Why does nobody talk about the noise floor in small studios?

I keep seeing people post these backyard studio builds where they cram in a bunch of gear but ignore the ambient noise. Last month my neighbor started mowing his lawn and I picked up a whole conversation through my mic even with the door shut. I checked with a decibel meter app and my room was at 45 dB constant from a fridge in the garage. If you don't treat the room for background noise first, you are just polishing a turd. Has anyone else had to redo their setup after realizing how much the hum level matters?

2 comments

2 Comments

charles_henderson14d ago

So are you saying 45 dB is the point where everything falls apart for you?

tessawebb14d ago

Wait, has anyone actually measured their room with a proper SPL meter instead of a phone app? I did that whole thing backwards. Spent a year building up gear. Good mics, nice preamps, the works. Then I moved into a new place and found out my apartment sits right above a subway line. Ground shakes every 8 minutes. My whole setup was useless for recording quiet stuff. Had to sell half my gear just to afford those IsoAcoustic stands and a portable vocal booth. The mic still picks up rumbles during rush hour. Now I record vocals at 2 AM when the trains stop. Learned my lesson hard.