Iso Cab - Closet- Room guys question

[Kapo_Polenton]

How big is your housing to isolate your cab? I'm trying to understand the science behind this and I know the smaller ones create too much pressure. There needs to be some way for air pressure to dissipate. Are closets good if treated properly? I've seen people bury cabs in clothes and blankets in closets and most come to the conclusion that it's boxy. There has to be space around the cab. I am thinking that the open height of something closet size is probably enough if walls / door are treated. Am I wrong? Am I better off with gobos in a larger room like a 7 x 10 foot print? Only issue there is that it will open to another space and not be isolated. My goal would be sit at my board and hear the mics through the monitors. ( even with some rumble from the isolated area)

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

I did find this thread...https://www.rig-talk.com/forum/threads/looking-for-advice-building-an-isolated-space-to-crank-amp.271156/#post-3300472

The space I am building will be done staggered framing already and built with the best intent of keeping volume down , not completely silent. That I know is a fool's endeavor In home studios without having Russian doll room in room in another room etc..

 

[Arch Stanton]

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Tiny.. one thing I definitely hear is the diff between a 1x12 compared to a 2x12 or 4x12.

 

[nightlight]

I got decent results with a Rivera Silent Sister cabinet. Keeps the volume low, and the tone isn’t too shabby.

https://on.soundcloud.com/ecSNvZnPXKQ6yASb6

Keep in mind that I’m not much use with recording guitars so you may get better or worse results.

 

[paulyc]

I have the Rivera Silent Sister as well, inside a ”soundproof” closet in the basement, and if the amp is cranked it’s still way too loud.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

I'm starting to think the way to go is just to use the attenuator on my Reload down to 50-60% and use something like clearsonic amp booth or gobos for the rest. As my space is gonna be built with 5/8 drywall and most of the fixins, it should keep sound controlled for rest of house but probably will still be too loud for me to just play with the mic'd signal coming through monitors. In home project studios, there is always going to be concessions..

 

[Soundstorm]

I have a Box of Doom iso box for sale if interested. I'd do $900 shipped. They're very well made. Though be aware all iso boxes will leak some low frequencies, so where you place them is also key.

 

[analogsystem]

Iso rooms, even closets are gonna be better than iso cabs in my limited experience. I am quite happy with a reactive load box and the latest York greenback 4x12 IR (scott henderson version). I think it sounds better than micing at home for most things.

 

[stratjacket]

I have a friend that is very good at woodworking, he builds canoes and all sorts of things. Several years ago I bought the materials and he built an iso cab for me. I don’t remember the exact dimensions, but it wasn’t very difficult to build. I recall it was built roughly like:
- the inside had 4 inch foam covering every part
- had a hole in the back to feed cable
- the front door had Velcro on the edges to push it closed and tight
- it had about 3 inches from the top of the cab to the top foam
- it had enough room to fit about 2 1/2 cabs (only used 1 of course), which gave enough room for mic’ing
He built it out of oak and it was heavy as shit.

It worked really well and could have it in the same room. But it wasn’t silent, could still hear some sound coming through. In the end I very seldom used it, it became a space hog in my studio and I eventually sold it for pennies on Craigslist.

I think if you lined the closet with 4 or 6 inches of fiberglass covering every wall and ceiling and door, that would probably do it. I’d avoid the foam.

https://www.acoustimac.com/acoustic...-insulation/owens-corning-acoustic-insulation

 

[Arch Stanton]

Iso rooms, even closets are gonna be better than iso cabs in my limited experience. I am quite happy with a reactive load box and the latest York greenback 4x12 IR (scott henderson version). I think it sounds better than micing at home for most things.

Yeah, it's like 2024 already.

Last time I recall anyone messing with ISO boxes was 15 years ago.

A reactive load box and a few scores of speaker/mic IR's and you're all set.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Yeah, it's like 2024 already.

Last time I recall anyone messing with ISO boxes was 15 years ago.

