubed rooms (where all dimensions are equal), you should also avoid rooms with dimensions that are even multiples of each other. This is because such dimensions can create standing waves and resonance issues, which negatively affect the acoustics of the room. Here are some general guidelines on room ratios to avoid:
Cubed Rooms: Avoid rooms where the length, width, and height are the same. This creates a perfect cube, which is the worst-case scenario for acoustics.
Even Multiples: Avoid dimensions where one or two dimensions are exact multiples of the other. For example, a room with dimensions of 10 feet x 20 feet x 30 feet will have poor acoustics because the length is twice the width and three times the height.
Simple Ratios: Avoid simple ratios like 1:2, 1:3, 2:3, etc. These ratios can create strong modes and standing waves, which are detrimental to the sound quality.
3) Double Check Your Design In AMROCAMROC is a free room ratio calculator that can help you predict the modal distribution of your room. I have a great video going in depth about room ratios and AMROC here: https://www.soundproofyourstudio.com/blog/why-room-ratios-don-t-work-most-of-the-time
When you plug in your room ratios into AMROC you can play with slight variations that could help you decide to move a wall a few inches one way or another to improve the acoustics. This is a good tool but it doesn't give you the whole picture.
4) Don't Rely Heavily On Room Ratios AlonePhilip Newell, in his book Recording Studio Design (4th Edition), discusses his skepticism about the practical benefits of adhering strictly to room ratios. He explains that while theoretically useful, room ratios alone cannot guarantee good acoustics due to the many variables involved in studio design. Newell emphasizes that achieving optimal acoustics requires a more holistic approach, taking into account factors like room shape, construction materials, and treatment, rather than relying solely on specific ratios.
Newell points out that rigid adherence to room ratios can lead to unrealistic expectations and oversimplified solutions to complex acoustic problems. He argues that room ratios are just one of many tools that should be used in conjunction with other design principles to achieve the best acoustic results (O'Reilly Media) (Perlego).
Conclusion:Don't get obsessed with room ratios. If this is your first studio build than room ratio planning can become a strange form of procrastination or a way to ease the fear of endeavouring on such a big project. Rather than focusing on a specific room ratio I encourage you to focus on the utility of the room and what would make a comfortable space to create music. This will pay back in way bigger dividends rather than sacrificing utility for room ratios.
However, with this said, make sure to avoid cubes, rooms where one or two dimensions are exact multiples of the other, and rooms with simple ratios of each other like 1:2 or 2:3.
Lastly, you can use a calculator like AMROC to take you beyond the common room ratios, but recognize it's limitations as Newell states in his book and online articles.
Work Cited:
Newell, Philip. Recording Studio Design. 4th ed., Routledge, 2017.
Newell, Philip. Recording Studio Design. 4th ed., O'Reilly Media, www.oreilly.com/library/view/recording-studio-design/9781138936072/. Accessed 26 July 2024.
Newell, Philip. Recording Studio Design. 4th ed., VitalSource, www.vitalsource.com/products/recording-studio-design-philip-newell-v9781317381945. Accessed 26 July 2024.
Newell, Philip. Recording Studio Design. 4th ed., Perlego, www.perlego.com/book/1560575/recording-studio-design-pdf. Accessed 26 July 2024.
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FREE Acoustic Treatment Guide: https://www.soundproofyourstudio.com/acoustic
This is part three of my vocal booth series. Today we will be learning all about the proper acoustic treatment for your booth. I will go over the downsides to small room acoustics, how we can make up for those downsides and the best approach I take when designing smaller rooms and vocal booths. Let's dive in!
1) A Vocal Booth Will Not Have Perfect Acoustics - EverThe physical properties of acoustics limit how effective a small space can be at attenuating low frequencies. For this reason, a vocal booth will never give you optimum acoustics. However, this should not discourage you as much as help you understand why you are making a vocal booth in the first place. The only reason for a vocal booth is to isolate the vocal from the rest of the environment you are recording in. It should not be to get that crisp perfect sounding vocal.
Most professional studios may record a scratch vocal in a booth while a band is playing, but the final vocal is usually done in the control room or a dedicated vocal room that is not the size of a small closet.
With all of this said, we also cannot leave our vocal booth entirely bare with just reflective drywall. So, the best course of action is to add as much absorption with as deep of an air cavity as possible behind those absorptive panels as we can afford space to give up.
To learn more about why vocal booths make vocals sound bad check out my blog article here - https://www.soundproofyourstudio.com/blog/why-vocal-booths-make-vocals-sound-bad
2) How Absorptive Acoustic Panels WorkIn our vocal booth the best method we can approach with such a small space is to use acoustic panels or walls that use mineral wool insulation to absorb sound waves. The insulation can be from many different brands, but I usually use Knauf ECOSE, Rockwool Safe N Sound, or Owens Corning Thermafiber. You can also use Owens Corning 703, but I tend not to use it because it is made of fiberglass and contains formaldehyde.
Now, the basic concept around acoustic absorption panels is important to understand in order to design your vocal booth acoustics correctly. First, all insulation based acoustic panels work by converting sound to heat. The sound waves brush past the miniscule fibers in the insulation and the friction converts the sound energy into heat. This is very effective at absorbing mid to high frequencies, but not so effective at absorbing lower frequencies below 125 Hz. A 4" thick insulation panel with 3 lb/ft3 density has near perfect absorption down to 125 Hz (Everest and Pohlmann, 195).
This leads us to ask just how low does a human voice go down on the frequency spectrum? Michael Miller states in his article "The Voice: The Importance of Vocal Registers" that "The range of the male voice typically extends from about 85 Hz to 180 Hz for fundamental frequencies. However, professional bass singers can reach frequencies as low as 40 Hz" (Miller). This means that we should design our booth with the understanding that a large portion of the male voice will not be fully absorbed by traditional 4" thick insulation and that to gain greater absorption at lower frequencies we need to also understand something called the quarter wavelength rule. Here is a quick rundown of the 1/4" Wavelength Rule.
The 1/4 wavelength rule in acoustics is a guideline used for the placement of absorptive materials in a room to maximize their effectiveness at reducing sound reflections. Here's how it works:
Definition: The rule states that to effectively absorb a particular frequency, an absorptive material should be placed at a distance from a boundary (such as a wall or ceiling) that is equal to 1/4 of the wavelength of that frequency.
