1. Video microphones:

The best and most popular classic video microphones include the Rode VideoMic Pro and Shure VP83, Rode NTG, Rode VideoMic Pro +.

This type of microphone is commonly used by attaching it to a video device such as a DLSR camera, and because it has special damping, it does not transmit vibrations to the recorded audio. These vibrations are generated in the camera (when focusing, zooming) or when the camera moves.

In addition, thanks to the ability of some models to amplify the sound up to +20dB, you can reduce the volume of the camera's internal amplifier to -12dB for better sound without noise, and if the microphone includes a -10dB attenuation cell, you can record even very loud sound sources such as musical performances. The above features are of course not available in cheaper types of video microphones such as the Rode VideoMic GO or other equivalents.

This type of microphone is suitable for a camera that moves when you are shooting a Vlog, a trip with friends, or a musical performance, etc.

However, these microphones can be just as good when used on a stand. You can place the microphone on a stand out of the shot, or entrust it to a microphone technician who will have it on a pole, or you can have this microphone in the studio directly on camera, but it is important that the microphone is no more than 60 cm away from you, then you can hear a lot of echo in the room or the sound is without dynamics.

So a video microphone has many uses, until you think it's good for everything, but it's not. It can be placed on a stand, but to get sound out of this microphone from a greater distance from the camera, you need a very well shielded cable because the microphone doesn't have a symmetrical output and therefore different sounds can be packed onto the cable. This microphone is also quite heavy. You need to change the batteries occasionally, it's not waterproof and so on, but it's not made for a pole or studio operator. There are other microphones for that, such as shotgun microphones with a cancellation tube or cardioid to hypercardioid pencil microphones, but we'll talk about those later, now comes the lavalier microphones.

2. Lavalier microphones:

Lavaliel microphones: are probably the most famous microphones for video recording, you can meet them almost everywhere, because you just need to pin this microphone on your clothes, attach it somewhere, etc.

Lavaliel microphones are condenser or electret microphones and basically come in two versions, namely omnidirectional and directional (mostly cardioid).

In the heavy majority of cases, you will encounter an omnidirectional variant, such as the DPA 4060 or the Sennheiser MEII. The omnidirectional microphone is mostly used because it can be placed in any direction, for example upside down, and still pick up sound nicely, it is also more resistant to touch and very easy to hide as it can be made in very small sizes..

A directional lavaliel microphone like the DPA 4080 is used when shooting in a room with a lot of echo that you need to eliminate. They are also often used by sound engineers on stage because they are more resistant to feedback and also better at eliminating ambient noise. Unfortunately, because they are directional, you have to place them towards your mouth and they are also quite large and don't hide much.

Everyone starts with a lavaliel microphone, whether directional or omnidirectional, because it can be bought for a few euro and connected directly to a DSLR, mirrorless camera, mobile phone or even a large camera if you have the right type and accessories.

After a while though, you'll find that every time you look at yourself, there's some big black unsightly thing in the recorded video, and you'll also find that if you have a plain t-shirt, there's nowhere to put the microphone.

The solution may be to purchase another professional small lavaliel microphone that is not so visible, and even such a small microphone can be hidden under a t-shirt or elsewhere using the right technique, which is especially useful for filmmakers or those who want to have a video where the microphone is not visible.

A TIP to get you started is: If you're recording or planning to record in a studio where you won't be moving in front of the camera, get an Audio-Technica AT 2031 or Rode VideoMic Pro cardioid pencil microphone to place on a stand just above your head out of the shot, plus a Saramonic SmartRig+ universal amplifier to connect the microphone directly to your camera, recording device or phone, and of course buy some cables and a stand. This one will save you a lot of time, you won't have a microphone hanging out anywhere and it just looks the best.

3. Pencil microphones (small diaphragms):

You may be thinking, why use pencil microphones? They're called that because they look like a pencil, are thin, short, have a smaller diaphragm than traditional studio microphones, and are made for a variety of uses, from capturing the voice inside to capturing musical instruments of all kinds.

Pencil microphone is especially suitable for indoor VIDEO recording, very good microphones are for example Audio Technica AT4053b, Audix SCX1HC, Neuman KM185, Oktava MK-012 and many others. These microphones are again condenser only and for our purposes are used with a directional characteristic of cardioid to hypercardioid.

