Together in this article, we'll take a look at how studio "Vokál" tackles acoustics in the studio.

Find out more about the studio at www.studiovokal.cz

There's a new podcast studio in Brno called "Vokál" (it is same thing like Vocal in english language), a cubbyhole for all the kittens that will throw you for a loop.

The studio is located in the Brno creative hub Kumst. Kumst was created in the premises of the former Favu BUT, which is the oldest non-arts college in the Czech Republic and is located at Údolní 19.

Converting a room into a studio

The boys from Vokál decided to turn a room in Kumšt into a podcast studio and they went about it smart... They took a room that originally served as a music classroom, so they've been doing the hardest acoustic work since the beginning in the Vokál studio, which we call our chicken coop. All the walls in the studio are fitted with acoustic panels, which also give the studio a distinctive style.

The studio has three windows (plus one in the tech closet) overlooking a busy street. As the studio is used for podcasts and video, it is advisable to cover the windows when filming.

For Vokál, acoustic blankets solve both problems at the same time - parasitic light and noise from the street.

Acoustic blankets are targeted to you

Vokál decided to go one step further... he modified his acoustic blankets. They had each acoustic blanket cut by a seamstress and Velcroed to the middle of the blanket. So when you're filming, all you have to do is zip the blankets together. This way the acoustic blankets look better and more home sweet home, which many kittens will appreciate.

Door acoustic blankets as curtains you'll certainly fall in love with

Vokál divided its studio into two parts - dark and light - according to the needs of its customers and the topics of their podcasts. The smaller dark stage is equipped with a door acoustic blanket, which is laid on the ceiling structure - it was already in the room. With the door acoustic blanket, unwanted reverberation can be quickly picked up and placed virtually anywhere in the studio.

As you can see, we've done great thing with acoustic blankets in the Vocal Studio. So the sound blankets serve also as an addition to the studio. Check out the types of acoustic blankets (www.vocalboothtogo.eu) and built your own studio.

We are sending this products around the world.

I am Jan Štumpa,
video producer
Watch my youtube channel: Už toho mám plný kufr
www.filmambo.cz

and find out when I'm really fed up.

Are you bothered by ambient noise when recording VoiceOver, Dubbing, etc.?

Do disturbing sounds from the street often get into your recording and spoil it?

SPB double wall soundproof booths are a great solution!

Our soundproof, double-walled booths can easily handle a neighbor mowing the grass, an ambulance driving by your house while you're recording, or even a neighbor's dog that starts barking every time you press the record button.

We often get questions from you, about how specifically the booth copes with a certain type of noise at a certain volume, and since it is not possible to do a separate test for each customer individually, we decided to do a big test that will hopefully answer all the questions and confirm at the same time the quality of our double wall booths.

Test description

We're testing the SPB33D specifically, but any double wall booth, regardless of size, would achieve the same results - you can view all types by clicking here

Disturbing noises

We've created an audio track containing 9 of the most common distracting noises you might encounter.

Of course, we were not able to include every disturbing noise in the test, as the test would then take several hours, but we tried to select the ones that you ask us about most often and we believe that this will be enough to give you an idea of the noise reduction properties of double-wall cabins .

In front of the building, we have placed professional iLoud Micro speakers from which we emit disturbing noises at the highest volume. We wanted the noise in the room to be as loud as possible, as we understand that everyone has a different level of noise in the room, and for that reason we went a little overboard with the volume to make the test result valid for everyone.

Voice playback

Since no one records only silence, we decided to imitate VoiceOver recording.

For maximum consistency, which is crucial for the objectivity of the test, we decided to play the voice from a professional iLoud MTM speaker, which we placed in the same position and distance from the microphone each time, so that the recorded volume of the voice was the same in front of the booth and inside the booth.

Test recording

As I already indicated, the first part of the test takes place in front of the booth and the second inside the booth. We recorded everything on two microphones, the SE X1S and our VBM 90. We recorded on two microphones just for checking, but the result you can hear is recorded on the SE X1S.