Explanation: When a sound wave hits a boundary, it reflects back into the room. The point where the wave pressure is highest (called the pressure maximum) and the point where the particle velocity is highest (called the velocity maximum) are important in absorption. The velocity maximum for a given frequency occurs at 1/4 of its wavelength away from the boundary. Placing absorptive material at this point allows it to more effectively absorb the sound wave's energy.
Calculation:
Wavelength (λ): The wavelength of a sound wave is determined by the formula λ = v/f, where v is the speed of sound (approximately 343 meters per second or 1125 ft/s in air) and f is the frequency.1/4 Wavelength: Once you have the wavelength, divide it by 4 to find the optimal distance for placing the absorptive material.Example:
For a frequency of 100 Hz:Wavelength (λ) = 343 m/s / 100 Hz = 3.43 meters1/4 Wavelength = 3.43 meters / 4 ≈ 0.86 metersTherefore, to absorb 100 Hz effectively, place the absorptive material about 0.86 meters (or approximately 2.8 feet) from the boundary.Applications: The 1/4 wavelength rule is commonly used in the design of bass traps and other acoustic treatments to control low-frequency sounds, which have longer wavelengths and are more difficult to absorb.
Understanding and applying the 1/4 wavelength rule helps in creating more effective acoustic treatments and improving the overall sound quality in a room and is another helpful tool in getting our vocal booth to have maximum absorption across the entire frequency spectrum.
3) Designing Our Vocal Booth (Putting It All Together)Now that we understand how absorption panels work we can now design our vocal booth to maximize absorption for the human voice. To do this lets think through our tools and constraints.
1) We know that a 4" thick insulation panel will absorb down to 125Hz with almost perfect absorption and will absorb lower frequencies, but not as effectively.
2) We know that by moving the panel off the boundary wall and ceiling we can increase absorption based off the quarter wavelength rule.
3) We know that our vocal booth is mall and space is limited, so we cannot build panels that come off the wall too far or are too thick.
With this information now we have to make sacrifices. This is up to you the designer to understand where to sacrifice acoustic performance for the sake of more space. My goal is to usually get 3-4" of insulation installed on all the walls and ceiling within a 2x4 frame. I then cover the insulation with acoustic fabric for a clean look.
Now, if the client is willing to lose some space in the corners I straddle the acoustic treatment across the corner increasing the air gap behind the insulation. This will increase our low frequency absoprtion based on the 1/4 wavelength rule.
Next, if the client is willing to give up some space on the ceiling I will lower the insulation off the ceiling drywall boundary to increase low frequency isolation.
Conclusion:As you can see, a vocal booth has limitations because of its size with how well you can acoustically treat the space. This said, if you understand why you are building a vocal booth and that you can only do the best you can with respect to the acoustics, you now have a tool set with which to build your acoustic design for your vocal booth.
As a side note, some people may be wondering about pressure based absorbers for lower frequencies. While these absorbers are effective at absorbing lower frequencies they are ineffective in smaller rooms because they require a lot of space to function. For this reason, in smaller rooms and most rooms for that matter, I stick to velocity based absorbers like fiberglass or mineral wool insulation.
Works Cited:
"1/4 Wavelength Rule in Acoustics." ChatGPT by OpenAI, 15 July 2024, https://www.openai.com/chatgpt.
Everest, F. Alton, and Ken C. Pohlmann. Master Handbook of Acoustics. 6th ed., McGraw-Hill Education, 2015.
Miller, Michael. "The Voice: The Importance of Vocal Registers." National Center for Voice and Speech. National Center for Voice and Speech, n.d. Web. 15 July 2024. http://www.ncvs.org/ncvs/tutorials/voiceprod/tutorial/quality.html.
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In Part 1 of this vocal booth series I talked about different design options for your floor, walls and ceiling. In part two I will go over the best design options for your door, ventilation, and electrical/audio cabling designs.
1) Vocal Booth Door OptionsWhen designing an soundproof room we have two options at our disposale. The first is to design a communicating door system where you have a door on each side of the wall with an air gap in the middle.
This is by far the best way to create a soundproof doorway. The basic principle is to design two heavy doors that are airtight. Now the details of building doors deserves it's own article and I have already taught extensively on how to build your doors here: https://www.soundproofyourstudio.com/blog/how-to-build-a-soundproof-door-part-2.
The main thing to consider when designing any doors is how heavy do they need to be. The best rule of thumb is to add up the mass of both of your walls and divide that between your two doors. For example, if you have two layers of drywall on each of your walls in a double wall system then your total wall weight is 8.8 Lb/sf. If you divide that in havle you get 4.4 LB/sf per door. Now if you have a 36x80" door you would multiply the 4.4 Lb/sf x 20 sf and get 88 Lb. That means each door needs to weight a minimum of 88 Lb and heavier is always better, although more expensive.
Now, vocal booths are inherently small spaces and having a communicating door may not be an option. In this case we need to design our single door to weigh as much as our two walls. In this case we would have to have a door that weighs a minimum of 176 Lb. Again, heavier is always better especially when we are dealing with one door and don't have the benefit of the sealed air gap between the doors.
So, you can see that designing your vocal booth will need to take into account the total mass of your walls and the amount of space you have for doors swings in deciding which door design you will use.
2) VentilationThe best way to ventilate your vocal booth is using an inline fan, ducting and a baffle box system. The idea with a vocal booth is that it is far to small to need its own heating and cooling system, so instead we can run an air exchange system the the adjacent room that will transfer the conditioned air in that room into our vocal booth. Then we will have another fan and baffle box pulling the stale air out of the vocal booth.
Designing a ventilation system in such a small space is no small feat. My approach is to use quiet ventilation fans in combination with small baffle boxes that I can hide in the ceiling or outside the booth.
Here is the general system guidelines for your ventilation system.
A) figure out how much air you need. As a general rule each person in a room needs 15 CFM of air flow. CFM stands for cubic feet per minute and it is a very important number when designing HVAC systems.
For a vocal booth 15 CFM may be all you need so a small fan will work well. I personally, use the AC Finity A4 fans for all of my air exchange systems. This fan can go down to 15 CFM on the lowest setting and up to 165 CFM on the highest setting. This gives you a huge range of options when it comes to designing your baffle boxes.
B) Now that you know how much CFM of air flow you need, next we need to design our baffle boxes.
The baffle box is a system I build from plywood, duct board, and 5/8" drywall. It is simple in materials, but complex in design in the sense that you need to think carefully about how big to make your ducting in the box.
