Who Is This Article For?
- You're already thinking about buying a "Danbocchi" booth
- You vaguely want a simple soundproof room, but aren't sure what to get
- You're torn between several soundproof-room options
- You want to work mainly as an online voice actor doing home recording
- Ambient noise keeps getting into your recordings
If any of that sounds like you, this might be useful.
If you're even a little interested, please read on.
A Quick Intro to Me and What I Wanted
Me (Sakashita Nanaka)... a home-recording voice actor, a humanities type with a pretty relaxed personality
Want to work from home — voice recording only
I wanted a soundproof room so my family wouldn't know what I was recording, mainly to keep sound from leaking out to them
Also, since I record mostly late at night, I obviously wanted to stop sound from leaking outside the house too
I record alone
I wanted something portable. Setting it up in the second-floor room of a 60-year-old detached house
I wanted to keep the cost as low as possible
I Wanted a Soundproof Room... So What Now? I Looked Into It
- You can buy a soundproof room... rentals exist, often expensive, sometimes with professional installation
- You can buy a simple soundproof booth... several kinds exist, generally starting around ¥100,000
- You can build a simple soundproof booth yourself... there are people online who've built their own (I have huge respect for that)
- Soundproof rooms (even simple ones) are heavy... this matters. Heavier than you'd think. Watch your floor's weight limits
- Sound still leaks... I wanted to check leakage videos for each booth and be convinced before buying
I ended up going with buying a simple soundproof booth and modifying it.
To repeat myself:
- "I don't want my family to know"
- "I record late at night, so I don't want sound leaking outside"
- "I want high-quality recordings with as little noise as possible"
To make all of that happen, I decided a simple soundproof booth was the only way.
Which Simple Soundproof Booth? I Dug Deeper
Searching online for soundproof rooms turns up tons of articles and videos showing how much trial, error, and research other people have put into this.
Those articles and videos are a genuinely valuable resource.
Thanks to them, I was able to gather a lot of information and feel confident before starting my own build.
Everything I write here is built on the wisdom of those who came before me.
Thank you so much.
I especially want to mention two sites that were the most helpful.
If you're researching modified Danbocchi booths, you've probably already run into them.
I have deep respect for these two sites, and my own work builds on them.
Yumesaki Rei
Kikuo
https://kikuosound.tumblr.com/post/145908976694/
Why I Ultimately Chose "Danbocchi"
Spoiling the ending here...
- I chose Danbocchi, and ended up modifying it twice
- Sound absorption got better with each round of modification, but soundproofing... still leaks
If you're in the same room, you can make out every word I say.
After the second round of modifications, someone in the next room over can no longer tell what I'm saying.
Overall, I'm happy with my modified Danbocchi!
I can record just fine, and outside noise is harder to pick up now (though footsteps from inside the house still come through)
Danbocchi Was Originally My Last Choice, out of Three Options
I originally had three candidates for a simple soundproof booth. In order from most to least expensive (which also happened to be my order of preference):
1st Choice: Very-Q
2nd Choice: Light Room
3rd Choice: Danbocchi
I was about 80% decided on Very-Q.
It's a professional-grade product, has a slim shape that doesn't feel out of place in a room, and the reviews from people who own one were solid.
But the price was a serious amount of money for me, so I decided to go see it in person.
I wanted to check the sound leakage too, so I went with a voice-actor friend.
Trying it out in person, I could even use a mic inside it and judge it under close-to-real conditions.
(the mic input was routed to headphones)
After trying it, I thought the Very-Q was a genuinely good product, but not quite what I was looking for.
What bothered me: when assembled, the door doesn't close all the way (I confirmed this with a staff member)
There's no cable pass-through hole, so sound inevitably leaks.
And the interior of the Very-Q isn't really meant to be modified further.
(I asked about modifying it, and apparently the Very-Q is best left as-is)
My top choice fell apart, but I learned a lot from the visit, so it was worth it.
What I realized mattered:
- Having a proper cable pass-through route
- The door closing completely
- Being made of a material that's easy to modify
I also learned that fabric-surfaced products like the Very-Q and Light Room are hard to modify, because double-sided tape doesn't stick well to fabric.
Since the Light Room is fabric, it unfortunately got ruled out here too.
After the showroom visit, Danbocchi became the only option left.
Why Danbocchi Was Originally My Last Choice
The reason Danbocchi was my third choice is that it doesn't hit my target spec without modification!
I also already knew from research beforehand that the modification work would be a hassle and would cost money.
I'm not particularly good with my hands, I'm a bit sloppy, and I only have limited time — there were plenty of reasons to worry...
But despite all that, I decided to take on Danbocchi anyway, fueled by "I want a soundproof room!" and "I'll make the money back through home recording work!"
Chapter 2 - How I modified my used Danbocchi booth (first round of modifications)
Chapter 3 - How I modified my Danbocchi booth again (second round of modifications)