Pencil microphones with a cardioid characteristic are suitable for an equipped office room, studio or living room etc. in most cases the pencil microphone is held out of the shot, just above the head to be as close as possible but not visible in the shot. This is useful for filming dialogue indoors. 

These microphones are not really used for filming outdoors, the so-called shotgun microphones are used for that.

Such a suitable small-diaphragm cardioid condenser microphone can be the VBM-90 directly from our company VocalBoothToGo.

This microphone was designed primarily for voice capture during VoiceOver recording and will be used especially by people who travel frequently and use or would like to use portable vocal booth VOMO, which is convenient because it is small, but can also be used in a home studio or on a microphone arm on a table.

The microphone is a lightweight condenser design with a small gold-plated diaphragm and cardioid directional characteristic, the VBM-90 microphone provides excellent sound quality, low noise and eliminates ambient noise very well.

More details about the microphone can be found directly on this page: click here.

4. Shotgun microphones:

Shotgun microphones are microphones that use a so-called interference tube. It is basically a pencil microphone to which this tube has been added, and thanks to this element, the directional characteristic of the microphone narrows significantly and the microphone subsequently picks up sound mainly from the front.

Then it depends on how long the tube is, the longer it is so the more directional the microphone is, it picks up a lower angle and better eliminates sounds that are not coming from the front of the microphone.

Shotgun microphones are such as RODE NTG 2, 3 and 4 or Sennheiser MKE 600, MKH 416, DPA 4017 B and many others.

Shotgun microphones are not really suitable to use everywhere, they are especially suitable for recording outdoors, I am telling you this because this type of microphone is not very suitable for a small room with a lot of echo, because when you use this microphone in a room with a lot of echo, there can be unwanted phase shifts of the sound inside the intervention tube and the resulting recording can be distorted, but in most cases there is absolutely no problem to use a shotgun microphone inside.

However, if you want to be 100 % sure it is better for small spaces with a lot of echo to use pencil small-diaphragm microphones with a super or hyper-cardioid directional characteristic, such as the Audio Technica AT4053b, and use a shotgun microphone outside, such as on the Sennheiser MKH 416.

5. Reporter microphones:

This type is also indispensable for shooting videos, here include long omnidirectional microphones such as Electro-Voice RE 50 N/D-B or RODE – Reporter and classic cardioid microphones such as Sennheiser e-835 or Audix OM-3

Both types of reporter dynamic microphones (omnidirectional/cardioid) do not need any voltage to operate, just plug them in and they will work, but unfortunately dynamic microphones have only a very weak signal and you need to use a strong preamplifier to amplify this signal.You can do this, for example, with a Sara amplifier.

Saramonic Smart Rig+ which is suitable for mobile phones and cameras, or if you have a large camera with XLR input, it should have a strong enough preamplifier. Alternatively, you can use a wireless audio transmission system that has its own preamplifiers.

So where we could use the omnidirectional and where to use the cardioid reporter's DYNAMIC microphone?

Omnidirectional microphones like the EV RE 50 are suitable for most most reporting jobs, because they are adapted for that, they have a longer handle, integrated great wind protection, they are very well shockproof and thanks to the omnidirectional characteristic you don't have to keep them exactly in front of your mouth, because they pick up all the sound nicely nearby, on the other hand, because they are omnidirectional they are not suitable for noisy environments at all.

Directional (cardioid) microphones like the Sennheiser e-835 are microphones that are designed more for singing, they have a short handle and are very insensitive and very directional, so you have to speak into them accurately and when you're doing an interview you have to be very careful that the microphone is in the right place, on the other hand thanks to this you can use a directional handheld microphone even in very noisy environments, but these microphones are not very windproof without additional protection.

But there are exceptions, such as the Sennheiser MD 46, which is directional but has been made to have the best features for reportage work. It's more windproof thanks to thicker foam, touch resistant and has a long handle so it's easier to hold, unfortunately it doesn't have a smokeless magnet so it's not as sensitive as the RE 50 N/D-B but if you need a directional reporter microphone with an XLR connector more suited to noisier environments the MD 46 is the obvious choice.