To do this I use a fancy calculator called a ductulator. Luckily, if you search google it is readily available for anyone to use. The basic idea with the ductulator is you want to input the air flow rate from your duct fans and the max air flow rate you want in the ducting. For our vocal booth I will have an air flow rate of 30CFM or less, but I am going to design my ducting with a max of 30 CFM. It's always good to overdesign so the air speed is even slower than needed.
Next, we need to decide our max air speed. The slower the max air speed the better. When air is moving slow we don't hear it. I shoot for 100 FPM (feet per minute) in my designs, but you can technically go up to 500 FPM and still fall in the range of acceptable air speeds for recording studio design.
Below is a screen shot of the ductulator and our example CPM and FPM numbers we talked about above.
Notice that we can have several options. We could use an 8" round duct or any of the rectangular ducts or even adjust the rectangular ducts to match a size that fits our design. To keep things simple, let's say we like the 8"x6" design. This means we want our duct size in side the baffle box to be 8x6".
So, how do you build the baffle box. Basically, I like to have at least one baffle, meaning a right angle turn in my baffle box designs. Below is an example of a baffle box from one of my clients studios.
Notice how I have two baffles in this design and the air flows around the baffles. The yellow stuff you see is what is known as duct board. Duct board is a just a fancy term for insulation board that is designed to be placed inside ventilation ducts. It helps with moisture control, sound absorption and won't irritate your lungs like typical fiberglass would. I like to use 2" of duct board, but I have used 1 1/2" as well and had success doing so.
To learn more about ventilation design I have a great youtube video here: https://youtu.be/slv9J_v1Gc8
3) Electrical and Audio CablingWe have talked a lot about isolation building techniques, but what about power, lighting, and audio cables in your vocal booth. The best option I use is to buy a custom Redco wall plate and install in in the acoustic treatment of the vocal booth. I also would install one overhead light in the vocal booth in the acoustic ceiling treatment.
The key with any cabling through our soundproof system is to always keep our pentrations as small as possible. This means a single cable is always preferable to a full electrical box cut into the drywall. To do this I recommend installing all electrical boxes in the acoustic system of your vocal booth, not the isolation system.
When you penetrate your drywall cut a small hole for the wire or audio cable and use acoustic caulk to seal around it to ensure the penetration is air tight. Then you can install your j boxes for electrical outlets in the 2x4 acoustic wall, which I will talk about in Part 3 of this series.
The REDCO custom panels are great because you can put your power, audio cabling, HDMI, internet and many more connections all in one beautiful panel. This makes it easy to connect a single snake to the panel for your audio needs, a power outlet or two and an HDMI and internet cable to connect a spare computer, router or extra screen.
Conclusion:As you can see properly building a vocal booth is no small task, but if you think through your door, ventilation and cabling designs carefully you will save yourself a lot of headaches in the future. Lastly, if you want some help and are not feeling the DIY method, reach out to me for a soundproof clarity call and I can help you design the perfect vocal booth the first time around.
Soundproof Clarity Call Application:
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If you have looked into buying a vocal booth or iso-room you know they cost a fortune. What about building your own? Is it cheaper? In this lesson I will go over how to build your own vocal booth or iso-room and yes, it will be cheaper than buying one premade and it will isolate better. This is part one of a multi-part series. We will go over the floor, wall and ceiling design.
1) The FloorFirst, lets talk about what you should do for the floor. There are two main options. Let's start with best.
The Best Option:
To stop low frequencies down below 20hz you have two options. First, build your vocal booth on a concrete slab such as your existing basement, garage or backyard new build. If you don't have the luxury of building on an existing slab then you will need to float a piece of concrete. Yes, this is costly and not the easiest, but it is the best option.
To do this, you need to float 4" of concrete on 4 PCF of mineral wool. (10cm Concrete on 70kg/m3 mineral wool. Below is a diagram of how to do this.
You can only use this option if you have a structural engineer confirm your floor can handle the extra weight of the slab. If it can then you will not hear much if any transfer of noise from the room above down to the room below. This method is best for drummers, bass players and full bands.
The Good Option:
Another option is to use a layered sandwich of materials. You can see in the diagram below how to construct a floating floor using this method. The weight of this floor is much less than the slab and should be able to handle more common building settings, however it is always best to consult with a structural engineer when you plan to add weight to an existing floor system.
2) The WallsLike the floor there are two main options I use for my walls.
The Best Option:
The best option will be a double wall system where you can achieve and STC Rating of 63. This will be a great solution for any vocal booth if you have the space. The diagram below shows how to build a proper double wall.
The Good Option:
If you don't have the space for a double wall system then I would suggest a hat channel system. This is where you decouple your walls using acoustic clips and furring channel. This system works well and can get you close to the same STC as a double wall system. Below is an example of how to install a hat channel system on your walls.
3) Ceiling OptionsThe ceiling also has two different options.
The Best Option:
The best option for your ceiling is an independently framed ceiling off your inner walls of your double wall system. To do this you will frame a typical ceiling joist system off the top plate of your inner stud wall. The downside to this system is that you need a lot of ceiling height. Below is a diagram of how an independently framed ceiling works.
The Good Option:
The good option is to use acoustic clips and furring channels on your ceiling just like you did on your walls. This will save you a lot of money in materials and ceiling height, but it will not give you the best results.
Conclusion:Stay tuned for next week's article on how to design the door and your ventilation system. Remember, there are numerous options when it comes to sound isolation, but I like to simplify an already daunting project by giving you two options. If you stick to this plan then you will end up with a great iso-booth and save thousands of dollars by not buying a pre-made booth.
Works Cited
Philip Richard Newell. Recording Studio Design. New York ; London, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017.
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FREE Acoustic Treatment Guide: https://www.soundproofyourstudio.com/acoustic
When setting up a recording studio or any sound-sensitive environment, the focus often falls on traditional acoustic treatments like foam panels and bass traps. However, one powerful and versatile tool tends to be overlooked: the acoustic gobo. If you haven't incorporated gobos into your acoustic strategy, you're missing out on an essential element that can drastically improve your sound quality and flexibility. Let's explore what gobos are, their benefits, and how to effectively use them in your space.
What are Acoustic Gobos?Acoustic gobos, also known as go-betweens or sound baffles, are portable panels used to control sound reflections and reduce noise. Typically, they consist of a wooden frame filled with sound-absorbing materials like fiberglass or mineral wool, covered with a fabric exterior. Unlike fixed acoustic panels, gobos can be moved and positioned as needed, offering unparalleled flexibility in managing sound within a space.
