Vocal booth / mic shield - advise me, chaps!

oxblood · Post by **oxblood** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 4:36 pm

I'm getting back into recording some song vocals (and narration stuff - just think Stephen Toast

) at home, so I've unboxed my trusty old Oktava MK319 mic.

In our previous house, I built myself a proper vocal booth into which I would disappear to do my howling and grunting, but it's not practical to start buiding something that fancy in my present home, so...

I've been wondering about getting one of those wraparound mini vocal booth / mic shield things. So far, at £60 and free delivery, this one seems quite an attractive proposition:[INDENT]

[/INDENT]Product page linky linky thing: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Essentials-Reco ... B0045CXIUI

...but if any of you have any personal recommendations and/or know of even better deals, I'd be grateful for your input (balanced line with phantom power, of course

)

Cheers,
K

oldslapper · Post by **oldslapper** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 7:33 pm

That's a very good price.

Beyond · Post by **Beyond** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 7:51 pm

I have a fair bit of experience of grunting, but have never felt the need to record my teenage son's utterances to date, but that does look rather professional (I say that knowing next to nothing about these things).

Antonius · Post by **Antonius** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 8:37 pm

I was going to suggest a meter and a half of egg crate foam and some DIY creativity (duct tape?). But this sure looks much more pro. What do you need to hold it in place though? The construction seems a tad heavy for the average mic stand. Do allow additional budget for a sturdy stand. Unless you intend to nail it to a wall or door.

And install a pop filter as well, in addition to the wrap around contraption.

redroque · Post by **redroque** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 8:39 pm

I bought the thomann version when I recently started dipping my toe back in the water. It came with a bar for a single mic and a spaced pair. It needs a decent mic stand to mount on as it's weighty. It does little to reduce the noise like a proper booth does (like I used to have!) but it does significantly reduce ambient sound and reclection allowing excellent opportunities to fix errant timing and tuning and then treat with lovely plugins. Def. the way forward!

oxblood · Post by **oxblood** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 9:39 pm

Bought! Delivery expected between 2nd - 6th Jan. Thanks, chaps.

oxblood · Post by **oxblood** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 2:11 pm

Have just had a text informing me that it'll be delivered tomorrow -woohoo! Shall post a review of it in the coming days.

oldslapper · Post by **oldslapper** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 3:47 pm

Postal service been exceeding itself recently Ken!

oxblood · Post by **oxblood** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 4:15 pm

Innit just - I'm staggered. Best not count me chickens until the thing's handed over and signed for, though, eh...

Re. the "review", my plan is as follows:

First I'll make a recording of the ambient noise in the room (which consists mostly of the mechanical hiss from my Mac Pro, which is unavoidably only a few feet to one side of the mic) without the device in place, and do a screen-grab of that waveform.

I'll then fit the beastie, ensure that everything's in the same position, make a second recording and screen-grab that waveform.

I'll then post both recordings and their respective screengrabs, to see how much (if any!) noise reduction is achieved.

I'll also report on how easy or otherwise the thing is to use etc. Watch this space!