TESTING THE TRI BOOTH

Sick of building unstable pillow forts in your hotel room?

Done doing auditions under duvet covers? 

When (voice) actor Rick Wasserman needed to record on the road, he wanted a portable booth that would travel on a plane without incurring overweight fees.

Such a booth didn’t exist, so he designed one himself. He ordered PVC piping and moving blankets from eBay, and with a bit of DIY, the prototype for the Tri Booth was born. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a start.

Wasserman had no intention of ever selling his contraption to colleagues, until a well-known voice talent saw his booth and made him a surprise offer.

“Perhaps I’m on to something,” said Rick, realizing that his design would need some serious fine-tuning before it was a marketable product. To that end, he teamed up with master audio engineer George Whittam, and together they obsessed over every detail (their words, not mine). 

A few weeks ago, Rick and George launched their perfected product, and I got to try it out.

BUILDING A BOOTH

In essence, the Tri Booth consists of a triangular PVC frame that’s covered by moving blankets. It’s super easy to set up because the plastic poles arrive already connected like tent poles. All you need to do is fit the color coded pieces together, hang up the blankets, and add the optional accessories. Here’s how the Tri Booth arrives:

Inside you’ll find a rolling suitcase with everything you need (click on each photo to enlarge). The premium version weighs 45 pounds (about 20 kilograms), and you won’t incur any overage penalties at the airport check-in.

Here are some of the accessories: an LCD light, a small table, a copy holder, and an extension cord (Premium version only).

It took me less than ten minutes to put the frame together. Click here for a demonstration. Note that the connected straps give the structure strength and increased stability.

Next up: the moving blankets. There are three of them. Two “walls” and a “ceiling.” Candlelight recording sessions are out of the question. 

The moving blankets are in place. You’re looking at the booth with the “door” open, so you can see the interior. Note that the cloth does not reach the floor. At the level of your microphone, the moving blankets are folded in half to double the thickness. 

Here’s my recording set up. Note that the main pole has a microphone boom arm that will accommodate shotgun mics as well as large diaphragm condensers. 

By now you must be eager to know what it’s like to record in the Tri Booth. Let me take you inside.

After I recorded this video, the Tri Booth team decided to take the Standard model off the market and just sell the Premium version as THE Tri Booth.

HARLAN HOGAN

Until now I already had a recording solution for the road, the perfectly portable Harlan Hogan Porta Booth Plus. It’s basically a foldable box, lined with Auralex® foam. How would this travel booth stack up to the Tri Booth?

Here’s a quick  and dirty recording to demonstrate the difference. It was made with an iPhone and a Shure MV88+ microphone. First, you’ll hear my voice as recorded in the basement. Then I talk into Harlan’s Booth, and finally I step into the Tri Booth. 

As you can tell, the recording in the Porta Booth sounds very muffled, and I wouldn’t be happy sending it to a client. The Tri Booth, on the other hand, sounds surprisingly good. The enclosure manages to tame the reverberations and flutter echoes to leave you with audio as dry as a top-notch Martini. 

Keep in mind that booths like these only dampen the sound. They offer little or no isolation, so you’ll still hear leaf blowers blowing, twelve mad dogs barking, and a partridge in a pear tree. The Tri Booth wasn’t designed to be soundproof, but created to be used in a space that already is relatively quiet (like a hotel room).

MORE COMPETITION

Now, when I first saw the Tri Booth, it reminded me of another product, the VocalBoothToGo. It also consists of a frame and tailored moving blankets. From the outside the designs look quite similar, although the Tri Booth has three walls and the VocalBoothToGo has a larger footprint with four.

The VocalBoothToGo company offers many options, including double-walled booths they claim can offer up to 45dB of noise reduction. I say “claim,” because I didn’t see any substantiating data from an accredited lab. That noise reduction comes at a hefty price and considerable weight. These double-walled booths are too heavy to comfortably take on a plane. 

Their single-walled Mobile Acoustic Vocal booths have a lower price tag, and it would be lovely to be able to do a side-by-side comparison with the Tri Booth. Instead of a PVC frame, the VocalBoothsToGo have an expandable metal frame that for the AVB66 model weighs 23 pounds (a little over 10 kilograms, just for the tubing). Even the smaller version, the AVB4, comes in over 50 pounds or 22 kilograms. For transportation, the company recommends buying their $160 rolling duffle bag.

Colleagues who have assembled both booths say that the Tri-Booth is much easier to put together. The AVB4 has a metal tube frame that feels like you’re assembling a canvas Army tent from the 60’s. It also doesn’t include all the accessories the Premium Tri Booth offers. That’s why it’s also cheaper.

SECRET WEAPON

The Tri Booth comes with a service no competitor is offering: having the audio processing for your booth and microphone be fine-tuned by George Whittam. When you buy the Tri Booth, George will take a sample from your existing studio, and he’ll have you record on the fly in the Tri Booth. He will then create a processing preset for the software you’re using to match that sound as closely as possible. It’s like a magical filter.

Rick Wasserman says that when his producers listened to the promos he taped in the Tri Booth, they couldn’t believe they were recorded on the road.

To round up this review, here’s the ultimate question:

Should you put this booth on your Christmas wish list?

As I said in my video, I see two markets for the Tri Booth. Number one: the road warriors. If your life as an international voice over star takes you from hotel room to hotel room, and your clients can’t live a day without you, spending $1500 on PVC pipes, moving blankets, and some accessories is a no-brainer. You’ll probably make your money back in one session.

The second group that could benefit from this booth consists of beginners who need a dry recording space but don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on a WhisperRoom. The Tri Booth is a more affordable solution that delivers as promised.

DO IT YOURSELF?

At this point you might be wondering: “Couldn’t I just go to Home Depot and build my own PVC booth?” You absolutely can, but you should realize that Rick and George have agonized over every detail of the Tri Booth, and it definitely shows. Why reinvent the wheel? 

$1500 (excluding tax and shipping) may seem a hefty price tag, but as with all products, you’re paying for the concept, the design, the materials, and the convenience. And don’t forget George’s preset! What you’re also getting is lightning fast, hands-on customer service from the inventor himself. I just emailed Rick a few questions, and literally three minutes later I had my answers! Two minutes later, George chimed in!

So, think about it. How long would it take you to create a portable, lightweight booth that is easy to set up, break down, and transport in a suitcase? If you know your way around the tool shed, it might take you anywhere between six to ten hours to come up with something that might resemble a Tri Booth. If your average hourly voice over rate is around $400, you could make between $2400 and $4000 in the time you’d be piecing together your own booth. I’d say: spare yourself the grief and make some real money!

One last question: Would I buy a Tri Booth?

The honest answer: Not in a million years, but that has nothing to do with the product. The Tri Booth is a solution to a problem I don’t have. My clients do not need me every day, and I’m not a frequent flyer either. When I travel, it’s usually for pleasure.

Yes, I’m one of those silly Europeans who believes that vacation equals preventative healthcare. I don’t want to be always available. It’s stressful and unhealthy. My friends and family need me more than my clients do.

If, however, you’re an average American workaholic living life in the fast lane, by all means, get a Premium Tri Booth and knock yourself out! It’s got my seal of approval.

 

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PPS For a second opinion, click here to watch Paul Stefano’s Tri Booth review on YouTube.