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  #1  
Old 05-01-2018, 03:33 PM
Johnny K Johnny K is offline
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Default Dawbox, Whisperroom Etc

Anyone build or buy one of these? I'd like to hear about it, especially if you went the DIY route and bought plans and/or kits from Dawbox.

My wife is giving me the go-ahead to build a room in our basement big enough for me to play my drums and recording space. We both play bass and naturally I play guitar too. I want to make a DIY project out of it to save money and she said do some research and get some priceing on material.

By chance, I was at a local GC looking for a new drum head and saw that the store had Whisperroom booths in the store, where they give lessons. A light bulb went off in my head and while we were there a guy was playing a kit in one of the rooms. I got my wife to have a listen and she agreed that that could work for her.

Then we looked up the prices folk were paying just for a 3.5' square vocal booth and that went out the window. But a little googling brought me to Daw Box. A site that sells plans to build your own "whsiperroom" for much less using stuff that can be had at the home depot.

So here I am asking about it to see if anyone has built a DawBox or a bought a Whisper Room.

https://www.whisperroom.com/

http://www.dawbox.com/

Thanks for reading and post away.
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Old 05-01-2018, 08:11 PM
runamuck runamuck is offline
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Many of us have acoustically treated our rooms for recording. This link will guide you to the best and least expensive results:

http://ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

There's a video from a guy showing how to make your own acoustic panels but I can't remember his name at the moment. Maybe someone else will come along and share it.

EDIT: I just remembered his name: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lni_4HpwmZk
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Old 05-02-2018, 06:21 AM
Johnny K Johnny K is offline
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Thank you, I'll take a look at those.
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Old 05-02-2018, 07:01 AM
MikeBmusic MikeBmusic is offline
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I am naturally skeptical on places that sell "acoustic foam" kits (Dawbox). Foam will absorb high frequencies, but do nothing for the low and low-mid stuff. So perfectly adequate when making a 'vocal booth', but not a drum booth or amp iso room/box. The Dawbox website if very unprofessional looking. No customer reviews or pictures of installations they built.

In your basement - how much space do you have? Typically with home environments, the biggest you can do is the best - it's close/short reverberation which can screw up the sound. Bass traps/superchunks (rockwool) in corners is the first step in controlling the sound.
Ethan Winer's site is great, but note that much of his advice applies to professional spaces (with lots of room and $$).
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Old 05-02-2018, 07:05 AM
Brent Hahn Brent Hahn is offline
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Whisper rooms were originally designed strictly for isolation. So you could practice your trumpet without breaking your lease. they were basically a meat locker with no attention paid to the inner acoustics. Later on the manufacturers figured out that people might want to record in them so they added a bit of acoustic treatment. But it's not enough, and the surfaces are all parallel, and it's no fun at all if you're not fond of tight spaces.

Proper acoustic treatment for recording is a whole 'nother thing. If you don't live right next to a subway or under a flight path, 100% isolation isn't really necessary. While a little elbow room and air circulation is. Ethan Winer knows a lot; he's a good place to start.
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Old 05-02-2018, 07:57 AM
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At this point you've gotten feedback on differences between isolation booths and recording spaces. Seems there are some questions that need to be answered to determine if you need one, the other, or a combination of both.

Is the noise from outside of your playing space so extreme that it affects the playing experience?
Is the noise from outside of your recording space so extreme that it affects the recording?
Is the sound from your playing/recording going to bother others in your house?
Is the sound from your playing/recording going to bother neighbors?

Assuming your answers don't match well with your budget, you may also want to rank them in priority.
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Old 05-02-2018, 08:53 AM
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No have never used one


As noted by others it really depends on specifically what acoustical goals you are attempting to address
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Old 05-02-2018, 09:07 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny K View Post
Thank you, I'll take a look at those.
Hi JK

Fran (homebrewedmusic on YouTube) is the man when it comes to getting great recordings on a budget. He is a member of this forum, and has provided us with tons of information over the years. and his info runs well beyond the basics. He and Doug Young are great sources of info (and gifts to this forum).

Before you start designing the individual elements of your new room, I'd suggest gathering a lot of knowledge of what the options are (and they are MANY). Fran's site is a great place to start.

He covers mics, preamps, gear in general and specific comparisons…and lots of other great info for home recordists.

Hope you build the room of your dreams…



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Old 05-03-2018, 11:07 AM
Johnny K Johnny K is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChuckS View Post
At this point you've gotten feedback on differences between isolation booths and recording spaces. Seems there are some questions that need to be answered to determine if you need one, the other, or a combination of both.

Is the noise from outside of your playing space so extreme that it affects the playing experience? No. but it bugs me when my dog tries to drink my beer

Is the noise from outside of your recording space so extreme that it affects the recording? Oh yeah, I got stuff where you can hear my wife loading dishes into the diswasher. LOL

Is the sound from your playing/recording going to bother others in your house? Absolutely, I have just neutered a set a Gretsch Catalina Maples with silent stroke heads and Zildjian L80 low volumn cymbals and it's criminal. I want the live heads are real cymbals back on.

Is the sound from your playing/recording going to bother neighbors? Mostly likely yes. I had a guy across the street from me who had band practice at his house and it bothered my wife. Me not so much, i've been there.

Assuming your answers don't match well with your budget, you may also want to rank them in priority.
Priority is making a space that will render my drums and cymbals to 80 decibels tops from outside the space. That is about as loud as the Zildjian Low Vols cymbals and drums with the Silent Stroke heads get. Everyone in the house can live with that.

I have a Wuhan 16" crash that will crack 130 on the dB meter with a good hit.

In addition, I would like to have a space to set up my Fishman amp and a mic and an practice my acoustic sets and singing, at a decent volume, and not have to hold back. Sometimes I feel like I never fully push the limits of my abilites, or try to, because I am holding back for fear of disturbing others.
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Old 05-03-2018, 02:36 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny K View Post
Priority is making a space that will render my drums and cymbals to 80 decibels tops from outside the space. That is about as loud as the Zildjian Low Vols cymbals and drums with the Silent Stroke heads get. Everyone in the house can live with that.

I have a Wuhan 16" crash that will crack 130 on the dB meter with a good hit.

In addition, I would like to have a space to set up my Fishman amp and a mic and an practice my acoustic sets and singing, at a decent volume, and not have to hold back. Sometimes I feel like I never fully push the limits of my abilites, or try to, because I am holding back for fear of disturbing others.
So if making your practice sessions less noticeable it the priority then yes you are looking more for "sound reduction" than and acoustic reflection control. And a booth type situation is one method of getting there . And In terms of DYI what a booth is , is simply a compact version of a "room within a room" construction . Which accomplishes having an air gap (as well as sound absorbing materials ) between the walls of the inner and outer room, which helps kill direct sound vibration transfer.

if you have any DIY skill You can build from scratch something probably sufficient and bigger for way less money ( Probably 1/2) of the prices the larger "wisper rooms " are showing. And if you want it to also double for recording and mixing as well the bigger the better and you can still do some refection control for that aspect as well .
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Last edited by KevWind; 05-03-2018 at 02:44 PM.
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