acoustic for living room

[Marvine]

Hi everyone, I'm originally from France, so I apologize if my writing isn't perfect. Basically, I’d like to know what the best and most affordable solutions are for improving the acoustics in a room just for voice recording, as it currently has a lot of resonance. It's a bit of a disaster acoustically lol

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

I do zero recording, so I am sure others will have a lot more to say on this topic, and you likely should listen to them not me.

If it were me. I would start by looking at products designed for voice recording that are mobile. Then see what I could do based on that.

For example: https://vocalboothtogo.com/mobile-soundproofing-singers-voice-professionals-2/ Not inexpensive, but for a source of ideas it's a good page to look at.

For a living room, you likely don't want a permanent solution. So something you can set up and take down seems like a good idea. So some sort of frame, hang blankets off it, that's what I would try just to see how that worked. Then maybe go for something a bit more expensive once I have proof of concept (the recordings sound better).

BTW, giving room dimensions will likely help others in giving you more detailed suggestions. Will you be near a wall or out, centered or to one side? Do you want to have any permanent treatment for music/movies, or is this going to be a 100% temporary set up? Do you want to make it dead and kill all room reverberations, or be able to alter the "room" sound to fit a given recording?

Also, is this for spoken word, or for singing, or both?

 

[Marvine]

Je fais zéro enregistrement, donc je suis sûr que d'autres auront beaucoup plus à dire sur ce sujet, et vous devriez probablement les écouter pas moi.

Si c'était moi. Je commencerais par regarder les produits conçus pour l'enregistrement vocal qui sont mobiles. Voyez ce que je pourrais faire sur cette base.

Par exemple: https://vocalboothtogo.com/mobile-soundproofing-singers-voice-professionals-2/ Pas bon marché, mais pour une source d'idées, c'est une bonne page à regarder.

Pour un salon, vous ne voulez probablement pas une solution permanente. Donc, quelque chose que vous pouvez mettre en place et enlever semble être une bonne idée. Donc, une sorte de cadre, accrocher des couvertures, c'est ce que j'essaierais juste pour voir comment cela a fonctionné. Alors peut-être aller pour quelque chose d'un peu plus cher une fois que j'ai la preuve de concept (les enregistrements sonnent mieux).

BTW, donnant les dimensions de la pièce aidera probablement les autres à vous donner des suggestions plus détaillées. Serez-vous près d'un mur ou à l'extérieur, centré ou d'un côté? Voulez-vous avoir un traitement permanent pour la musique/films, ou est-ce que ce sera une installation 100% temporaire? Voulez-vous le rendre mort et tuer toutes les réverbérations de la pièce, ou être en mesure de modifier le son "pièce" pour s'adapter à un enregistrement donné?

Est-ce pour la parole, ou pour chanter, ou les deux?

Thanks for the suggestions! I’m definitely looking for a temporary solution for spoken word recordings in my living room, so something easy to set up and take down would be ideal. I’ll check out the link you shared for ideas. I don’t need the room completely dead, just to reduce reverb. I’m near a wall but flexible with positioning. Appreciate the advice!

 

[Marvine]

Merci pour les suggestions! I’m certainment à la recherche d'une solution temporaire pour les enregistrements de mots parlés dans mon salon, donc quelque a choisi de facile à installer et à enlever serait ideal. I’a le lien que vous avez partagé pour des idéaux. Je n'ai pas besoin de la peine morte, juste pour réussir la libération. I’m près d'un mur mais flexible avec le positionnement. Apprenez les conseils!

I finally discovered a product I was really interested in: acoustic foam. I decided to give it a try, and I’m really pleased with the results. Visually, it adds a nice touch to the room, but more importantly, I noticed a significant improvement in the sound. Unlike other solutions, it affects the entire space rather than just focusing around the microphone.

I take this : https://www.hollowsound.fr/products/mousse-acoustique-studio-dense-avec-adhesifs

 

[ExPerfectionist]

Yes if you can put some panels up around where you are seated at your microphone, so you don't have sound going out to the walls and echoing back, that would be ideal.

Here is a mini sound booth >

https://www.amazon.com/WXZX-Recording-isolation-Soundproof-Absorbing/dp/B0B5L6F1Q7?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A15EVPZ5WE0HL8

And you can recreate something like this with some tripod/stands and acoustic foam, place around where you are seated between you and the walls

https://www.amazon.com/Pyle-Acoustic-Isolation-Dampening-Adjustable/dp/B0CQMG2KC2?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Otherwise, it helps the acoustics to have furniture/pillows, book cases, rug/carpet on the floor, basically things to absorb or break up flat surfaces.

 

[basscleaner]

Hello. The first of all, I don't want to recommend you any kind of sound absorbing panels or materials, because thinking, that you are not novice in reverberation balance inside rooms. I mean the main troubles are due to resonances you heard, don't you? These are more dangerous for you and more interesting for me. Some of them appear by means of room modes and in your case the only way to overcome them is to use bass traps or corner absorbers. But you need to remember, that it will dim the sound timber of your voice. More radical way is to change room dimensions, trying to find acoustical dimensions for your room, but it requires sometimes too hard and expensive decisions. Sometimes, the curvature of walls can help you too. The second, there are maybe some resonance sources, due to constructions of window openings or any box-like spaces inside your room. For instance, if your window opening has rectangular slopes, it follows to ordinary resonance at the frequency, which corresponds to distances for vertical and horizontal dimensions of a window.

 

[Bjorn]

Foam only works well in the highs and higher mids. This type of treatment will lead to an unlinear result.

Resonances is something that basically describes issues in the lows, not sure if that's what you mean.

Absorption only isn't necessarily the best way to treat for voices, but this also depends on the distance and budget.

 

[basscleaner]

Foam only works well in the highs and higher mids. This type of treatment will lead to an unlinear result.

Resonances is something that basically describes issues in the lows, not sure if that's what you mean.

Absorption only isn't necessarily the best way to treat for voices, but this also depends on the distance and budget.

Foam? I not discussed this material at all. To me, this is not good acoustical material at all.
Resonances can be not only for low frequencies. For instance, modal resonances presence for all frequencies of bandwidth, because they are multiplied. If you have any electrical power sets in room for Europe, it means, that you may to have resonances for 50, 100, 150, 200, etc...Hz. Especially, if you have in the room any dimension, which can ensure the such a modal frequency (343 cm for example).
The voice requirements are very individual. Rooms may have big or small sustain, original reverberation times, even some resonances inside. The acoustical performance of such a rooms, you are absolutely right, depends of dimensions and budget.