Radio World publishes User Reports on products in various equipment classes throughout the year to help potential buyers understand why a colleague made a given equipment choice. These are unpaid testimonials by users who have already purchased the gear. A Radio World Product Evaluation, by contrast, is a freelance article by a paid reviewer who typically receives a demo loaner.
The author is instructor of Radio, Television, Broadcast News at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.
CALGARY, Alberta — The “studio” we were using at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology to do commercial voice-overs had a large ventilation fan in the ceiling, along with a couple of computers humming in the background. Not really the ideal setting for voicing.
After several attempts at fixing the vents and enclosing the computers, we found out about a WhisperRoom portable sound isolation enclosure on campus. Someone was using it for corporate video narration.
After a quick demo, I knew it was the answer we were looking for. We purchased a WhisperRoom and could not believe the quality of the voice-overs the first day we used it. This has turned out to be a very cost-effective purchase.
Our students use it for broadcasting. Our campus station is radio.sait.ca and everything that is on the station our students write, voice and produce. Almost all of the voiceovers on the station are done in the WhisperRoom. Our students also now do projects for “Crimestoppers,” and those PSAs run on our local commercial radio stations in this city.
The booth is extremely professional, and with the Neumann TLM-103 mic in there, it sounds amazing, even with the ventilation fan running. I do miss the sound of voicing in a larger room, but when you are faced with the problems we had in our situation, the WhisperRoom was the answer.
The enclosure has been easy to put together, take apart and put back together (because of renovations and moving the WhisperRoom, we’ve done it three times). It’s basically a 4-by-6-foot soundproof shed. It has a door and a large window for communication. The Velcro-attached Auralex acoustical foam panels can be placed throughout the interior for improved sound dampening.
It is heavy; a single person can’t handle it alone. Optional casters would help solve that problem.
When industry professionals come in for a tour of our new facilities, they comment on how they wish they had one of these and always ask how good they are. For a college teaching radio, for a radio station needing a voice booth, for someone wanting a home studio, it’s perfect. I recommend it highly.
For information, contact WhisperRoom in Tennessee at (423) 585-5827 or visitwww.whisperoom.com.