The Benefits of Acoustic Gobos
Versatility in Sound Control: Gobos can be strategically placed around a room to create custom sound environments. Whether you need to isolate a vocal recording or reduce reflections in a drum room, gobos can be moved and adjusted to suit the specific needs of the session.
Improved Sound Isolation: In a busy recording environment, gobos help isolate sound sources, preventing bleed between microphones. This is particularly useful in live recording settings where multiple instruments are recorded simultaneously.
Enhanced Acoustic Quality: By reducing unwanted reflections and controlling room acoustics, gobos help achieve a cleaner, more professional sound. They can also be used to create a more intimate recording space, enhancing the warmth and clarity of vocals and instruments.
Cost-Effective Solution: Compared to permanent acoustic treatments, gobos are a cost-effective option for improving sound quality. They provide significant acoustic benefits without the need for extensive construction or installation.
Portability and Flexibility: One of the most significant advantages of gobos is their portability. They can be easily moved around the studio or taken to different recording locations, making them a valuable asset for any mobile recording setup.
How to Use Acoustic Gobos EffectivelyIsolating Instruments and Vocals: Place gobos around microphones to create isolated recording zones. This technique is particularly effective for isolating vocals, drums, or amplifiers from other sound sources in the room.
Controlling Room Reflections: Position gobos at key reflection points to absorb sound and reduce echoes. This can help create a more controlled acoustic environment, ideal for critical listening and recording.
Creating Custom Acoustic Spaces**: Use gobos to define different acoustic zones within a larger room. For example, you can create a dry, controlled space for vocals and a more live, reflective area for drums, all within the same studio.
Reducing Noise Spill: In multi-use spaces or shared environments, gobos can help reduce noise spill between different areas. This is especially useful in home studios where space is limited and multiple activities occur simultaneously.
Enhancing Live Performances: Gobos aren't just for the studio. They can also be used in live performance settings to manage stage acoustics, reduce feedback, and improve the overall sound quality for both performers and the audience.
Another fantastic use for gobos is as bass traps in corners, leveraging the quarter wavelength rule to effectively manage low-frequency buildup. The quarter wavelength rule states that to effectively absorb a particular frequency, an acoustic panel should be placed at a distance from the wall that is one-quarter of the wavelength of that frequency. By placing gobos in the corners of your room, you can target and reduce problematic bass frequencies that often accumulate in these areas. This dual functionality makes gobos a highly efficient choice for comprehensive sound control. Additionally, many gobos come equipped with wheels, adding a layer of convenience. Not only does this mobility allow for easy repositioning to adapt to different recording scenarios, but it also offers practical storage solutions. You can store cables, mic stands, or other equipment behind them, keeping your studio organized without compromising on acoustic quality. This versatility and practicality make gobos an indispensable tool for any recording environment.
Conclusion
Acoustic gobos are an underrated yet incredibly powerful tool for anyone serious about sound quality. Their versatility, cost-effectiveness, and portability make them an essential addition to any soundproofing strategy. By incorporating gobos into your setup, you can unlock superior sound and take your recordings to the next level. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting, don't overlook the impact that these unassuming panels can have on your acoustic environment.
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Dolby ATMOS has been the new rage here in Nashville and in many parts of the world. I see a lot of people designing ATMOS systems, but I don't see a lot of conversations around the acoustics of how to make them sound good in your room. This article will go over the fundamental acoustic requirements of an ATMOS set up.
1) Understanding Dolby AtmosDolby Atmos is an object-based audio format that allows sound designers to place and move audio objects anywhere within a 3D space. Unlike traditional surround sound, which assigns sounds to specific channels, Dolby Atmos frees sounds from channels, providing a more dynamic and immersive listening experience. This technology necessitates a sophisticated acoustic environment to ensure accurate sound reproduction.
2) Room Geometry and SymmetrySymmetry: One of the fundamental principles in designing a Dolby Atmos studio is maintaining symmetry. Symmetrical room geometry helps in achieving a balanced sound field, preventing any distortions that might arise from asymmetrical reflections. This also leads to a cleaner phantom image, meaning when you place a sound in ATMOS 3D it actually emanates from where you placed it.
Room Shape: Ideally, the room should be rectangular, as this shape is easier to control acoustically. Non-parallel walls can help reduce flutter echo, but must be used carefully to avoid other acoustic issues. Plus you lose a lot of space angling walls. If you want to angle any walls it should be an acoustic wall that is breathable to absorb high, mid and low frequencies.
Room Ratios:
Starting with room ratios that reduce the modal issues in your room is always be a good starting point, although much more is accomplished with acoustic treatment rather than the room ratio alone. Nonetheless, watching my video on Room Modes and using a calculator like AMROC will get you closer to a good starting point if you have that luxury.
3) Acoustic TreatmentWhen looking at the acoustics of a Dolby ATMOS setup we should borrow many design ideas from stereo mixing rooms (control rooms). The two main design concepts are the LIve End Dead End room and the Non-Environment room.
LIve End Dead End:
In an LEDE room, the front half (the "dead end") where the speakers and listening position are located is heavily treated with sound-absorbing materials to minimize early reflections and reverberations, providing a clear and precise sound image. The back half (the "live end") of the room is treated with diffusive materials to maintain some natural reverberation and prevent the space from sounding too dead or unnatural. This combination helps in achieving an acoustically neutral space where sound can be accurately monitored and mixed, ensuring that the audio translates well across different playback systems.
Non- Environment:
The Non-Environment (NE) room design is an acoustic treatment approach aimed at creating an extremely controlled and neutral listening environment, primarily for critical audio mixing and mastering. In an NE room, the entire space is treated with extensive sound-absorbing materials to eliminate all reflections and reverberations, resulting in a completely "dead" acoustic environment. This design ensures that the sound heard at the listening position is solely from the speakers, free from any coloration caused by the room itself. The goal is to provide the most accurate and unaltered sound reproduction possible, allowing audio engineers to make precise mixing and mastering decisions that will translate reliably across various playback systems.
Before I continue I have to mention that surround sound inherently will have less fidelity and accuracy than stereo sound. As Philip Newell states in his book, Recording Studio Design, "To compromise high quality stereo for amore enveloping sound is to trade quality for quantity..." (Philip Richard Newell, 575).
My recommendation for an ATMOS room would be to shoot for the Non-Environment approach. With so many speakers the amount of reflection off the walls or diffusion panels would create a phase nightmare. These means what you hear will be colored, distorted and inaccurate.
