Mini Home Theater

Soundproof Booths

Soundproof Booths

Restaurant Acoustics

Have you ever been inside of a crowded restaurant sitting at a table with your wife or girlfriend only to find out that you could not hear a word she was saying because the acoustics in the restaurant were so poor? Most restaurants employ hard surface areas throughout in order to easily keep the establishment clean and healthy. The problem with all the clean hard surfaces is that they reflect the sound. In other words, the sound bounces around the room making it difficult he understand what the person at your own table is saying, but instead clearly hearing the lady 5 tables away from you.

Restaurant acoustics are generally horrible. Here you are taking the lady you love out for your anniversary and paying at least $50 per plate and you can’t even carry on a conversation with her. Many restaurants are losing business because they don’t know the first thing about acoustics. There are many thing that restaurant owners and managers can do to make the room much more pleasant for their patrons.

These dining areas need to be acoustically treated or absorbent materials are needed to absorb the reflective noise in the restaurant. When furnishing a new restaurant, it is always best to add fabric covered chairs and booth seating because fabrics absorb the sound. The same goes for bar stools and lounge chairs and couches. Use fabric covered furnishings whenever possible. Here’s a handy trick for tuning up the acoustics in a restaurant. There is a product on the market now called Echoless Roll material. This is a bonded acoustical cotton roll material that has a black neutral fabric facing on one side. Not a very appealing look for an up scale restaurant, but here’s the trick.

 Take your tables and chairs and glue this Echoless roll material to the bottoms of both the chairs and tables where none of the patrons will be able to see this material. The Echoless roll can also be glued to the underside of the bar and bar stools or to the underside of any of the furnishings in the establishment where noise reflection is an issue. This material strategically placed can actually reduce the amount of reflective noise by at least 50% to 65%. The more of it you are able to use in the restaurant, the better your sound absorption will be. You can dramatically lower reverb times and increase speech intelligibility to the point where a normal conversation can take place in a very crowded eatery.

The Echoless roll material is available through Soundproofing America Inc. and is a very economical and low cost solution to the problem of noisy restaurants. There are many other options to improve restaurant acoustics, for more information go to www.soundproofingamerica.com or www.yahoosoundproofing.com Until next time, this is Dr. Bob…Out!!

What is the best way to build a cheap recording booth?

This is purely for vocal recording. I was thinking about building a plywood booth in my basebent. Insulating the ceiling and putting blankets off of the walls. I just really don't have the money for studio foam. But I want to make it as soundproofed as possible so I can record late without waking roomates. Hence a booth instead of the room itself.

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Porta-booth - Portable Sound Studio with Two Compression Sacs Sale Price: $149.00   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days See Reviews For This Product Description This is the acclaimed Harlan Hogan Porta-Booth ®, praised by voice talents, musicians, movie soundmen and audio engineers alike. His Internet article provides simple instructions on how to build your own Porta-Booth. However, after many requests he's arranged to have a limited number of professionally-made booths manufactured. This version includes two rugged Compression Sacs to shrink the acoustic foam for easy packing.Microphone not included, we recommend the VO: 1-A. "Professional studios aren't always affordable or available. I've found Mr, Hogan's Porta-Booth to be a practical solution than sounds great!" Peter Clark, VO:A note from Harlan: Over the years my stopwatches have become so prevalent in recording studios that several engineer's tell me they call them: "The Harlan." Who's got the Harlan? Where's the Harlan? So I had a sense of deja vu when I received this email from change strategist Kristine Oller: "I've discovered that, in my circles, your fabulous Porta-Booth product is now referred to as a 'Harlan box'... as in: 'You need to get yourself a Harlan box.' Dunno how that caught on but it has!" I Feel like Yogi Berra - "It's déjà vu all over again" Features "Harlan Hogan's Porta-Booth ® helps reduce the 'boomy-ness' that's typical of recording in offices and hotel rooms." Hart Schafer, Adobe Audio This Deluxe Porta-Booth includes two rugged Compression Sacks which shrinks the Acoustic Foam for travel. "This is a seriously cool idea - If you can't shield the room itself - then shield the mic from the room - Cheers!" Alexander Davis, Dreamseed

Welch Allyn AM232 Patch Cord Model (23221) List Price: $42.12 Sale Price: $32.98 You save: $9.14 (22%)   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 4-5 business days See Reviews For This Product Description The Welch Allyn AM232 Patch Cord Model (23221) enables testing in sound-proof booths. Features Patch cord enables testing in sound-proof booths. For use with Welch Allyn Models: AM232/TM262

Acoustic Wall Tile 2" x 12" x 12" (UL 94) Box of 16 Sale Price: $59.39   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days See Reviews For This Product Description Our acoustic wall tiles are designed to trap and deflect sound energy. They are made of open cell polyester foam that's flame retardant in accordance with UL 94 HF-1 flammability testing. The design is very pleasing to the eye while offering outstanding sound absorption qualities making them the perfect solution for rehearsal studios, auditoriums, home theaters, broadcast booths, and more. Practical one square foot tile size can be easily installed in any size room with spray adhesive, double sided tape, contact cement, or glue/caulk. Tile size is 12" x 12" x 2". Sold in cases of (16) 12" x 12" x 2" tiles (16 sq. ft./4 ft. x 4 ft. coverage area per case.) Charcoal gray color. Features Designed to trap and deflect sound energy Made of open cell polyester foam that's flame retardant in accordance with UL 94 HF-1 flammability testing The design is very pleasing to the eye while offering outstanding sound absorption qualities The perfect solution for rehearsal studios, auditoriums, home theaters, broadcast booths, and more Practical one square foot tile size can be easily installed in any size room with spray adhesive, double sided tape