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Re: Question on sound booths
Title: Re: Question on sound booths
Dear Leo,
I have specified and acquired two acoustic booths (one for University of Surrey and a larger one for King’s College London). In both cases we bought our booths from Esmono (a Dutch company, http://www.esmono.nl/index.asp?ADID=119) who shipped modular wall panels to London and installed the booth in location. Here are several points (in no particular order of importance) which come to my mind:
* There are two types of booths in general: single-walled and double-walled. If external noise is a problem go for the double-walled version.
* Dimensions of the booth. Make sure that you don’t have standing waves in the booth. Although it is not directly related, ITU-R.BS.1116-1 may be useful as a starting point.
* Floor material and its mechanical insulation. Typically they use carpet over wooden boards and the wooden boards can cause creaky sounds.
* Lighting inside the booth. ‘Energy-saving’ light bulbs (compact fluorescent light bulbs) will cause more electrical noise than incandescent light bulbs (which unfortunately are currently being phased out in the UK, and will be phased out in the US before 2014, so you may consider stocking ;)).
* Power supply. Needless to say this perhaps, but the total wattage provided by the power outlets in the booth should be greater than the total power requirements of the instruments (loudspeakers, projectors, audio I/O units etc.) you plan to use inside the booth. Also, having a separate electrical ground for the booth would help to prevent noise from other electrical instruments connected to the same ground.
* Ventilation. This is a tricky issue as no matter how ‘quiet’ the ventilation units, they will produce noise.
* Window or no window. For subjective tests involving visual monitoring of the subject(s) this may come in handy. However, it will cause acoustical problems. It may also be a good idea to position a video camera inside the booth for monitoring purposes.
* Data I/O. The booth in University of Surrey has a single large hole to pass many audio and video cables, while the one at King’s College London has several small holes. By experience I find that it is better to have several small holes instead of a large single hole in order to minimise external noise entering the booth.
Best,
Huseyin
--
Huseyin Hacihabiboglu, Ph.D.
Centre for Digital Signal Processing Research (CDSPR)
King’s College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS
T: +44 (0)20 7848 1857 | F: +44 (0)20 7848 2932 | V: husshho (skype)
W: http://www.hacihabiboglu.org
On 29/06/2010 05:18, "AUDITORY automatic digest system" <LISTSERV@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:08:45 -0700
> From: Leonid Litvak <lmlitvak@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Question on sound booths
>
> --0016e649d84add4cc0048a1f3319
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> Dear List,
>
> We are considering two different sound booth manufacturers available in the
> California area. Both are offering the booths of comparable size and
> nominally same specs, but with very different prices attached to them. Does
> anyone have experience in ordering booths? How do we choose? Anything in
> particular to watch for besides the specs?
>
> Thanks a lot!
>
> Leo