For this reason, I would lean on absorption over diffusion and I would shoot for covering the left, right, back and ceiling with as much absorption as possible.
Leave the front and floor uncovered to bring enough life in the room so it doesn't become anechoic. Once you have finished with absorption included bass traps in the four corners and where the walls and ceiling meet then you can test the room with the ATMOS system and decide if it is accurate using ATMOS reference tracks. Remember, testing and adjusting will be key to dial in your system. This includes finding a spot in the room where your subwoofer is not in a modal peak or null.
ConclusionDesigning the acoustics of a Dolby Atmos studio is a meticulous process that requires a deep understanding of acoustics, precise planning, and careful implementation. By focusing on room geometry, acoustic treatment, speaker placement, and continuous calibration, you can create a studio environment that fully harnesses the power of Dolby Atmos. This will enable you to produce immersive, high-quality audio experiences that captivate listeners. If you need help designing your ATMOS room sign up for a Soundproof Clarity Call to learn more about how I can help you.
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Works Cited:
Philip Richard Newell. Recording Studio Design. New York ; London, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017.
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Building a soundproof studio is a dream for many musicians, podcasters, and home recording enthusiasts. The prospect of creating a space where you can unleash your creativity without worrying about noise bleeding in or out is incredibly exciting. However, communicating your soundproofing needs to a contractor can often be met with skepticism or, worse, outright ghosting. This can be a frustrating roadblock in your journey to building the perfect studio. So, how do you teach your contractor how to build a soundproof studio?
The Communication ChallengeSoundproofing a studio is not your average construction project. It involves specialized techniques and materials that many contractors may not be familiar with. This unfamiliarity can lead to resistance, skepticism, or even a flat-out refusal to take on the project. Many contractors are used to more conventional building projects and may balk at the added complexity of soundproofing.
Finding the Right ContractorThe ideal solution is to find a contractor who is willing to learn and partner with you throughout the entire project. This partnership is crucial because even the most willing contractors may have knowledge gaps when it comes to soundproofing. Here’s how you can find and work with the right contractor:
Research and Interview: Start by researching contractors in your area who have experience with building houses. Look for reviews and ask for references from past clients. When you interview potential contractors, ask specific questions about their experience. However, and this is important, I recommend not hiring soundproofing specific contractors because more often than not they will have gaps in their knowledge. It is common for contractors to know just enough about soundproofing to get them in trouble.
Provide Educational Resources: Once you’ve found a contractor who is open to the idea, provide them with resources to help bridge their knowledge gaps. There are many excellent books, online courses, and videos available that explain the principles of soundproofing. Share these with your contractor and encourage them to take the time to learn.
Clear Communication: Be clear and specific about your soundproofing goals. Use diagrams, sketches, and detailed descriptions to convey your vision. The more precise you are, the better your contractor will understand your needs.
Partnering for SuccessEven the most dedicated contractor may not fully grasp the intricacies of soundproofing. This is where a partnership approach becomes invaluable. Work closely with your contractor, providing guidance and feedback throughout the project. Here are some tips for effective collaboration:
Regular Check-Ins: Schedule regular meetings to discuss progress, address any concerns, and make adjustments as needed. These check-ins will help ensure that everyone is on the same page and that the project stays on track.
Hands-On Involvement: Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. Being involved in the process not only helps you learn more about the construction but also allows you to spot potential issues before they become major problems.
Flexibility and Patience: Understand that learning and implementing soundproofing techniques can be challenging for someone new to the field. Be patient and flexible, and be prepared to make compromises where necessary.
The DIY RouteIf finding a suitable contractor proves too difficult, you might consider taking on some of the work yourself. While this requires a significant investment of time and effort, it can be a rewarding way to ensure that your studio meets your soundproofing standards. Here’s how to get started with DIY soundproofing:
Educate Yourself: Spend time researching soundproofing techniques and materials. There are countless online resources, forums, and communities dedicated to soundproofing. Dive deep into these resources to gain a thorough understanding of the concepts and practices involved.
Plan Thoroughly: Before you begin any physical work, create a detailed plan. Sketch out your studio, note where soundproofing materials will be installed, and list the tools and materials you’ll need.
Start Small: If you’re new to construction, start with smaller projects to build your skills and confidence. This could be something as simple as installing a soundproof door or window before moving on to more complex tasks.
Seek Help When Needed: Even if you’re doing most of the work yourself, don’t hesitate to seek professional help for specific tasks. For instance, you might want to hire an electrician to ensure that any wiring is done safely and up to code.
ConclusionBuilding a soundproof studio is a complex but incredibly rewarding endeavor. By finding a willing and teachable contractor or taking the DIY route, you can overcome the challenges and create a space where your creativity can thrive. Remember, clear communication, patience, and a willingness to learn are key to successfully teaching your contractor how to build a soundproof studio. Happy building!
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If you go online and look at pictures of recording studios chances are you will see a lot of sliding glass doors. Glass doors are great because they allow bands to see one another when live tracking, however, sliding glass doors are expensive when they need to be soundproof. In this article I will go over the best soundproof sliding glass doors in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
1) How Soundproof Glass Doors WorkBefore I explain which doors I recommend, first, we must look at how a sliding glass door keeps sound from passing through it. Like all things soundproofing, a glass door must accomplish three things. First, it must have enough mass in the glass to reflect sound back into the room. Second, it must have an air gap that will act as a spring in a mass/spring/mass system. Third, it must be air tight. Any pinhole leaks in a door can ruin an otherwise soundproof room.
Mass:Let's now look at each component individually. The mass of the glass and the type of glass used are the key components in a soundproof glass door system. The mass of the glass should equal or exceed the mass of your two layers of drywall. In this case that is 4.4lb/sq ft for two layers of 5/8" drywall.
Now, you can have glass that weighs less if you use tempered or laminate glass. These two types of glass are superior sound isolators compared to normal float glass. In my studio windows I recommend 1/2" and 3/8" panes of laminate or tempered glass (or a combo of both).
Notice, how I said the two panes of glass should be different thicknesses. This is due to the fact that isolation improves when you do not use the same thickness of glass due to a phenomenon known as the coincidence effect.
Air Gap:The space between our two paned of glass is also very important. The bigger the space between your two panes of glass the better the isolation. It is not uncommon to have 4-8" between two panes of glass in a soundproofing system. So, our sliding glass door is no exception. It must have two panes of glass and a large air gap to get a high enough STC rating.