For the purpose of a better comparison, we have edited the recordings from outside and inside the booth so that it is as easy as possible to find the sound that is disturbing you and compare the result.

Result

And how did it all turn out? Well, judge for yourself, we're more than happy with the results.

Video link:

 youtube.com/watch?v=s82kGmvxWYQ

You must have noticed that there is no recording of separate noises inside the booth in the video. We decided not to put it there, considering the length of the video, but if you are interested, you can listen to it, together with all the uncut recordings, here:
soundcloud.com/user-179117028/sets/spb33d_eng_test

We hope that this test will help you in making a decision, and if you still have any questions that were not answered by this test, do not hesitate to write to us at: support@VocalBoothToGo.eu

View all our double wall cabins here.

My dream, which I am still pursuing, is to build my own film studio. This involves a super location, high ceilings, constant buying of everything I need and a way to control the acoustics.

What is an acoustic blanket?

An acoustic blanket is the least hi-tech thing in my tech park, yet I'm always impressed by how easy it is to tame the acoustics of a room with a sound blanket. So a sound blanket has become a faithful helper in and out of the studio. And it certainly doesn't stop there.

I regularly use acoustic blankets instead of blinds or curtains in my studio and on projects. They can quickly minimize parasitic light from outside by covering windows or even larger glass surfaces, while improving the reverberation of the room including light insulation from outside noise.

I found that I could just fit two acoustic blankets in a blue Ikea bag. The features of the acoustic blankets are redeemed by their weight, with each acoustic blanket being around 5.5 kg. Two acoustic blankets already add up to an 11 kg package (roughly 70x35x35 cm when folded into the bag). This also makes sound blankets one of the heaviest things I have to lug around on a job. My tripod and head is about 9 kg and just throw it over my shoulder. Acoustic blankets are already quite voluminous - it's good to have a car, or a very strong back.

Who are acoustic blankets suitable for?

After two years of working with acoustic blankets, I can recommend them to all creators who are setting up their own studio or podcast studio at home. To all experienced and aspiring musicians who don't mind egg shells at all, and to all fellow filmmakers who want to scoop up sound in hopelessly small offices.

Improving room reverberation

Acoustic blankets do not serve as a sound insulator, but as a reverberation absorber. As I discovered, there is a difference. An acoustic blanket improves the reverberation of a room and, when placed appropriately, can also contribute to sound insulation – when placed in a window.

What acoustic blankets help with the most is reverberation, so that the room doesn't sound like a cave. It is reverberation that most often spoils my spoken word recordings. It's the sound that reverberates endlessly against the big white walls of the room – the echo/echo.

In this aspect, the size of the acoustic blankets is a key factor. Their 5 m2 is already a decent area through which the sound must pass. Thanks to the acoustic blanket, the sound is largely absorbed and does not return in such intensity and what is even better: the sound that does pass through has to pass through the blanket again after the reflection and is absorbed again. For this reason too, it is a good idea not to put the acoustic blankets directly on the wall, but to leave a gap to increase their effectiveness.

Work in the studio

Bad acoustics are fine for shooting, but the film studio works mainly with sound. I want to be able to change the existing conditions in the studio, just like when working with lights. Recording live music can be different from recording noise or spoken word. So my main requirement for acoustics is the ability to control them, which is why I have been considering acoustic panels for a long time.

Acoustic panels

Acoustic panels look great, especially when you buy designer pieces, but the installation... I have to be pretty sure I want them exactly where I'm going to stick them.

I just don't want to stick anything anywhere!

Acoustic screens

Then I found something called acoustic screens. They do the job, sure, but I can move the fridge around the room and it will be the same in the (in)freedom of movement. I'll think carefully about whether I want to move it back and forth, plus they're still not cheap or efficient at all.

Advantages of acoustic blankets

These common ways of dealing with acoustics are not for me. If I also need to record sound while shooting, I need a mobile acoustic panel solution. Panels that can be packed up, rolled over and placed in the space without much delay, or just thrown over the fridge and get rid of unwanted noise in the room.

