Need advice for rap vocal booth

[Olie]

I took extra hours (finally) offered from my work so i can invest some money. I need a mic and decent acoustic proofing, i would also like to soundproof (i live above a shop) but it's not a necessity. I can spend up to £1500 ($2289), although i would like to spend around £1000, if it doesn't compromise quality.

I really can't do construction so i was thinking the cheapest thing would be, curtain off a section, throw up foam panels and a mic? I really badly need advice on acoustic proofing and which brand to buy, any suggestions for mics would help me too (still in the process of researching). I would need a portable booth because i will be moving in the future.

Thank you.

 

[GIK Acoustics]

Hi Olie,

A few things to point out off the bat -

I see that you understand the difference between treatment and isolation, but your terms are used incorrectly. Soundproofing means isolation - acoustically isolating your room from another space. Isolation requires construction - don't buy into any "soundproofing foam". What you're referring to as acoustic proofing is called acoustic treatment. Foam is a relatively poor absorber - it only deadens the high end and does nothing for the low mids and below. So though you'll have less reflections, you'll still have the same amount of muddiness and the same amount of unclear transient response due to the room modes and other low frequency problems. You'd want thicker treatment - products like acoustic panels. If portable treatment is needed, you might consider something portable GOBOs - something like this: GIK Acoustics Screen Panel - GIK Acoustics Europe
Otherwise you could do panels on stands. You could do a mixture of panels on the wall and on stands if necessary as well.

 

[Olie]

Hi Olie,

A few things to point out off the bat -

I see that you understand the difference between treatment and isolation, but your terms are used incorrectly. Soundproofing means isolation - acoustically isolating your room from another space. Isolation requires construction - don't buy into any "soundproofing foam". What you're referring to as acoustic proofing is called acoustic treatment. Foam is a relatively poor absorber - it only deadens the high end and does nothing for the low mids and below. So though you'll have less reflections, you'll still have the same amount of muddiness and the same amount of unclear transient response due to the room modes and other low frequency problems. You'd want thicker treatment - products like acoustic panels. If portable treatment is needed, you might consider something portable GOBOs - something like this: GIK Acoustics Screen Panel - GIK Acoustics Europe
Otherwise you could do panels on stands. You could do a mixture of panels on the wall and on stands if necessary as well.

out of my budget

 

[OneOff]

Since you are just recording vocals a simple but effective vocal booth reflection filter could be an attractive solution for around $170. The MXL RF-100 Portable Vocal Booth Reflection Filter would be an example. The sound will always bleed through to the store downstairs unless you install a sound proof floor. A small vocal booth filter with a few blankets on the bathroom walls will sound just as good as a professional vocal booth. The bulk of your money should go towards a good condenser mic with pop filter such as RODE NT2.