Air Tight:Lastly, our door must be air tight, so every seam or crack and crevice must be sealed with acoustic sealant, or gasketing to ensure the door doesn't transmit any sound. This is not easy to do with a cheap sliding glass door that was poorly made.
***This diagram shows the soundproof windows in my studio. A sliding glass door must follow many of the same principles.
2) Can You Build Your Own Sliding Glass DoorsThe short answer is no. I have not developed a system for building sliding glass doors and it honestly is probably most efficient to buy them pre made. However, if you follow the principles above you could potentially find two sliding glass doors made of super thick glass and install them with a large air gap between a double wall system. However, you still may have issues if the door is not completely airtight. For these reasons I only recommend buying sliding glass doors from reputable suppliers.
3) Where To Buy Sliding Glass Doors The United States:I have found the Soundproof Window Inc. has affordable sliding glass doors that can either be bought as a pair or go over an existing sliding glass door to improve isolation. You can check out there doors at this link: https://www.soundproofwindows.com/soundproof-sliding-glass-doors/
Canada:In Canda there is a company called Arc Acoustics, which sells as sliding glass door that can achieve an STC rating of 50. You could buy two of these or one with another sliding glass door. https://arcacoustics.com/product/soundproof-sliding-glass-doors/
UK/Europe:
I have found over the years that the only soundproof suppliers in europe are mostly located in the UK. The best soundproof sliding glass door supplier I found was Hugo Carter. They do custom doors for clients, so I am sure this is not the cheapest option, but it would be a good one.
https://www.silentwindows.co.uk/soundproof-windows/soundproof-doors/
Australia:
Lotus Doors is a supplier based out of australia and provides sliding glass doors with acoustic capabilites. If I used them I would buy two of there acoustic doors to get a higher Rw rating. I would also request differing thicknesses of glass in each door.
https://lotusdoors.com.au/product/acoustic-sliding-doors/
Another option is Sydney's Prestige Plus, who have a lift and slide door. Remember to request a quote for a high STC or Rw door that would meet the needs of your studio. Two doors will always be better than one.
https://prestigeplus.sydney/lift-and-slide-doors/
A company based out of Melbourne called Soundproof Windows also offers soundproof sliding glass doors:
https://www.soundproofglazing.com.au/soundproofing-products/double-glazed-doors/double-glazed-patio-doors/
New Zealand:
New Zealanders can also buy Lotus sliding glass doors - https://lotusdoors.co.nz/product/acoustic-sliding-doors/
A more commercial approach would be to look at GLYDE Acoustic Sliders. As per usual the highest Rw value they offer is 39, which is not enough for a recording studio. We are looking for Rw or STC ratings in the 50-60 range at least. For this reason you would want to look at two sliding glass doors.
https://glydearchitectural.com.au/products/operable-sliding-doors/
ConclusionSliding glass doors by nature are not good at sound isolation. Glass in general will not isolate as well as a solid door. However, if you want to see into a drum booth or vocal booth you will likely want a sliding glass door.
As you can see from this list, they are also not easy to find all over the world. Your best bet is to know that you are looking for a door system that can achieve an Rw or STC value of 55+. The best way to accomplish this is to have two doors on each side of a double wall system. The glass must be laminate or tempered and ideally in the 3/8" to 1/2" thickness range. Lastly, the gap between your two doors should be as large as possible and both doors need to be airtight.
When you talk to the sales reps on the phone ask these questions and ensure they know what they are talking about. If they seem to guess or try to sell you something you don't want then move on to another supplier.
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Listen to music from my studio - https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/wilsonharwood/gentle-wake
I recently had someone in our community reach out and ask how to soundproof a metal roof. In this article I will dive into the considerations and techniques involved in soundproofing a metal roof.
1) How much of the roof do you need to soundroof?This would be my first question if this was my client. The reason is that soundproofing is not an isolated thing where you can just soundproof the ceiling, floor or walls. You have to approach sound isolation as a holistic system with each room or each structure.
For this reason, I trying to isolate sound from the roof in an entire house would be much more difficult than say isolating sound in a single room in that house. If you are trying to do the latter than your job will be easier. If you want to isolate the entire metal roof from the house than the job will be much more difficult.
2) Isolating the metal roof in a single roomThe best system to isolate your ceiling in a specific room from your metal roof would be to remove your existing drywall and attach acoustic clips and hat channels in its place. Then you will add two layers of 5/8" drywall to those hat channels. You would mud and tape your ceiling and leave a 1/4" gap all the way around the ceiling where it meets the wall. Then you fill that 1/4" gap with backer rod and acoustic caulk.
This would be one step. It may not stop all the noise, but it should be a huge improvement over your original ceiling. To take your isolation to the next level you should use the same system on all of your walls as well. This decouples the drywall from the walls meaning less sound transfer to your room.
Lastly, you may need to isolate the sound from the roof coming through your window or doors. To do this I would recommend a window insert by a company called Indow. They can make custom plexiglass window inserts that are removable. They do not stop low bass frequencies below 250Hz, but can eliminate the sound of rain on a metal roof.
For your door you can replace the hollow core door with a heavier solid core door and seal up around the entire perimeter of the door with weather stripping or acoustic seals.
As you can see, stopping the sound of rain or hail on your metal roof could be a very big ordeal and costly too.
Picture from a studio build in Nashville. The acoustic clips and hat channel decouple the drywall from the ceiling joists.
3) Isolating the entire house from the metal roofNow, if you are in the unfortunate position of wanting to isolate the entire house from the metal roof, things get harder. Option 1 is to isolate each room below the roof in the manner I described above. That would be costly and time consuming. The other option is to build a sound barrier in your attic. Now, this is a thought experiment, but I do have confidence that it could work.
Sound isolation needs three things. Mass, Decoupling and an airtight system. To fulfill each of those requirements you could build a floating floor in your attic to stop sound. Crazy right?
Let's assume for this example that your attic is unfinished. First, I would put down two layers of 23/32" OSB over the existing attic floor joists. I would overlap each layer so the seams don't line up. Then I would ensure that the OSB is air tight around the perimeter where the roof meets the walls of the house. This is important since sound can travel through even tiny holes in your system. I would use backer rod and acoustic caulk to seal the perimeter.
After, adding the OSB I would wait and test to see if that was enough to fix the sound issue. If not, I would then add a layer of Rockwool Safe N Sound over the entire OSB attic floor. Then I would add another two layers of 23/32 OSB over the Rockwool Safe N Sound. Again I would make sure this was air tight, but this time I would put a thin layer of backer rod and acoustic caulk between the top layer OSB and the inner roof so that technically they are not touching. This will help decouple sound vibrations from the roof to our top layer of OSB.