6. Large diaphragm studio microphones:

This type of microphone comes in condenser or dynamic designs and can be seen exclusively in the studio to complement video. They are also used in radio, or for recording computer desktops, webinars or commenting on games, in a word they are used on VoiceOver.

The microphones that are used are dynamic microphones such as Shure SM7b, Electro-Voice RE20, Heil Sound PR 40.

Or condenser: AKG C414, RODE NT1-A, Neuman TLM 49 and many others.

Dynamic large diaphragm studio microphone:

The most important thing to note with this microphone is that the dynamic microphone for VoiceOver is very low sensitivity and this is because it can speak into it from very close proximity which makes it suitable for very noisy environments, and therefore you can record very high quality sound even in a room where the acoustics are not well designed, by example by acoustic blankets or if the studio is next to a noisier street, you'll still be perfectly audible and there won't be any distracting noises in the background, provided of course that you have a microphone right next to your mouth and speak loud enough.

Condenser large diaphragm studio microphone:

You should choose this for VoiceOver when you want the best natural sound quality, a bit of freedom and to be further away from the microphone, this is useful when you are recording audio books, ADR, coaxing cartoon characters out of a monitor, webinars or something similar, but here you have to be careful as the large diaphragm condenser VoiceOver microphone is very sensitive and not very directional, so it will not only pick up your voice, but also the room acoustics and most of the surrounding louder sounds, so it's good to be as quiet as possible when recording with such a microphone, also the room must not have too much echo like a half empty office which can be solved by acoustic blankets or you might as well lock yourself into acoustic vocal booth. Most people probably don't like having their face stuck to the microphone, which is why very sensitive condenser large diaphragm microphones are available, but it takes its toll.

Voice Over and microphones in general:

It is not necessary to use only large diaphragm microphones for VoiceOver, if you own any other high quality microphone, such as a condenser pencil microphone, video microphone, lavalier microphone or dynamic microphone, you can safely use these microphones to record basic VoiceOver to complement your video, They may not have as nice a balanced voice presentation as studio large diaphragm microphones, but if you place a strong enough and pop-worthy filter on them to prevent your breath from hitting the diaphragm, the sound will be usable without a problem.

Also remember that good room acoustics are very important for VoiceOver, you can use for this acoustic blankets or completely shut it down for some acoustic vocal booths. 

If you're after complete soundproofing, there are also sound proof booth.

And if you like to travel and want to record you can use the travel version VOMO portable booth.

As Christmas is slowly approaching, we'd like to let you know what services we can offer you until the end of 2022 and when we'll be able to send parcels again.

From 19 to 23 December (Mon-Fri): we are at work, ready to take your orders and answer your questions. During this period the shipping companies work normally, they will pick up your package without any changes, but keep in mind that there is a different shipping time for each country, here are the details:

From 26 to 30 December (Mon-Fri): we are at work, ready to take your orders and answer your questions. During this period shipping companies work normally, they will pick up your package.

02.01.23 (Monday): Normal company operations again, just like you're used to. The shipping company will pick up your order, in our warehouse. we are at work, ready to receive your orders and answer your questions.

Most of the time when you come to your clients or shooting on location there is terrible space for recording sound, but now you can take solution with you and easly make shooting space good for recording sound with VB2GO sound blankets.

Don't forget that most important for recording good audio on location is reduce reverberation of the room and VB2GO sound blankets (acoustic blankets) are most effective way how to reduce reverberation of the room easy and for best value.

You can choose between couple of sizes and colours:

Most buy sound blankets by film makers are VB72G just click here to check details...

Biggest size of sound blankets is VB76G & VB77G with size 300cm x 200cm for more details just click here...

To check all sizes, colours and types go to sound blanket shop category just by click here...

[NOW 10% DISCOUNT, but only for the period 01-14.06.22]

We are sending goods around the world

(BUT we have couple of branch with own warehouses SO)

if you are from EUROPE is best for you buy sound blankets and other stuff from VocalBoothToGo.EU
If you are from US if best for you buying from VocalBoothToGo.com
And if you are form UK is best for you buying from VocalBoothToGo.co.uk

For mor information about sound blankets and testimonials check description of any sound blanket like most sell in EU acoustic blanket VB72G so just click here...

