Acoustic Booths: Why You Need Those Mobile Versions
Okay, so I have discussed a portable isolation booth. It’s that small screen you often see on podcasts, cover videos, and even vlogs. It’s a cheap and fast way to ensure singers, narrators, hosts, streamers, and vloggers can produce clear, crisp, and noise-free audio to their audience. Now, I’m going to tackle mobile acoustic booths.
You can say that mobile acoustic booths are portable isolation booths’ older brothers. They’re bigger, more efficient, heavier, and a bit pricier, too. Primarily, you only need to get one, and the choice depends on your current situation, budget, and future goals.
Mobility
A mobile acoustic booth covers everything, including you. It’s basically a mini rectangular tent or box made up of blankets. It instantly creates a walk-in recording station, allowing you to create music and vocals on the go.
About the ‘on the go’ part, you can’t actually lug it around without a car. The frame alone can be cumbersome, and the blankets that come with it are onerous than they look. You often need a helping hand when setting it up or removing it.
Because of that, it’s primarily used during events by professionals. For example, you can do voice-overs or live recordings outside with it. Setting up and uninstalling mobile acoustic booths can be a daunting task if you’re alone.
Basically, this is not the selling point for you. However, it doesn’t mean that this product isn’t worth taking a look at, which will be further talked about in the next sections.
PIB vs. MAB
A portable isolation booth only blocks reflection coming in front of you and your microphone’s backside. It’s limited, but it’s portable.
Compared to portable isolation booths, mobile acoustic enclosures are much effective at removing reflections and unwanted reverb. After all, instead of just blocking the audio that bounced off walls, it totally blocks your sounds to go out of the booth itself.
The walls of mobile acoustic booths are often made from sound-absorbing materials. So instead of just blocking the sound coming from you, it also prevents your music from reflecting on the mobile acoustic booth itself.
However, just like with any removable and mobile acoustic treatment devices, they can’t deliver 100% noise cancellation and sound absorption. These tent-like devices can at least remove 8 to 12 decibels of noise, which is enough to separate your vocals from the ambient sound on your location.
Other Uses
You can take advantage of this device for regular singers if you’re not planning to stay in your place for a long time in your home. Instead of investing in acoustically treating a room that you’ll leave anyway in the future, you should get this mobile booth instead and place it in a quiet location or corner.
Note that this booth will only protect your recordings from noise and reflections. It can’t nullify or completely absorb the sound you make. You can combine it with some foam panels if you worry about disturbing your neighbors with your voice. Unlike getting a professional to treat your room, a foam panel can be installed now and be uninstalled later.
Variety
These mobile booths come in multiple sizes and form factors. You can buy the tent-like box, a metal frame covered with sound-absorbing materials (typically called sound blankets by manufacturers). You can also get a hanging mobile booth, which you can just hang onto your ceiling without a solid frame.
Alternative and DIY
The cheapest and alternative to a mobile booth is a thick blanket. It sounds bizarre, right? But most budget voice-over actors and singers do this method to achieve pristine vocals without spending too much on room acoustic treatment and sound reduction accessories.
Why buy this?
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To get clear and crisp recordings.
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To avoid disturbing your neighbors with your music.
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To have a temporary soundproofing solution.
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To have a cheaper soundproofing solution.
To Top Everything Off And A Bit Of Mumbling
At a certain point in your journey to become the ideal singer you want to be, you’ll definitely need to decide to make recordings of the songs you can sing. During my days, a four-track recorder is an expensive commodity that most amateur singers would die for. Even if most people don’t have a decent place to record on, they were happy with the shoddy recordings they can come up with.
Nowadays, you have your computers and cellphones. With a bit of tweaking and know-how, you can record a masterful rendition of your songs and even let the world hear them. Unfortunately, as we people have easier access to these advancements, we’re expected to deliver what we have in high quality.
Of course, the quality of feedback you’ll get if you post a sloppy recording may vary. But would you risk people putting you down in SoundCloud or YouTube just because of some ambient noise that got recorded, too, in the process?
Just like old amateur singers before you had done, you should invest in some equipment, too. You’re lucky enough that your instrument is your throat. No need to buy guitars, strings, cables, picks, and amplifiers. You can even sing anywhere you want as long as it’s allowed. So why would you scrounge on a few dollars? This investment has a huge potential to improve your craft and give yourself the possibility of breaking out virally.
Selections
If you’re rearing to pick one up for yourself, here are some of finest in the market:
