A Portable Soundproofing Idea - Need Opinions.

Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 12:36 pm

Hi there

This could have been posted on the Studio Construction board but it relates more to home studio stuff I guess.

Although I'm currently using a DI to go through my preamp for guitars and bass, I would also like to record straight from several combos I have using a mic up against the speaker in order to get different varieties regarding sound. However, I do not want to make enemies of my neighbours and have been thinking of various ways around this.

One that I've come up with is to use a large Dog Cage that my girlfriend owns. She has no use for it now having only used it once for transporting a dog. I think it's around 5ft x 3ft x 3ft in size.

I was thinking that a moderately sized combo could fit inside it. I have a small Marshall (guitar) combo and a small Fender (bass) combo which could be easily miced inside this cage with some sort of sound proofing on the outside of the cage and underneath.

Having not tried this yet, I was wondering what your opinions would be on the sound I would get recorded in this kind of enclosed space? Is it worth shelling out the cash on soundproofing materials and experimenting with this setup or is it an idea that sucks?

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

LiD

Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 1:08 pm

Considering the amount of work you would need to do to the cage, you might as well spend a few more dollars on dense particle board(not mdf). Either that or buy one of the Isolation cabs that are available.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Randall-Isolation-12-Speaker-Cab?sku=480371&src=3WFRWXX&ZYXSEM=0&CAWELAID=26039655

http://www.jlhproducts.com/axetrak/

Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 5:40 pm

I'd sale the dog cage, it's worth more to you as a dog cage then as a support structure to attach MDF or your purchased dense product to.
If you move forward with the diy project, you will get better results from glue and nail/screw the panels together anyway.

Also, it is still desirable to develop enclosures for audio, big rooms down to little boxes, in a rectangular fashion.

Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 8:40 pm

what about a powersoak?

Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 5:00 pm

Hi there

Thanks for the replies and ideas. Much appreciated. Very Happy

In principal and regarding sound capacity, I'm getting the consensus that my idea would work. Great!!!

The 2 small combos I was going to use in the cage are solid state. However, the things I'm reading seem to be highlighting that it should be tubes that are run hard between the amp and stages cab. Is this correct?

Unfortunately, apart from being solid state, my combos don't have the option for going through a cab. The ones I intended using were a Marshall MG30 DFX and a Fender Rumble. I was just wanting to experiment with them to see what difference (if any) could be achieved instead of recording via DI. You never know until you try I guess.

pr0gr4m, I think given my current capacity (limited by combos), an iso cab or powersoak isn't what I'd use but I'm definitely intrigued and intend referring back this thread whenever I experiment with more ballsy sounds...lol

I know it would take a lot of work to sound proof the dog cage. The appeal for me was the capacity to temporarily sound proof it, use it, unsoundproof it when finished and be able to collapse the cage into its 4" thick depth for storage. I do agree that a brand new need-specific build as outlined by Space and Hueseph would be best.

Thanks again people. Great advice on here as ever. Very Happy

LiD

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 6:49 am

lostindundee wrote:

In principal and regarding sound capacity, I'm getting the consensus that my idea would work. Great!!!LiD

Ummm...I think the consensus was that it was not such a nifty thing, and more trouble than it's worth....but no matter.

You gotta ask yourself one question. Can you make it so it doesn't rattle any parts with that bass amp in there? Well, can you...? Laughing

If it's foldable, it will have slightly loose parts. How practical is it going to be to remove the top, bottom and all sides of whatever "soundproofing" material to store it, and then reinstall?

How are you going to make soundtight joints with removeable material?

It will probably not do a bass amp sound any favors by sticking it in a small box. I doubt you'd be able to turn it up much, or you'll have that "Rumble" rumbling. Might as well just stick it in a closet, if you can't turn it up anyway. Low frequencies need room to propagate properly. Read up on wave lengths. You'll likely have a nasty sounding "boom box".

How practical is it to seal up all your amp controls in a box, so you can't tweak them easily? A speaker inside, ran from the speaker jacks on amps, is a much better bet, if you insist on doing this.

Kapt.Krunch

(Trying not to "rattle your cage")

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 9:55 am

hueseph wrote:

Considering the amount of work you would need to do to the cage, you might as well spend a few more dollars on dense particle board(not mdf). Either that or buy one of the Isolation cabs that are available.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Randall-Isolation-12-Speaker-Cab?sku=480371&src=3WFRWXX&ZYXSEM=0&CAWELAID=26039655

http://www.jlhproducts.com/axetrak/

Yeah. Read my post again. I think you will end up spending more money on a DIY than if you bought one.

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 2:45 pm

Kapt.Krunch wrote:

(Trying not to "rattle your cage")

Ha ha ha

You're absolutely right. I never thought about the moving parts on the cage. Doh!!! I never gave much thought to the issue of making effective soundproofing that would be re/installable without a fuss either. I guess it would also add to the storage issue.

hueseph wrote:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Randall-Isolation-12-Speaker-Cab?sku=480371&src=3WFRWXX&ZYXSEM=0&CAWELAID=26039655

http://www.jlhproducts.com/axetrak/

Yeah. Read my post again. I think you will end up spending more money on a DIY than if you bought one.

I think you're right hueseph....I would definitely go with this when I get hold of a decent amp, providing I'm still intent on trying this. It seems a lot less hassle with an iso box.

I'll have to stop reading and replying to posts when I'm tired from work.
Sad

Thanks everyone

LiD

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