Who is laughing? Let's see according to the old Handbook of Electrical Tables and Formulas - wood cabinets (speakers say), the wood let out 15% of the sound, now concrete is really good at letting out (of a brick) 1% of the sound, and fiberglass (hard not installation type) lets out 2% of the sound. Cardboard box - ah - 99% of the sound and also lets in the same amount with all of those types of materials?? I should fiberglass the outside of my reflexion filter, but I guessing that some hard plastic is going to be denser than wood but not as good as concrete bricks?? I suppose I should stick the reflexion filter in bricks or fiberglass making sure that the outside noise does not get in or the sound of the mic does not get out.

Another thing to consider is what polar pattern you've set on the mic. If you've already addressed this, my apologies.

But with the NT1a (like it's bigger brother, the NT2000), rather than having switchable polar patterns, the uppermost knob allows the pattern to be varied continuously from omni, through the centre-detented cardioid position, to figure of eight.


So depending on where you've set it, you're going to get differing levels of reflections entering the rear of the capsule thereby altering the subjective tone (for better or worse).

My last session I placed one of my 24 x 24 x 2" Fiberglas absorber panels on a music stand and then let the artist velcro his lyric sheet to it's carpet like cover.  Knocked out a ton of reflections from the music stand as well as the room.

I'd try stuffing some foam in the box.  Experimenting never hurt anyone.

After the hard material (say wood say) then comes the dampening material to absorb the reflections like foam, fiberglass installation type, or whatever.

I suppose if you have an old speaker cabinet with the big speaker out of it, the mic can go in there and the head if enough room and walla - like a room for recording.

spindlebox


or have them stand in a corner, with the point right at their back. That would prevent direct reflections.

Try it, but remember that bass buildup is bad in corners. You may create worse problems than what you are trying to solve.




I have experimented with building a shield like this before. My design was useless. I also used the perforated metal construction (As I had seen it everywhere) and lined the insides with fibreglass.


I now have six 1" thick 4'x2' acoustic panels which I just set up as a temporary vocal booth. It can give a little boxyness, but it's not too bad, and I highpass a fair bit of it out anyway and I'm very happy with the end result. Gives a super dead sound. Cheap to build too.

Good point Matt! Probably a wall behind would be better than. I'd love to see what you did out of curiosity if you have time to post. I'll be working on this tomorrow. Thanks to all who have provided insight on materials. I'm still not 100% sure what I'm going to do. A bit more research is warranted.

I made it probably about 7 years ago so it is long gone in a big pile of rubbish! I had no idea about acoustics. I mimicked the design of the SE Reflection Filter as best I could (which wasn't very good). I got two sheets of perforated metal and bent them into a semi circle. First is one sheet of perforated metal on the outside. I then put a layer of fiberglass inside, followed by a layer of aluminium foil (they did it in the SE Filter) then another layer of fibreglass and finally the second perforated metal sheet. It was all held in place with screws and wooden blocks to maintain the correct spacing. I never worked out a way to mount it to my microphone stand so I think that's one big reason I didn't use it at all.

I then moved onto blankets and mattresses against the wall, with a blanket hanging off the wall over my back and I sung inside that 'booth'. Had to be careful not to move too much or there would be noise from the blanket rubbing on my back.

There was then a big storm at uni which got water throughout the radio and studio and all the acoustic gear. It was barely damaged and this was summer so dried quickly in the sun. The uni had to bin them due to bacterial growth risk. I snagged up 6 panels. I use them for any microphone recording and make a booth.

The company I now work for has an acoustics testing section so there is a lot of stuff coming through every now and then. I need to talk to some people and see if I can score some free dense insulation to make some more panels with some time!

Love it.

Maybe I missed it but, do you have any room treatment in your room? And, How big is your room? And, How far away from the mic were you? 

Your box sure made a big difference. Look forward to seeing/hearing the revised edition:)

Hey everyone, sorry for the late reply here. So I'm still in the experimental stage, and I really like SPACEALF's suggestion in post #35 about the speaker cabinet.

Yesterday, we did some more vocals for a client, and I used this box with OC 703 (2" thick) on the very back behind the mic. WOW. It totally got rid of that boxiness I was getting before and the vocals sound INCREDIBLY clean.

So, I may try the speaker design, lined with OC 703 (which I have tons of scraps laying around off), and then for cosmetics line it with some black breathable fabric (which I have leftover from my trap building) I just need to figure out a way to mount it to a mic stand.

Of course, I need to get a speaker that is light enough to do so. "A Hunting We will Go" ....

PS, TIMIDI: Yes, I have treatment in my room, it is rather big, but I have acoustic foam lining the walls and ceiling (not totally covered as I don't want a totally dead room.) You may be able to catch glimpses of it in the pics I posted.