I found these features in the acoustic blankets from Vocalboothtogo.EU At the time of writing I own five acoustic blankets in sizes 200*243 cm in two colours white/black.

I am Jan Štumpa,
video producer
Watch my show on youtube
www.filmambo.cz

Different sizes of acoustic blankets can be viewed or bought directly from e-shop by clicking HERE

How to reduce ambient noise?

I go ordinarily to my favourite Wolťák Karel for a friendly chat, run up a few stairs, shake his right hand and there is no indication that Karel is a gamer who is going to try it online.

With a wave of his hand, he points me in the direction of his room, where we're supposed to play games for a while. Already from the doorway, VocalBoothToGo.EU acoustic blankets tower to the ceiling, mounted on film spacers such as Manfrotto autopole. I enter the room and see up close that the sound blankets are held together by the exact green clamps. I have them too.

Acoustically treated room

My first concern was whether it met his expectations of an acoustically treated room. I could only read satisfaction from the slight smile. Without much more conversation, we are sitting in Karel's burrow, and a comfortable silence surrounds us. The sounds of the city are no longer disturbing us, now more important things come up.

Construction

Karel describes to me how he got the spreader bars, measured the space and chose the appropriate acoustic blankets for all four sides VB76-G Acoustic blanket 200x300cm and for the ceiling the shorter VB70G Acoustic blanket White/Black 200 x 200cm. All simply clamped to the spacers.

I don't often go to churches, but to lean over and see such a beautiful ceiling moves you. At that moment, the concept of a party burrow disappears from my mind – perhaps a monastery is more appropriate. 

Conclusion

Karel loves survival games and in such a silent monastery this genre of game excels best. It's not for nothing that our friends say, "Don't run in the woods late at night when there are zombies everywhere!"  

I am Jan Štumpa,
video producer
Watch my show on youtube:plný kufr
www.filmambo.cz

Check out VocalBoothToGo.EU's acoustic blankets if you're disturbed by your surroundings and want some peace and quiet to play survival games.

Dear Customers, If the grommets you find on each acoustic blanket are not enough for you, you can order additional grommets on our website, directly in the product details, before you add it to your cart.

You can choose to add grommets to the longer side, for example, or from one of the following options:

• on the longer side on the right
• on the longer side on the left
• on the underside of the blanket
• 1x grommet on the bottom right side
• 1x grommet on the bottom left side
• 1x on the right and 1x on the left bottom side
• add grommets on ALL sides

If you would like to add grommets for hanging in any other way, please email us at:

support@vocalboothtogo.eu

When adding grommets, imagine you are looking at a hanging acoustic blanket with the black side facing you and select where you want to add the grommets and the number of grommets in the product details. (All acoustic blankets come with 8 grommets on the top 2 metres side from the factory and only the SB-VG has 5 grommets + Velcro on the SB-VG)

We will modify the acoustic blanket within 2. working days and send it with new grommets immediatelly.

We add grommets to these blankets:

VB70-G, VB71-G, VB72-G, VB73-G, VB76-G, VB77G

Click on the name of the blanket to go to the website. To add grommets, click on the question mark on the web next to each blanket.

1. Video microphones:

The best and most popular classic video microphones include the Rode VideoMic Pro and Shure VP83, Rode NTG, Rode VideoMic Pro +.

This type of microphone is commonly used by attaching it to a video device such as a DLSR camera, and because it has special damping, it does not transmit vibrations to the recorded audio. These vibrations are generated in the camera (when focusing, zooming) or when the camera moves.

In addition, thanks to the ability of some models to amplify the sound up to +20dB, you can reduce the volume of the camera's internal amplifier to -12dB for better sound without noise, and if the microphone includes a -10dB attenuation cell, you can record even very loud sound sources such as musical performances. The above features are of course not available in cheaper types of video microphones such as the Rode VideoMic GO or other equivalents.

This type of microphone is suitable for a camera that moves when you are shooting a Vlog, a trip with friends, or a musical performance, etc.