If you have any other questions don't hesitate to contact us on email: support@vocalboothtogo.eu

To shop all types of VocalBoothToGo sound blankets just click here and check all sizes and colours.

We answer your questions every working day (MON-FRI) from 8:00 to 17:00h except bank holidays.

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What are sound reflections and reverberations and why do you need to care?

When we talk about sound reflections think echo.

If you are in mountains, a cave, large hall or an empty room, say something or just clap your hands – that sound gets back to you as an echo (reflections) and repeats itself over and over (reverberations) until it loses its energy and dies (reverberant decay). This is because the sound reflects from one hard surface goes to the other and reflects over and over again until it loses its energy.

The same exact process happens in your studio, except that you might not hear it as loud as in a cave, but sensitive microphone will pick it up and your recording will be “inadequate”.

How the sound behaves in a voice over studio

Sound energy can be reflected by the surfaces in the room and bounce around or it can be partially absorbed, lose some of that energy and bounce around a bit less, or it can hit an odd, shaped object, break apart and go in different directions with diminished energy is called (diffusion).

These behaviors can be problematic in a recording studio. Sound waves bouncing inside the room can interfere with each other, cancel, or reinforce the energy at certain points, which makes a recording in the room difficult.

How your recording affected by the way sound waves behave in a room depends on a number of factors – the frequency of the sound wave, the shape and dimensions of the room, the materials that the walls and ceiling and floor are made of and covered with, how many doors and windows are there, and where they are placed, location of the microphone and voice other actor in relation to the nearest walls , etc., and the contents of the room ( furniture, tapestry, equipment etc.)

One of the biggest factors that determine what happens with sound in a room is the frequency of the sound wave. As we discussed in another article, lower frequencies wavelengths are long, and sound waves are more powerful. Low-frequency sound wave cannot be reflected by a small obstacle, so it bends around objects in the room and passes through lighter materials

At mid and high frequencies, say 100Hz or so and above – sound waves are more straightforward and easier to control. Their behavior in the room can be compared to that of a tennis ball: they bounce from hard surfaces and being slowed down (absorbed) by soft surfaces.

1. First reflection:

The harder and flatter the surface – the stronger the reflected sound and the longer it will be bouncing around before it dies.

2. Then it will bounce from a corner:

This is just a simplified example, in reality, a surface has to have a dimension equal to a wavelength to reflect sound in this manner. So, our 100Hz wave will bounce off a roughly 3,5m wide wall. But will diffract (bend around) around objects that have dimensions smaller than 3,5m wide. Also, sound waves are omnidirectional, meaning that they go in all directions at once, so when they reflect, they also interact and affect each other.

However, throw a ball against a pillow and it will stop because the direct energy will be absorbed by the pillow. That’s the basic idea.

3.Then from the other wall:

Why sound reflections are bad for your recording

In reality, the voice over actor is positioned right in front of a microphone, so the microphone will pick up the sound coming directly from you, the speaker, but it will also record the sound waves reflected off by nearby walls and other surfaces.

The problem is that the microphone will record the sound from the voice over actor a very short time before the sound reflected off the walls gets to it too. How long the delay depends on how far away the nearest reflective surface is.

This delay between the two sound waves (direct and reflected) can result in phase differences in the waves.

As the direct sound waves of your voice and the reflected sound combine, the time/phase delay can cause cancellations and/or reinforcements in the sound waves, changing the tonality of what you are recording.

This effect is known as “comb filtering”. And if the tonality is changed, you are not recording what you are really saying, or rather not the way you say it.

Are there bad and good sound reflections ?

Well, ideally you do not want any reflections in your recording. You want only direct sound to be recorded. But some reflections are indeed worse than others.

First reflections

The worst and most powerful are the so-called first reflections. These are the sound waves that bounced the first time, less than 20 milliseconds or so after the direct sound. Sound travels at a rate of about one foot per millisecond, so that means that any reflective surface within about 3m or so of the recording position will cause problems and there are also Secondary (second bounce) and tertiary (third bounce) reflections.