In this system let's say a piece of hail hits the metal roof. It reverberates through the roof and into the attic cavity. The sound hits our first two layers of plywood and is reflected back. Some of that sound continues into our safe n sound where it gets converted into heat from all the miniscule fibers. The sound also gets trapped in that cavity and bounces between the two layers of OSB. Then a small amount of sound will get through our plywood at which point it then must travel through your existing attic insulation and drywall at which point all but the loudest or lowest frequency sound would be heard.
ConclusionMetal roofs are not ideal for sound. They create a reverberant surface from which sound travels easily. The methods mentioned above will stop the sound of rain or hail and even other sounds in your neighborhood making life with a metal roof much quieter.
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I typically design home recording studios, but a home theater uses the exact same principles for isolation. In this article I will go over my favorite, floor, wall, ceiling and door designs for a home theater.
1) Pick The Room SizeNow a home theater is not a recording studio, but room acoustics are still very important. You want to hear the dialogue in your favorite movie and you want the bass to hit crips and hard without a lot of mud.
The best way to ensure you have a great starting place for room acoustics is to get some favorable room dimensions right off the bat. To do this I recommend starting with the Sepmeyer Ratios, but also using a tool called AMROC that is free to use online.
I have a great video that goes in depth on room ratios and how to use the tools here: https://youtu.be/mpZsn9FcZnQ
The main thing is to not get overwhelmed by room ratios, but see if you can use them to your advantage when designing the floor plan and ceiling height of your proposed theater.
2) Build On A Concrete SlabWhen you build in a basement or garage or new addition with a concrete slab you don't have to do anything to soundproof the floor. This is a huge cost saver. Concrete is super heavy and concrete in the earth gives you plenty of isolation for a home theater. For this reason I would never build a home theater on a wood deck on the first or second floor of a house. It just isn't the right place for a soundproof home theater.
3) Use A Double Wall SystemNext your walls should be two 2x4 walls with a 1" air gap between them. The walls should each have some owens corning pink insulation in them and should have 2-4 layers of 5/8" type X drywall on them. If the outside wall is your concrete basement wall then simply build a new wall at least 1" from the existing concrete wall. Below is a diagram of a typical double wall system.
4) Use A Decoupled CeilingThe best option for your ceiling is to decouple the drywall from your existing ceiling joists. If you have the room to lose some ceiling height you could frame a new ceiling off your inside wall of the double wall system, but this is usually not the case in most homes where ceiling height is limited. For this reason, I recommend using acoustic clips like the I-B1 Clips, Whisper Clips, or Hush Frame Rafts attached to the ceiling joists and then attaching furring channel to those clips. You then will hang 2-4 layers of 5/8" drywall from those clips.
***NOTE*** How much drywall should you use? For a home theater I would recommend 3-4 layers of drywall because of the low sub woofer bass. Low frequencies require more mass so use as much drywall as you can afford.
5) Soundproof Door DesignIdeally, your home theater would have only one door since soundproof doors are expensive. I recommend using a communicating door system where you have one door on each side of your double wall system. The key with your doors is that they are heavy and air tight. I have a great video that goes in depth into my soundproof door design here: https://youtu.be/2Rm1DC5HTfg
I recommend using solid core doors and then adding mass to them using 3/4" plywood. Then I recommend buying acoustic seals that will surround all four sides of each of your soundproof doors. This way your doors will be as soundproof as your walls and you will not have a weak point in your home theater where sound can come in or out.
Conclusion:I hope this article gave you a starting point from which to dive deeper into what it takes to properly soundproof a home theater. If you are serious about designing your theater right the first time than sign up for my soundproofing workshop below or jump on a soundproof clarity call with me on my home page.
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I get asked this question a lot: where should I put my vapor barrier in my soundproof wall? In this article I will teach you some best practices for installing vapor barriers and how they relate to your soundproof system.
1) When you need a vapor barrierVapor barriers are a common aspect of normal construction and are still needed in soundproof buildings with walls and roofs touching the outside environment. You do not need a vapor barrier with interior walls, you only need a vapor barrier around the entire envelope of your structure.
Let's take my studio for example, I have four walls touching the outside and a roof. My vapor barrier should be a continuous material that covers all the walls and ceiling and ideally never breaks a seal even where the walls and roof rafters meet.
2) What is a vapor barrier used for and why you need one?The vapor barrier is meant to control condensation build up in your walls and roof and floor. It is needed because the build up of warm moisture inside your building in the winter will want to move to the outside cold air and will condensate on the cooler exterior surfaces of your building like the exterior sheathing leading to moisture damage. In reverse, in the summertime, the warm moist air from the outside will want to enter your cool air conditioned building leading to condensation on the outside surfaces and inside surfaces due to tiny air leaks in your building envelope.
You notice I say the moist air "wants to move." If you remember back to high school physics high energy states like to move to low energy states to create equilibrium. Hot moist air is high energy and cold dry air is low energy. The two will want to reach a state of equilibrium leading to moisture traveling to cooler surfaces and condensating which leads to mold and mildew growth.
3) The problem with polyethylene or "poly" vapor barriersAccording to Pretty Good House: A Guide to Creating Better Homes, polyethylene or poly, as it is commonly known, is not an ideal vapor barrier in all but the coldest climates. The reason is that the membrane was usually rendered useless after many staples, nail holes and other tears were introduced during installation (Kolbert et al., 117).
What is the solution then? The answer depends on your type of construction and this is where things get interesting. If you have a double wall construction then the vapor variable membrane is ideal. if you are using single wall construction with acoustic clips and channels then you may want to use a different approach. I will go over all the options in the following section.
4) Vapor Variable MembranesA great solution for your soundproof building is to use vapro variable membranes. "Vapor-variable membranes are designed to resist the passage of water vapor from the interior into wall and roof cavities in winter but allow any accumulated moisture to dry to the interior when the seasons change" (Kolbert et al., 118). You can buy vapor-variable membranes from brands like Pro Clima, CertainTeed, Siga, Delta and Rothoblaas. In climates with both cold and warm seasons the membranes should be installed between the drywall and the studs of the inner wall.
Compared to poly these membranes are more durable and will not rip or tear as easily. They still need tapes and seals at their seems and should always be installed according to the manufacturer's guidelines.