However, these microphones can be just as good when used on a stand. You can place the microphone on a stand out of the shot, or entrust it to a microphone technician who will have it on a pole, or you can have this microphone in the studio directly on camera, but it is important that the microphone is no more than 60 cm away from you, then you can hear a lot of echo in the room or the sound is without dynamics.

So a video microphone has many uses, until you think it's good for everything, but it's not. It can be placed on a stand, but to get sound out of this microphone from a greater distance from the camera, you need a very well shielded cable because the microphone doesn't have a symmetrical output and therefore different sounds can be packed onto the cable. This microphone is also quite heavy. You need to change the batteries occasionally, it's not waterproof and so on, but it's not made for a pole or studio operator. There are other microphones for that, such as shotgun microphones with a cancellation tube or cardioid to hypercardioid pencil microphones, but we'll talk about those later, now comes the lavalier microphones.

2. Lavalier microphones:

Lavaliel microphones: are probably the most famous microphones for video recording, you can meet them almost everywhere, because you just need to pin this microphone on your clothes, attach it somewhere, etc.

Lavaliel microphones are condenser or electret microphones and basically come in two versions, namely omnidirectional and directional (mostly cardioid).

In the heavy majority of cases, you will encounter an omnidirectional variant, such as the DPA 4060 or the Sennheiser MEII. The omnidirectional microphone is mostly used because it can be placed in any direction, for example upside down, and still pick up sound nicely, it is also more resistant to touch and very easy to hide as it can be made in very small sizes..

A directional lavaliel microphone like the DPA 4080 is used when shooting in a room with a lot of echo that you need to eliminate. They are also often used by sound engineers on stage because they are more resistant to feedback and also better at eliminating ambient noise. Unfortunately, because they are directional, you have to place them towards your mouth and they are also quite large and don't hide much.

Everyone starts with a lavaliel microphone, whether directional or omnidirectional, because it can be bought for a few euro and connected directly to a DSLR, mirrorless camera, mobile phone or even a large camera if you have the right type and accessories.

After a while though, you'll find that every time you look at yourself, there's some big black unsightly thing in the recorded video, and you'll also find that if you have a plain t-shirt, there's nowhere to put the microphone.

The solution may be to purchase another professional small lavaliel microphone that is not so visible, and even such a small microphone can be hidden under a t-shirt or elsewhere using the right technique, which is especially useful for filmmakers or those who want to have a video where the microphone is not visible.

A TIP to get you started is: If you're recording or planning to record in a studio where you won't be moving in front of the camera, get an Audio-Technica AT 2031 or Rode VideoMic Pro cardioid pencil microphone to place on a stand just above your head out of the shot, plus a Saramonic SmartRig+ universal amplifier to connect the microphone directly to your camera, recording device or phone, and of course buy some cables and a stand. This one will save you a lot of time, you won't have a microphone hanging out anywhere and it just looks the best.

3. Pencil microphones (small diaphragms):

You may be thinking, why use pencil microphones? They're called that because they look like a pencil, are thin, short, have a smaller diaphragm than traditional studio microphones, and are made for a variety of uses, from capturing the voice inside to capturing musical instruments of all kinds.

Pencil microphone is especially suitable for indoor VIDEO recording, very good microphones are for example Audio Technica AT4053b, Audix SCX1HC, Neuman KM185, Oktava MK-012 and many others. These microphones are again condenser only and for our purposes are used with a directional characteristic of cardioid to hypercardioid.

Pencil microphones with a cardioid characteristic are suitable for an equipped office room, studio or living room etc. in most cases the pencil microphone is held out of the shot, just above the head to be as close as possible but not visible in the shot. This is useful for filming dialogue indoors. 

These microphones are not really used for filming outdoors, the so-called shotgun microphones are used for that.

Such a suitable small-diaphragm cardioid condenser microphone can be the VBM-90 directly from our company VocalBoothToGo.

This microphone was designed primarily for voice capture during VoiceOver recording and will be used especially by people who travel frequently and use or would like to use portable vocal booth VOMO, which is convenient because it is small, but can also be used in a home studio or on a microphone arm on a table.

