Decent Isolation from a 3"-4" Voc Booth Wall? (PIC

Macross · Post by **Macross** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 8:00 am

I have extremely limited space vertically (6.75 workable feet) and need to do a vocal booth. My goal is to have a booth that will be able to keep out indirect sound from my monitors in the adjacent room and also to keep out running water and AC noise.

The booth would be in a doorless room attached to the left of the control room. Behind that room is my HVAC system. It's not overly noisy and is separated by a standard partition from the room the booth would be in. My booth dimensions would be roughly 5 x 6 x 6.5h if I used around 3" walls, ceiling, and floor. I would also want a small double plexiglass window in the door.

I was thinking of 1/2 ply or MDF, 2 inch stud with 703 or equivelent insulation, then double drywall layer. Even better would be if I could just do 3/4" ply/MDF, then double drywall, but it probably would be only half as effective, no? The inside will be lined with Auralex 2" foam and the outside will be carpeted and/or covered by acoustic blankets.

My budget is $500ish in materials.

Thanks!

Sword9 · Post by **Sword9** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 8:17 am

How do you get into a doorless room?

Macross · Post by **Macross** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 10:56 am

Through the doorway!

Macross · Post by **Macross** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 11:46 am

Oops, I meant to post to the Studio Construction forum. Sorry for the trouble!

knightfly · Post by **knightfly** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 3:24 pm

MH, I moved your other post and deleted the double; sorry no time for more tonite, gotta be out the door to work in 5 hours... Steve

Macross · Post by **Macross** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 5:09 am

Thanks - I eagerly await your reply!

knightfly · Post by **knightfly** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 7:33 am

Any chance of a diagram? Anything that saves time for me is a definite plus, things seem to only be getting MORE hectic lately... Steve

Macross · Post by **Macross** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 12:40 pm

Here's a quick sketch - I don't know how to use a CAD program.

The live room is off the CR, but will not be used while the booth is being used, usually, so it's not going to interfere.

Macross · Post by **Macross** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 12:42 pm

Dimensions are basically 10x16 CR, with 10x10 other room for the vox booth. The room for the booth is only 6.75' high.

Macross · Post by **Macross** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 5:59 am

One more thing, I'll need a mic and headphone connection into the booth, but is there a way to do that decently with a super thin 3" - 4" wall?

Thanks again,

Matt

Macross · Post by **Macross** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:37 pm

Also to clarify (and bump), I've already got Auralex foam for the inside, so the $500 budget is just for lumber, drywall, and such.

knightfly · Post by **knightfly** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 6:50 pm

Probably about the best you can do within your budget is to frame with 25 gauge steel studs and use 2 layers of 5/8 gypsum one side; steel studs are available pretty narrow, just remember as you narrow the air space you worsen isolation. Use standard 3-1/2" fiberglass batts for insulation, the lighter R-11 will compress enough to go into 2-1/2" stud cavities.

For connections, you would be better off surface mounting boxes, using small holes for just the wires, and running the wires thru at least one stud to offset inside and outside boxes. caulk where the wires penetrate the wallboard;

If possible, you'd be better off NOT putting a separate ceiling on the booth, but instead suspending inner wallboard INSIDE your perimeter walls and caulking.

You didn't mention your existing floor but with that short headroom you might want to consider NOT building up the floor; it's likely your door will be the limiting factor on isolation anyway... Steve

Macross · Post by **Macross** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 2:43 am

Steve, thanks for the reply! Just a couple quick things:

knightfly wrote:Probably about the best you can do within your budget is to frame with 25 gauge steel studs and use 2 layers of 5/8 gypsum one side; steel studs are available pretty narrow, just remember as you narrow the air space you worsen isolation. Use standard 3-1/2" fiberglass batts for insulation, the lighter R-11 will compress enough to go into 2-1/2" stud cavities.

Would you mean 2 layers of drywall on EACH side?

For connections, you would be better off surface mounting boxes, using small holes for just the wires, and running the wires thru at least one stud to offset inside and outside boxes. caulk where the wires penetrate the wallboard;

Great, thanks!

If possible, you'd be better off NOT putting a separate ceiling on the booth, but instead suspending inner wallboard INSIDE your perimeter walls and caulking.

By this do you mean adding an area of dropped ceiling to the outer room, then caulking to the tops of the booth walls? Do I want this ceiling NOT to touch the tops and let the caulk hold the connection then?

You didn't mention your existing floor but with that short headroom you might want to consider NOT building up the floor; it's likely your door will be the limiting factor on isolation anyway... Steve

With the door, I was planning on bulding it to be the same materials as my walls, then have a two part lip with closed cell stripping for locking it airtight. Could you suggest a construction method, as building the door like my walls now is out of the question stability wise? Hollow core door and beef it up maybe?

Again, thank you very much for the help!

Matt