A reactive load box and a few scores of speaker/mic IR's and you're all set.

I get that, I've even done impulses of my own speakers / mic combos and they were very close. BUT real mic on good speaker is still king if you ask me. I wanted to get back to that though with my cab m+ and Torpedo Reload, I can quickly get great tones without booting up any software. No complaints, just wanted the real deal again. But I have to think with what I spend on treating/ building out a closet, double door etc, I lose space and the chance at putting money towards other gear.OR treatment for my main console/mixing area and drums.

 

[HarryCooter]

I made a 4x4 moving blanket tent using PVC pipes and put it in a walk-in closet that is roughly 2x the size of the tent. I'm pretty happy with this setup, and prefer the recordings I get from cabs in the tent over the my Suhr loadbox(which I love). It's still pretty loud outside of the closet, but I can't hear it outside my house. I did have some problems with the recordings being boxy at first, but I adjusted cab so it is not parallel to any particular wall or corner and that fixed it. So, if you do go this route and have issues, play with the angle of cab in relation to the walls.

 

[midnightlaundry]

 

[nightlight]

Here's a video of the Silent Sister Iso Cab, with a few years more experience on trying to mic the damn thing.



Advise listening on headphones, as the volume is really low.

If you can go the Iso Room route, look into the possibility of getting one of those Clearsonic Drum Iso Booths. They cut down the perceived volume of what is being played by about 50%. I had some good results with them when recording in some really touchy neighbourhoods.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Here's a video of the Silent Sister Iso Cab, with a few years more experience on trying to mic the damn thing.



Advise listening on headphones, as the volume is really low.

If you can go the Iso Room route, look into the possibility of getting one of those Clearsonic Drum Iso Booths. They cut down the perceived volume of what is being played by about 50%. I had some good results with them when recording in some really touchy neighbourhoods.

Clearsonic stuff does interest me and I know Pete Thorn uses one for his live room BUT the cost of those things? for the drum iso booths it's crazy.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

View attachment 279629

This probably worked alright because air can escape between the cushions..

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

I made a 4x4 moving blanket tent using PVC pipes and put it in a walk-in closet that is roughly 2x the size of the tent. I'm pretty happy with this setup, and prefer the recordings I get from cabs in the tent over the my Suhr loadbox(which I love). It's still pretty loud outside of the closet, but I can't hear it outside my house. I did have some problems with the recordings being boxy at first, but I adjusted cab so it is not parallel to any particular wall or corner and that fixed it. So, if you do go this route and have issues, play with the angle of cab in relation to the walls.

Assuming you just turned your cab 45 degrees to cut the parallel wall.. interesting.

 

[nightlight]

Clearsonic stuff does interest me and I know Pete Thorn uses one for his live room BUT the cost of those things? for the drum iso booths it's crazy.

Yeah, costs an arm and a leg, but it gives you a large-ish space in which to mic up your cabinet. I was lucky to get a set used, but haven't been able to set it up in my current house due to space issues. But it was great when I was able to use it, allows you to crank up an amp to a decent level without police/neighbour complaints. Another pro is that it can be dismantled and moved around, which is what allowed me to keep it in storage. It'll also be a fraction of the cost of a purpose built space. However, if you have the money, a purpose built space is what I would aim for.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Yeah, costs an arm and a leg, but it gives you a large-ish space in which to mic up your cabinet. I was lucky to get a set used, but haven't been able to set it up in my current house due to space issues. But it was great when I was able to use it, allows you to crank up an amp to a decent level without police/neighbour complaints. Another pro is that it can be dismantled and moved around, which is what allowed me to keep it in storage. It'll also be a fraction of the cost of a purpose built space. However, if you have the money, a purpose built space is what I would aim for.

I'm going to do the math on that because wood studs, insulation, drywall, double door... it might come out about the same depending on the size of the vault room I build. If it is build into a closet, I think I could do it for half the cost of a clearsonic but you are right, the convenience of rip down and set up is nice.