Flutterr Echo

Flutter echo happens when the sound waves are reflected directly between two parallel surfaces – say opposing walls in a small room – back and forth. Try it in a smallish room with hard parallel bare walls: clap your hands and you’ll hear a rattling sound – that is flatter echo.

Most of apartment and house rooms have parallel walls, so flutter echo can be a real problem when you are recording with a microphone.

Reverberant decay

Reverberation is the sound left ringing in the room after the direct sound from the sound source stops. It is those secondary and tertiary reflections, it is that remaining reflected sound that tends to wash together.

For most recording too much reverberation that lasts too long is a problem – recording clarity will be compromised, and there may be phase problems.

Equally important is making sure that the reverberant decay across the frequency range is even. If the reverberant decay for high frequencies is different than for low frequencies, the room will have a characteristic sound that probably won’t be desirable – a bright ring, boom low end, or uneven midrange. However, if the reverberant decay is too short, the room will have a dry, dead feeling and sound that will be uncomfortable.

How to manage sound reflection and reverberations.

If you are thinking of setting up your voice over or instruments recording studio you might be choosing a spot in a bedroom a walk-in closet or may be in a spare room.

If you start with an empty room with hard surfaces on the walls, ceiling, and floors what do you do to manage reflections and reverberant decay? There are two different methods: absorption and diffusion, each of which is effective for solving certain problems. But in small rooms such as home recording studio diffusion is not as effective as absorption. We will stop on diffusion briefly because they are not exclusive and a combination of the two methods can be used successfully.

AKUSTIK DIFFUSION

"“Diffusion” is breaking a single sound wave into smaller reflections and dispersing them in different directions. Because there are no big reflections going back to the microphone, first reflection problems are reduced, and because diffusive materials are irregular in shape, flatter echo is eliminated. Although reverberation won’t be eliminated, scattering and breaking up the reflections tends to result in a smoother reverberation at a lower level.

While any irregular surface can break down reflections at some frequencies to a degree, to figure out exactly how to make a diffuser that evenly scatters a broad frequency range of sound waves requires specialized diffusion materials. Such specialized diffusers are hard to build and they can be expensive.

SOUND ABSORPTION

Remember the example of echo in the mountains? Now, why is it so quiet when the snow is falling? That is because the snowflakes absorb the sound and speed up the reverberant decay.

For voice over recording studios, absorption is the main method for managing first reflections in mid- and high-frequency range, flutter echo and reverberant decay.

The idea is to use sound absorption materials placed at the main reflection points to reduce – absorb – sound energy so that the level of the reflected sound waves is significantly quieter than the direct sound.

Absorption works best with high- and midrange frequencies. Lower frequencies require large quantities of absorptive material for effective energy reduction.

Very high frequencies have a very little energy compared to low frequencies, so thin, soft materials can be used to absorb them. As the frequency gets lower, thicker and heavier absorptive materials are required. Those thicker sound absorption materials are even more effective at controlling high frequencies.

There is an array or sound absorption materials that can be used and we will talk in details about it later. Most fall into the category of porous absorbers. These materials consist: mineral wool, acoustic blankets, Acoustic panels, clothing, Acoustic curtain, carpets, acoustic foam and other sound-absorbing.

The sound-absorbing effect comes from the fact that the sound energy can penetrate the material on hitting the surface. Here, the sound energy is converted into heat energy, so that only a small part is reflected in the form of sound energy. In other words, the material has absorbed some of the sounds.

The sound absorption in acoustic foam and VocalBoothToGo sound blanket, works differently.

Acoustic foam is a popular material for lining up the recording studios. They are often shaped in a conical or egg crate shape. The make of acoustic foam is different from the make of the packing foam even though they might look the same and even YouTubers may claim they can stuff the packing foam in the box and it works great. Packing foam made out of CLOSED channel foam, so the air trapped in the channels provides more cushioning. But for the sound to be absorbed, it has to have a way to enter the material. This is why acoustic foam is made with OPEN channels. So-called “Open Cell Foam” The sound gets in and then travels through the twisted channels bouncing off the internal walls and losing its energy. The reason for the egg crate surface of the foam is to increase the absorption area and allow more opportunity for the sound to get in. The thicker the foam the more sound it absorbs. This is why anechoic chamber lined up with acoustic foam with 60cm deep wedges.

