Anyone use or tried out Acoustic Systems Modular Studios?

[The MPCist]

I've found a super nice high class penthouse with a great skyline view -- only thing is that the owners wouldn't go for me gutting out the whole place to build a studio....

So this got me thinking about modular studios... Has anyone used this:

http://www.acousticsystems.com

I'm interested but before flying over to texas to check it out, I thought I'd run the idea by you guys and see what you guys think....

I guess I'm hoping that some of ya have either used one or know about it.....

[Ethan Winer]

MP,

> the owners wouldn't go for me gutting out the whole place to build a studio <

Are you concerned more about sound isolation in and out of the room, or sound quality inside the room? If you need isolation a booth of some sort might help, but don't expect to record a loud drummer at 2:00 in the morning and not get a visit from the cops. If your main concern is sound quality inside the room a booth is not useful. For that you'll do better with acoustic treatment that can be mounted with minimal wall damage or on stands.

--Ethan

[djui5]

mcpist,
I haven't used either your product or the one's in the link below, but thought you might like to take a look at these..........



http://www.evenfalla.com/

[The MPCist]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

MP,

> the owners wouldn't go for me gutting out the whole place to build a studio <

Are you concerned more about sound isolation in and out of the room, or sound quality inside the room? If you need isolation a booth of some sort might help, but don't expect to record a loud drummer at 2:00 in the morning and not get a visit from the cops. If your main concern is sound quality inside the room a booth is not useful. For that you'll do better with acoustic treatment that can be mounted with minimal wall damage or on stands.

--Ethan

It's not a booth that I'm interested in.. It's a control room that can allow me to mix anytime of day without neighbors banging on the door... and believe me, in a high class building, that would be very important! Just to mount acoustic treatment on the walls would not help much.

The reason is that I noticed Acoustic Systems also made large sized control rooms that are modular and so I was curious as to its effectiveness and if any GS'ers were using them....

Or if any GS'ers have tried them out at a pro audio show.....? I'm sure that would be an acid test of some sort -- to isolate from the noise of the show!

[Saudade]

I've had an email correspondence/product enquiry with one of their rival manufacturers some time back. The 1st thing they asked is which storey my unit was on/ type of building (industrial,commercial,residential).

Turns out that this type of isolation enclosures (made of thick steel walls) are seriously HEAVY, so they have some weight/sq inch specs to work within.

You might want to consider those less heavy enclosure types made with wood (MDF?) stuff for your penthouse....

[The MPCist]

Originally Posted by Saudade

I've had an email correspondence/product enquiry with one of their rival manufacturers some time back. The 1st thing they asked is which storey my unit was on/ type of building (industrial,commercial,residential).

Turns out that this type of isolation enclosures (made of thick steel walls) are seriously HEAVY, so they have some weight/sq inch specs to work within.

You might want to consider those less heavy enclosure types made with wood (MDF?) stuff for your penthouse....

Heavy sounds good! This is a twenty-some storey steel structure commercial-grade that wouldn't have that much problem in that dept.....

What brand was it?

[7rojo7]

just build something inside of what already exists, take it away when you leave.

[Ethan Winer]

MP,

> It's a control room that can allow me to mix anytime of day without neighbors banging on the door <

Unfortunately, that is very difficult to achieve - and very expensive.

--Ethan

[NoiseToys]

I searched for a quality enclosure for when I added a aux. post/VO room in an existing condo. I wasn't concerned about mixing as much as I was about having a reasonble booth... Here's how it went...

After research into every booth I could find I narrowed down my search. My criteria was probably a bit more stringent since I was using it as a recording booth. In otherwords I needed to exclude outside sound rather than just attenuate sound from within. I think if you're mixing and still have leakage if it falls within normal residential parameters you'd probably be ok???? Anywho... I found Acoustic Systems at NAB and was very impressed with their product. Build quality far surpassed anything I had seen up to that point or since. They had nice options such as glass doors that made the booth seem less box-like. and their rejection was very very nice. Inside treatment options knocked out reflections that most booths seem to fight. I liked it a lot and even know these are pricey I made my decision to go with that booth... until I DIDN'T buy it... Because... customer service was TERRIBLE... and I'm running a business.

It was a little difficult on the floor of NAB to get someones attention to walk me through the specs... no big surprise being NAB. But what followed blew me away. Here's a guy wanting to order an expensive booth (at least to my standards $20,000 is pricey) AND NO ONE WOULD RETURN MY PHONE CALLS. The guy at NAB who gave me his card would not return my calls after several messages on his voice mail. Calling the main line and describing what I was interested in to the operator got me back to the same guy (more messages) or to some other department that had no idea what I was talking about. It blew me away. So after many messages I decided I didn't want to work any harder as a customer... it made me wonder what would have happened if I actually sent them $$$... I was very surprised.

Bottom line.

I ended going with a Whisper Room. It was about $13000 for a 6'x8'... It came in about 75 boxes and was a monster to put together because of the weight and quantity of parts...however once it was together it was done. As a recording booth it's not ideally quiet (hence "whisper" I guess) ... but it gets the job done. It really doesn't do a stellar job of isolating sounds from outside the box... but we have it in its own room which helps a lot. Low frequencies can be a problem but the only way to kill those would be more mass. We have the enhanced version. The people at whisper room were very helpful, nice and attentive. (they even returned calls right away if someone wasn't there to help immediately)

It sounds like a solution for you if you can handle the $$$$$$ - you would need a bigger booth for sure if you're planning to mix. Another nice thing is they are expandable... so if tou decide you want to increase the size it is just an add on instead of a complete replacement.. we will definitely find another use for it when the time comes.

That being said...

If you are in a place with any ability to build. Uboats, 2x4s, particle board, drywall, isulation... will take you a long way for a lot less money...

Good luck!

[NoiseToys]

The quality of Acoustic Systems was really nice... service killed the for me...
Whisperroom... not as good - but it worked...

and I wanted to add to the comments on weight... AS is very very heavy (why it works so well) MAKE SURE you're cool...

[The MPCist]

Thanks for the info! I'm still considering whether or not to just buy the damn place and put a permanent studio up in it...... seems like it would be alot easier....

[Saudade]

Originally Posted by The MPCist

Heavy sounds good! This is a twenty-some storey steel structure commercial-grade that wouldn't have that much problem in that dept.....

What brand was it?

It was from Wenger:

http://www.wengercorp.com/web/main.html

Look under acoustical products, V-room.

During my research at that time I was also in contact with my local dealer for the German made Studiobox:

http://www.studiobox.de/

This is the one I have been actually inside the booth itself. The ceiling's kinda low. Oh, but its made of wood....


If you want to get something modular you should google around, there seems to be more manufacturers getting into this. Even Yamaha is selling one now (only available in Japan, and its more like a vocal booth thingy).

The main advantage (besides the steel materials) of the Wenger and AS is that they offer custom heights for your booths....

Good luck and do post some pics/report if you get one!

[djui5]

Originally Posted by The MPCist

Thanks for the info! I'm still considering whether or not to just buy the damn place and put a permanent studio up in it...... seems like it would be alot easier....

That saves a lot of hassle.

[The MPCist]

Originally Posted by djui5

That saves a lot of hassle.

Yep, sure it saves a lot of hassle but doesn't save a lot of money!

It's one of those days when you wish you were filthy rich...

[AustinAaron]

FYI:

The picture here: http://www.acousticsystems.com/broadcast.html

is of this studio : http://www.matchbox-studios.com/