The microphone is a lightweight condenser design with a small gold-plated diaphragm and cardioid directional characteristic, the VBM-90 microphone provides excellent sound quality, low noise and eliminates ambient noise very well.

More details about the microphone can be found directly on this page: click here.

4. Shotgun microphones:

Shotgun microphones are microphones that use a so-called interference tube. It is basically a pencil microphone to which this tube has been added, and thanks to this element, the directional characteristic of the microphone narrows significantly and the microphone subsequently picks up sound mainly from the front.

Then it depends on how long the tube is, the longer it is so the more directional the microphone is, it picks up a lower angle and better eliminates sounds that are not coming from the front of the microphone.

Shotgun microphones are such as RODE NTG 2, 3 and 4 or Sennheiser MKE 600, MKH 416, DPA 4017 B and many others.

Shotgun microphones are not really suitable to use everywhere, they are especially suitable for recording outdoors, I am telling you this because this type of microphone is not very suitable for a small room with a lot of echo, because when you use this microphone in a room with a lot of echo, there can be unwanted phase shifts of the sound inside the intervention tube and the resulting recording can be distorted, but in most cases there is absolutely no problem to use a shotgun microphone inside.

However, if you want to be 100 % sure it is better for small spaces with a lot of echo to use pencil small-diaphragm microphones with a super or hyper-cardioid directional characteristic, such as the Audio Technica AT4053b, and use a shotgun microphone outside, such as on the Sennheiser MKH 416.

5. Reporter microphones:

This type is also indispensable for shooting videos, here include long omnidirectional microphones such as Electro-Voice RE 50 N/D-B or RODE – Reporter and classic cardioid microphones such as Sennheiser e-835 or Audix OM-3

Both types of reporter dynamic microphones (omnidirectional/cardioid) do not need any voltage to operate, just plug them in and they will work, but unfortunately dynamic microphones have only a very weak signal and you need to use a strong preamplifier to amplify this signal.You can do this, for example, with a Sara amplifier.

Saramonic Smart Rig+ which is suitable for mobile phones and cameras, or if you have a large camera with XLR input, it should have a strong enough preamplifier. Alternatively, you can use a wireless audio transmission system that has its own preamplifiers.

So where we could use the omnidirectional and where to use the cardioid reporter's DYNAMIC microphone?

Omnidirectional microphones like the EV RE 50 are suitable for most most reporting jobs, because they are adapted for that, they have a longer handle, integrated great wind protection, they are very well shockproof and thanks to the omnidirectional characteristic you don't have to keep them exactly in front of your mouth, because they pick up all the sound nicely nearby, on the other hand, because they are omnidirectional they are not suitable for noisy environments at all.

Directional (cardioid) microphones like the Sennheiser e-835 are microphones that are designed more for singing, they have a short handle and are very insensitive and very directional, so you have to speak into them accurately and when you're doing an interview you have to be very careful that the microphone is in the right place, on the other hand thanks to this you can use a directional handheld microphone even in very noisy environments, but these microphones are not very windproof without additional protection.

But there are exceptions, such as the Sennheiser MD 46, which is directional but has been made to have the best features for reportage work. It's more windproof thanks to thicker foam, touch resistant and has a long handle so it's easier to hold, unfortunately it doesn't have a smokeless magnet so it's not as sensitive as the RE 50 N/D-B but if you need a directional reporter microphone with an XLR connector more suited to noisier environments the MD 46 is the obvious choice.

6. Large diaphragm studio microphones:

This type of microphone comes in condenser or dynamic designs and can be seen exclusively in the studio to complement video. They are also used in radio, or for recording computer desktops, webinars or commenting on games, in a word they are used on VoiceOver.

The microphones that are used are dynamic microphones such as Shure SM7b, Electro-Voice RE20, Heil Sound PR 40.

Or condenser: AKG C414, RODE NT1-A, Neuman TLM 49 and many others.