The other difference is that acoustic foam is generally rated as fire retardant – an important factor because some types of foam (like packing foam) are extremely flammable and therefore not safe for residences and businesses.

On the other hand, VocalBoothToGo sound blankets, work differently. Unlike moving blankets filled with low quality mixed with recycled polyester and cotton fibers, specialized akustikplatte known as “Producer’s choice sound blankets”, filled with highly absorptive cotton. As the sound gets in it agitates the cotton fibers and by making them vibrate it loses its own energy.

 The thicker the sound blanket is, the more filler it has, the better its sound absorption efficiency and broader its frequency range. Using producer's choice sound blanket in pleated fashion increases the absorption surface and increases the total quantity of soundproofing panels in the room.

Fiberglass Insulation.

Glass fiber is another common absorptive material. The rigid variety such as: Owens Corning™ 700 fiberglass series provides decent absorption in high and mid frequency range. Rock wool SAFE'n'SOUND® is used to fill the space between drywall during construction for better soundproofing. It is also can be used in the corners as a bass trap. RockWool and Glass fiber, of course, can be a major irritant, so make sure to cover it and do not disturb, to prevent strands from getting into the air.

Regular household materials such as soft furniture with fabric upholstery, pillows, curtains and drapes, blankets, carpet and so on, all absorb sound to one degree or another at mid and high frequencies.

How much sound absorption should you use?

So, you have to get rid of reflections do you just line up the walls, floor and ceiling of your studio with sound absorbing material and start recording?

But it’s not quite that simple. Many types of absorptive materials only work well on higher frequencies, leaving midrange sound bouncing around without much control.

This can result in an odd, dark – sounding room with no high end. If you have too much absorption in the upper frequencies, the mid - and high-frequency reflections will be reduced, but the bass frequencies will be bouncing around, resulting in a boomy, bassy room that sounds muddy. Too much of the overall absorption and the room will sound too dead and it will be uncomfortable to work in.

The idea is to use just enough to control first reflections and to tame reverberation decay. Keep in mind that you can always add more absorption if the room still seems too live.

The right balance is the key to finding the right amount of absorption in the proper location so they will be as effective as possible – enough to control the mid and high range, and enough bass traps to end up with a balanced room response and an even reverberant decay across the frequency range.

How does it relate to voice over & instrument recording?

The purest and cleanest of all is the direct sound energy. This is the sound that travels in a direct (straight) line from the voice actor or instrument to the microphone.

Sound energy reflected from objects in a room confuse the direct sound of our voice and make recording “mudded”.

You want to have everything in the recording, emotions and different intonations and do not want to hear any sonic additions from your recording room.

Unfortunately, you must record in a “box” or room that has walls, ceiling, and a floor. When you speak into a microphone the sound radiates in many directions. The sound of your voice goes through the room until it hits an object or wall, then it reflects back and gets recorded by your microphone over what you are saying at the moment.

Unlike the reflections in a control room where the sound comes from a speaker and reaches the engineer at some distance, in voice over recording you position yourself right in front of the microphone. So your first reflections would be the reflections from the nearest reflective surface: laptop screen, walls to the right or left of you and a wall in front or behind you if you are sitting close to a wall. Wherever the closest reflective surface is – that will be your first reflection point to treat acoustically.

Do not forget the ceiling and the Floor. They are also reflective.

Reflections arrive at your microphone delayed in time and add sonic distortions to your voice narration. To minimize the sound of the room sound absorption works best for small recording studios such as home voice over studio.

Untreated reflective surface reflecting the sound back at the microphone.

For voice over actor who does individual work (one person commercial or book narration), having a small acoustic vocal booth might be an easier and more effective and practical way to create the great sound recording environment, rather than acoustically treating the whole room.

Portable or small acoustic vocal booths are easy to set up and also easy to take with you if you have to move.

Reflective surface show bellow was treated with sound blanket and reflected sound comes back with considerably reduced energy.

Signature:

VocalBoothToGo.EU is specializes in providing effective and inexpensive acoustic room treatment products, such as VocalBoothToGo Sound Blankets, Sound absorbers for sound and film production, mobile sound booth, portable vocal booths and speaker booth rentals.

support@vocalboothtogo.eu

In places such as recording and music studios for singing, VoiceOver, recording musical instruments, playing music, films etc., it is necessary to have good acoustics.

