Red 100 mic enhancer sound shield thingy, has anyone tried?

[treesbygb]

Hi there,
has anyone tried one of these?

http://www.studiospares.com/invt/465160

My "studio" is a small attic room, with sloping ceilings and a nasty laminate floor. I occassionally, hear the singer's foot tapping and the odd shout from next door's kids in the garden! It's not practical for me to soundproof the room, I could get a rug though, so do you think this might help?

Thanks very much?
Gary

[Len911]

It isn't going to soundproof anything, but what it will do is take away anything reflecting from a hard surface or eliminate comb filtering, etc.
If you have 4" acoustic foam it would probably do the same job.

[mazz]

A rug is a must in your room.

Soundproofing is very expensive. Even vocal booths are pricey.

This thingy will work to keep room reflections from the back of the mic, but none of these things address reflections from behind the singer. For that you need some kind of treatment behind the singer. Something as simple as pillows hung temporarily will work.

I recommend perusing Sound on Sound's extensive website for tips on this sort of thing. They do a home studio rescue every month and beings that they are in your neck of the woods, they even mention tea breaks, etc. The articles are great, very informative.

Good luck.

You'll just have to put up with your neighbor and hope they yell in between phrases so you can mute them.

Mazz

[Ellwood]

Yes I use one but it's quite a bit larger. It does a good job of isolation from hard surfaces or reflection from behind the mic.

[Len911]

I just thought of something, if you could insulate the attic it would probably kill 2 birds with one stone,lol! On second thought you would probably end up breathing fiberglass or paper pulp and walking on the insulation might pack it down too much for good use. It would probably have to be an owens-corning specialty insulation.

[ShadowaterMusic]

I haven't used that one but the version from Auralex has worked really well for me.

http://www.auralex.com/mudguard/

[treesbygb]

Thanks as usual,
I've got a rug now and will put that down, and I will also read some sound on sound articles, anything that involves tea breaks is alright by me! I might give this shield a go, what's a few extra quid!
Len, I think the room is thermally insulated behind the plasterboard, but the didn't bother to soundproof it, inconsiderate eh?
All the best
Gary

[Len911]

Gary, as Mazz has alluded to, soundproofing is prohibitively expensive! Years ago I bought a book on it and from the beginning realized it wasn't gonna happen, special doors, no windows, 6" concrete walls, raised floors, omg! I think what you want is "acoustics or acoustical treatment", that is much more practical.
I have four of these foam lenard bass traps on a stand, and some other foam on a stand, but the lenards are the most practical and don't flop around as much. you can either surround yourself with them or put them behind you if you buy the shield thingy. They are portable and easy to move about into position.
http://www.auralex.com/bass_traps_sm-le ... -lenrd.asp

this one is similar and maybe more appropriate, the sunbust 360's
http://www.auralex.com/acoustic_foam_sn ... _sn360.asp

[treesbygb]

Thanks Len,
you're nit wrong soundproofing is budget busting stuff! Those bass traps on the stand look excellent but are still a bit pricey. It looks like I'm gonna have to hang pillows and hope the singers don't think I'm getting weird! Hopefully one day I'll make a little money and I can justify the expense.......
Thanks all.
Gary

[pedrocosta]

A friend of mine swears by a very inexpensive solution.
Tacking the walls with painters drop cloths.
Apparently it cuts most of the reflections.
I thought of setting curtain tracks like they use in hospitals and hang some drapes that can be drawn when recording in the room or during mix/eq/master.
I really need to do something...currently I'm just recording in a room with regular drywall walls.