Dynamic large diaphragm studio microphone:

The most important thing to note with this microphone is that the dynamic microphone for VoiceOver is very low sensitivity and this is because it can speak into it from very close proximity which makes it suitable for very noisy environments, and therefore you can record very high quality sound even in a room where the acoustics are not well designed, by example by acoustic blankets or if the studio is next to a noisier street, you'll still be perfectly audible and there won't be any distracting noises in the background, provided of course that you have a microphone right next to your mouth and speak loud enough.

Condenser large diaphragm studio microphone:

You should choose this for VoiceOver when you want the best natural sound quality, a bit of freedom and to be further away from the microphone, this is useful when you are recording audio books, ADR, coaxing cartoon characters out of a monitor, webinars or something similar, but here you have to be careful as the large diaphragm condenser VoiceOver microphone is very sensitive and not very directional, so it will not only pick up your voice, but also the room acoustics and most of the surrounding louder sounds, so it's good to be as quiet as possible when recording with such a microphone, also the room must not have too much echo like a half empty office which can be solved by acoustic blankets or you might as well lock yourself into acoustic vocal booth. Most people probably don't like having their face stuck to the microphone, which is why very sensitive condenser large diaphragm microphones are available, but it takes its toll.

Voice Over and microphones in general:

It is not necessary to use only large diaphragm microphones for VoiceOver, if you own any other high quality microphone, such as a condenser pencil microphone, video microphone, lavalier microphone or dynamic microphone, you can safely use these microphones to record basic VoiceOver to complement your video, They may not have as nice a balanced voice presentation as studio large diaphragm microphones, but if you place a strong enough and pop-worthy filter on them to prevent your breath from hitting the diaphragm, the sound will be usable without a problem.

Also remember that good room acoustics are very important for VoiceOver, you can use for this acoustic blankets or completely shut it down for some acoustic vocal booths. 

If you're after complete soundproofing, there are also sound proof booth.

And if you like to travel and want to record you can use the travel version VOMO portable booth.

As Christmas is slowly approaching, we'd like to let you know what services we can offer you until the end of 2025 and when we'll be able to send parcels again.

From 19 to 23 December (Th-Mon): we are at work, ready to take your orders and answer your questions. During this period the shipping companies work normally, they will pick up your package without any changes, but keep in mind that there is a different shipping time for each country, here are the details:

From 26 to 30 December (Th-Mon): we are at work, ready to take your orders and answer your questions. During this period shipping companies work normally, they will pick up your package.

02.01.25 (Thursday): Normal company operations again, just like you're used to. The shipping company will pick up your order, in our warehouse. we are at work, ready to receive your orders and answer your questions.

Most of the time when you come to your clients or shooting on location there is terrible space for recording sound, but now you can take solution with you and easly make shooting space good for recording sound with VB2GO sound blankets.

Don't forget that most important for recording good audio on location is reduce reverberation of the room and VB2GO sound blankets (acoustic blankets) are most effective way how to reduce reverberation of the room easy and for best value.

You can choose between couple of sizes and colours:

Most buy sound blankets by film makers are VB72G just click here to check details...

Biggest size of sound blankets is VB76G & VB77G with size 300cm x 200cm for more details just click here...

To check all sizes, colours and types go to sound blanket shop category just by click here...

[NOW 10% DISCOUNT, but only for the period 01-14.06.22]

We are sending goods around the world

(BUT we have couple of branch with own warehouses SO)

if you are from EUROPE is best for you buy sound blankets and other stuff from VocalBoothToGo.EU
If you are from US if best for you buying from VocalBoothToGo.com
And if you are from UK is best for you buying from VocalBoothToGo.co.uk

For more information about sound blankets and testimonials check description of any sound blanket like most sell in EU acoustic blanket VB72G so just click here...

If you have any other questions don't hesitate to contact us on email: support@vocalboothtogo.eu

To shop all types of VocalBoothToGo sound blankets just click here and check all sizes and colours.

We answer your questions every working day (MON-FRI) from 8:00 to 17:00h except bank holidays.

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