But it has been ingrained in our brains that this can only be achieved with products that are not cheap and that you have to pay a lot of money for effective results

But is this really the case?

Our customers deal with this issue quite often, so we decided to do a comparative
study of sound absorption efficiency and price between acoustic foam and sound blankets.

(WARNING: In the interest of transparency, VocalBoothToGo.eu sells acoustic blankets! We design them, we test them, we sell them, we do this for a living. Our customers love our products.
To be accurate and honest, we test our products in accredited acoustic labs in the U.S.)

ACOUSTICS COMPARISON BETWEEN:

Auralex Studiofoam Wedges (V-profile) and Sound blankets Producer's Choice

** Acoustic foam comes in various shapes and thicknesses. For the purpose of this study we have used products from one of the leading manufacturers, Auralex. For this particular product, we compared the full range of thicknesses available.

** To be fair in comparing acoustic foam prices, we used the sale price from the Thomann and B&H Photo Video e-stores (not the manufacturer's suggested retail price). The price is calculated from the price for the whole set. (Foam sold in individual 60x60cm or 60x120cm pieces is typically 30% more expensive.)

Sound absorption efficiency:

The sound absorption efficiency of the acoustic blankets falls right in the middle of the acoustic foam samples compared, between the 5cm V-profile and the 7.6cm V-profile.

The sound absorption efficiency of Producer's Choice Sound blankets exceeds that of 2.5 cm and 5 cm thick acoustic foam and is close to that of 7.6 cm thick acoustic foam. In fact, when the sound blankets are hung with 15 cm of corrugation, their sound absorption even exceeds that of 7.6 cm acoustic foam, reaching 95% sound absorption (NRC 0.95). If you look at the absorption curve below, you can easily see that adding 15 cm of corrugation gives the acoustic blanket an absorption exceeding that of 10.16 cm of acoustic foam.

This shows that sound blankets are a very effective product for sound absorption.

Price vs. use value:

Acoustic blankets clearly outperform acoustic foam in terms of price/performance ratio At first glance, you can already see the huge difference between price and performance.

For example:

- Acoustic foam with a thickness of 2 5 cm is 30% less efficient than acoustic blankets but times more expensive.

- 7.6 cm thick acoustic foam is only 10% more absorbent than acoustic blankets but is 3.6 times more expensive.

- 10 cm thick acoustic foam is 30% more absorbent than an acoustic blanket and is 6 times more expensive.

(Just imagine how many acoustic blankets you could buy with the extra money you have set aside for acoustic foam, or how much money you might have left over for other audio equipment)

(NOTE: For ease of comparison, the default NRC value of 1.0 is 100%)

For example, the absorption of 2.5 cm thick foam is (NRC 0.5) which is 50% and the absorption of a blanket is (NRC 0.8) which is 80%. Therefore, 2.5 cm thick acoustic foam has 30% lower absorption and lower efficiency than acoustic blankets)

Practicality of use:

Ease of use is important and hard to put a monetary value on.

Acoustic foam comes in different colors and is trendy - it looks cool.  It is lightweight and easy to stick to the wall or ceiling.  Unfortunately, once it's on the wall, you can't move it.  It tears easily, so it is very difficult to take it down without damage and use it elsewhere. The blanket does not need to be glued to the wall. In fact, they are even more effective when there is an air gap between the wall and the blanket.  Sound blankets make it very easy to create a vocal booth or dedicated recording space by simply hanging the blanket from the ceiling.  This makes sound blankets an indispensable choice for sound absorption if you don't have enough free space, for living in a rented property, or when expecting to move from one place to another frequently.

Difference in the way sound is absorbed and cleaned

Acoustic foam is a porous material with open cells.

The open cells are the openings of long twisted tunnels.

To be absorbed, sound must enter the holes and flow through the tunnels, losing energy through friction. One of the reasons why sound foam has V-shaped profiles is to increase the total absorbing surface area of the foam.  However, this V-profile also makes acoustic foam a great dust collector!

