5 situations where a vocal booth might be the optimal solution for you.
Oooh yeah, recording vocals (or acoustic instruments) at home: a never ending discussion topic!
I previously made a whole article on this same topic presenting some of the easiest ways to record quality vocals at home (you can check it here).
Of course, when it comes to this, a vocal booth can be an incredibly powerful tool that will push your recordings to another level.
Firstly, it would be good to clarify this point: all the home recording booths are not made to be soundproof as it is certainly not always needed. If you want a soundproof booth then you are probably looking at upwards of 5000$ of investment for the most basic models. If you don’t want to build it yourself that is.
If the goal is mainly to increase the quality of your recordings by lowering reverberations, echoes and provide some noise shielding then portable acoustic booth will be as, if not sometimes more, efficient (for the 2 first functions).
Now, whether you are a producer, a musician, a singer, a podcaster, a voice-over artist or an audio book reader, for which situations would a recording booth be a definite plus in your home studio (aka in your life)?
1. Your home studio or the room you use for recording is not well acoustically treated.
If you record in a space with, for example, barren walls, wooden/concrete floors (no carpet), few acoustic panels or only acoustic foam (thin), no diffusion panels etc., you will definitely hear a fair amount of reverberations in your recordings. In this case, you should, without a doubt, hear a very obvious (positive) difference when using a booth. The recordings are clearer, warmer and drier.
Of course, if you like the sound of your recordings and the natural reverb brought by your room, by any means, keep on recording as such. Otherwise, if you prefer a neutral sound that you can keep as such or modify during the mix to exactly fit your needs, then a recording booth, portable or not is ideal.
2. Your home studio/recording room is acoustically treated but you want to achieve even cleaner recordings.
In the point 1., I’ve talked about a very poorly or not at all treated room but in reality, even with an acoustically treated room, you can benefit from a recording booth.
For example, I record my vocals in an office that has acoustic panels, acoustic foam, diffusion panels, thick curtains, carpet and a big couch. The acoustics are, let’s say, at least respectable. This being said, for my final recordings, I always use my portable recording booth and believe me the difference is noticeable 100% of the time (in a good way). I don’t want to make a science out of it as it is a very personal example but it can give you an idea of the difference that a booth can bring.
I also have to mention that I really enjoy having very dry and warm vocals so that I can apply effects afterwards if needed.
It is here worth noting that there are other solutions such as noise shields that you can attach to your microphone stand. Personally, I find those to be very limited in the improvement they provide. They have an effect on the recording quality but it doesn’t come close to what a recording booth can achieve.
The booth, if equipped with a quality damping material, will simply provide a low level reverberation environment that would require a lot more work to “directly” have in any room (without a second enclosure).
3. You want to soundproof your working/creative space.
In this case, a sound booth is highly recommended. One of the best way to create a soundproof environment is to create a room within a room. This is what a sound booth would be.
In this case, portable sound booths probably won’t do as they are generally not made to be soundproof. You will have to invest more space, time or money to get a rigid and fixed vocal booth.
Be careful, because on the other side, soundproof booths are not always good acoustically speaking. They can potentially contain and not dampen reverberations which will result in a very boxy sound.
4. You do not want to record your vocals in a studio.
To be honest, all the points that I’ve made before are linked to this one. You can always go to a professional studio and have your recordings done there. Whether you don’t want to because you record a lot and on the spot or because you feel more comfortable creating in your own space or because you don’t want to pay to rent a studio or frankly any other reasons, doesn’t really matter. If you are in a situation where you need or want to stay at home, that’s obviously where a home studio booth becomes very interesting.
5. You work in other home studios.
Well this one goes a bit in contradiction with the previous “need or want to stay at home”.
However, if you do often record at a friend’s place, or have a band that jumps from house to house then a portable recording booth is really a great option. When your friends/band members/artists you’re collaborating with, don’t all have a professional recording studio, then it becomes really useful to be able to go anywhere and set a good recording environment in a few minutes.
 In conclusions, we can just simplify it with this long winded list of conditions:
If the acoustics of your studio do not sound the way you like and if you don’t want or need to go to a professional recording studio and if you want to have recordings that are more qualitative and optionally if you record in different places, then I wouldn’t hesitate to tell you to get a recording booth. Build or buy a soundproof booth, get an affordable portable recording booth, I never did regret it and use it almost every day.
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