5) Spray FoamClosed cell spray foam can work as a vapor control layer, however only if it is installed correctly. If any gaps or shrinkage occurs in the spray foam then water vapor can still get in and condense inside your walls. Make sure if you use spray foam that you create a continuous layer even over the studs themselves. This could mean increasing the gap in your double wall system because you don't want the spray foam to attach to your inner wall. The closed cell spray foam can couple the two walls leading to a failure in your isolation.
Also, spray foam does not help with acoustics. In fact, closed cell spray foam will hurt isolation because it is effectively shrinking the air space in your double wall system. Remember, spray foam does not replace fiberglass or mineral wool insulation. You still need an open insulation for sound control in your wall system. Second, spray foam has toxic off gassing and many brands increase global warming. For all of these reasons I don't recommend using spray foam unless if is used as a vapor barrier in a cathedral ceiling, but even then there are better methods, such as adding insulation outside the roof sheathing.
6) Vapor Open AssembliesAnother option if you are building your soundproof room from scratch is to use a vapor open assembly. The idea with this system is that the sheathing acts as the primary vapor and air barrier and the insulation is place on the outside of the wall not the inside. This method keeps the wood sheathing warm in the winter and allows the open insulation like cellulose to vent vapor to the outside. You can see in the diagram below an example vapor open wall assembly.
The real downside to this system is the added material and build costs. In soundproofing you would still need to insulate your interior walls anyways for sound, so you are essentially adding more cost without to much benefit, but this is an option and maybe one benefiting a clip channel design over a double wall assembly.
7) Outsulation Wall AssemblyLastly, there is the outsulation wall assembly. This is similar to the vapor open assembly accept that it uses a vapor closed insulation layer rather than a vapor open layer. In this design the sheathing is still your primary air and vapor barrier with rigid polystyrene or polyiso insulation board layered over the outside of the sheathing. The insulation board becomes the primary thermal control layer and keeps the sheathing warm in the winter preventing moisture condensation.
ConclusionVapor control is an important aspect of any design and build. It enters the realm of green building design and building science. As you can see there is some overlap in green building design and soundproof building design. Air tight structures and double wall assemblies are both preferred. The main take away for use soundproofing designers is to look at our options and choose the best one for each specific job. If you are using a double wall assembly I would use the vapor-variable membrane method. If you are using acoustic clips and hat channels you may opt for a vapor open or outsulation wall assembly because the clips would penetrate your vapor variable membrane.
I would stay away from spray foam unless you feel it is your absolute only option. Remember, spray foam is hazardous to health, bad for the environment and is expensive. I hope this article has taught you more than you could have ever imagined about moisture control. As you are planning and designing your home studio talk with your builder about these methods and buy the book I referenced. It is a great resource for any building, but especially us home studio designers.
Works Cited:
Kolbert, Dan, et al. Pretty Good House : A Guide to Creating Better Homes. Newtown, CT, The Taunton Press, 2022.
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Do you need to float your soundproof walls or can they sit on the existing floor? In this article we will go over when you need to float your walls and when you don't. I will also cover some basic techniques on how to float a wall.
1) When do you need to float your walls?Most of the time I try not to float walls in my designs. The reason is that it adds more cost and time to the build. However, there are times when you should float your walls. When you build on any floor that is not heavy concrete you must float the floor and probably should float your walls as well. This is especially true if you are building on the second story of a house and your walls would be connected directly to the rest of the home if you did not float them.
One of the major aspects of sound isolation is reducing or eliminating flanking paths. This is where sound travels from one material to another and eventually into your room When wood walls touch a wood floor the sound easily travels from the floor to the wall and into your studio.
So how do you fix this problem?
2) How To Float A Soundproof Wall (Overview)There are two main options when floating walls. One is to use special acoustic isolators under the wall that decouple the wall from the floor and the other is to use common materials like neoprene rubber, or mineral wool to float the wall.
Rod Gervais, in his book "Home Recording Studio, Build it like the Pros recommends using ND Isolators from Mason Industries. (Gervais, 276)
example of Mason Industries ND Isolator
To buy the correct isolator you need to know the load of your floating wall. First, you need to calculate the weight of all the lumber, drywall, doors and windows in your wall and then you can purchase the correct isolator for the wall. This is not a fun task, but can be done by diagraming out your wall design on paper or in a CAD program and adding up the weight of each material.
If you are using mineral wool, rubber or an isolation pad you still need to know the how much weight the spring can handle. If the mineral wool for example is not dense enough then the wall may compress the mineral wool too much leading to less isolation. If the mineral wool is too dense the wall may not compress the wool enough leading to more sound transfer. Ideally, the mineral wool would compress about 50% creating an equilibrium where the force exerted down is equal to the elastic force of the wool leading to the best isolation possible.
You might be wondering, how do I figure all this out. The answer is either through the manufacturer's manual, such is the case with the ND Isolators or by using techniques that have proven functional. In the second case you would have to find charts showing the percent compression of the product with different weights added on top of it. As you can see all of this is fairly complicated, but it is an option. My point here is to not teach how to float a wall in depth, but more so, show you what is technically possible.
3) When You Don't Need To Float A WallWhen you are building on a concrete slab in a garage, basement or new building you do not need to float your walls or your floor. Concrete on earth is a great isolator and for most home studios, home theaters or offices will work perfectly as your isolation system for the floor. The only reason you may still want to float a wall on concrete is if lots of sound is traveling through the concrete floor.
Say for example, your studio is built on a concrete slab shared with a car mechanic shop. The shop would be driving cars on the slab, dropping tools, running heavy machinery on the slab and all those vibrations could travel through the slab into your studio. In this case, I would say don't build a studio there, but if you had to you would want to float your walls and floor off the slab.
ConclusionNow you know when you should and should not float a wall in your soundproof room. Remember, that you need to float walls if you are building on top of a wood deck in your home. Second, to float walls you can use isolators like the ND Isolators from Mason Industries or rubber, or mineral wool pads. Whatever you use to float your wall you want to make sure the isolator material can handle the weight of the wall.
Lastly, you do not need to float a wall if you are building on a concrete slab over earth. You can simply build your walls on the concrete and add a sill gasket for moisture, but you do not need to float the walls.
Works Cited
Gervais, Rod. Home Recording Studio: Build It Like The Pros. 2nd Edition, Course Technology Cengage Learning, 2011.
Mason-Ind.com, 2024, mason-ind.com/nd/. Accessed 9 May 2024.
Philip Richard Newell. Recording Studio Design. New York ; London, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017.
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