Porosity and flow resistance are the most important parameters in determining sound absorption. Imagine if the pores or openings of these tunnels become clogged with dust - sound cannot get in and therefore the sound absorption efficiency is reduced. No matter how thick the foam is or how well the tunnels are twisted, if the openings of these tunnels become clogged - sound cannot get in and therefore sound absorption is reduced. While we haven't found any specific research to cite, it stands to reason that the absorption of acoustic foam must also deteriorate over time. Foam also degrades over time and begins to break down.

The sound absorption mechanism of sound blankets is different. It is based on the fact that sound waves expend their energy to vibrate the fibres of the inner filling. The sound gets inside and passes through the blanket. As each fibre vibrates, the sound energy is lost by converting it into heat. If the blankets become dusty or dirty, they can be easily removed - knocked out, vacuumed or washed.

Any way you look at it, acoustic blankets are a more effective, cheaper and healthier product than acoustic foam.

What does it actually mean and what does it entail? affiliate partner

We will explain everything to you.

How does an affiliate work?

The affiliate program works on a partnership basis..

On one side is the advertiser - WE VocalBoothToGo (who wants to promote their product)

On the other side is the partner - YOU (who wants to recommend the product to people and get a commission from it)

Partners can promote our products in different ways:

• via their website (blog articles, reviews, videos)

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If someone clicks on link and buys our product, the affiliate receives a pre-agreed commission of 10% of the sale.

Registration for affiliate partner is here https://www.vocalboothtogo.eu/affiliate-registration/

Thanks to this pre-made light weight metal structure you can build VocalBooth (mobile recording studio) for recording voiceovers, singing, dubbing, audio books, musical instrumentes, etc... Even in your studio apartment.

This completely pre-made mobile VocalBooth (sound booth) frame set made from pipes and connected by metal couplings, you can assemble in 10 minutes and if necessary , you can just as quickly disassemble it and put it away in a corner or take it with you wherever you need to go. The longest pipes in the package are only 100cm long and are again connected to the longer ones with metal couplings.

 We produce them in 5 different sizes:

•  https://www.vocalboothtogo.eu/diy-vocal-booth-premium--frame-kit---100x100cm/
•  https://www.vocalboothtogo.eu/diy-vocal-booth-premium--frame-kit---100x150cm/
•  https://www.vocalboothtogo.eu/diy-vocal-booth-premium--frame-kit---150x150cm-2/
•  https://www.vocalboothtogo.eu/diy-vocal-booth-premium--frame-kit---150x200cm/
•  https://www.vocalboothtogo.eu/diy-vocal-booth-premium--frame-kit---200x200cm/

 The construction with recommended acoustic blankets absorbs sound. This cretes ideal acoustic conditions inside the voicebooth for recording.

 More information can be found at this link: https://www.vocalboothtogo.eu/mobile-acoustic-booths/

With our blankets you can also go back to the Middle Ages!

We are happy to announce that our acoustic quilts are making medieval digital history!

Some of you are not only sound and video experts but also avid computer gamers. If you're one of them, you'll be familiar with Kingdom Come Deliverence. Recently, two fans - Artur Komňacki and Marek Pilger decided to prepare a Czech dub. Thanks to them, Jan Přeučil and Daniel Vávra, among others, will lend their voices to the characters in the game.

Instead of acoustic foam they decided to use producers choice sound blankets. Which do not have to be glued to the wall, they are mobile. They are more efficient and you get more surface area for a smaller price.

Since the beginning of August we have been working on the dubbing of the whole game for PC, whether we will hear the dubbing on consoles is still in the stars.

How does it look in the Czech dubbing studio.

You see, you don't have to glue sound blankets anywhere difficult. If you decide to buy a VB70-G / VB72-G or other blanket, your recording corner can look as beautiful as the photo above. You don't have to cower in a pitch black dungeon reminiscent of a medieval dungeon. To record individual voices, the dubbing studio chose a high-quality AKG C414 XLII large-diaphragm microphone with clear and crisp professional sound.

Sound comparison without and with Sound blankets

Marek Pilger sent us how it sounds in their studio without and with acoustic blankets... You can compare the difference yourself in the audio recording below.

If you really want to hear the difference in sound you need to use headphones or studio speakers.