Making Happs horizontals quieter?

[pathdoc2]

I'm using a few Happs horizontal pushbuttons in a recording studio and they are so loud they sometimes show up in recordings.  Is there any way to dampen them and make them quieter?

[rampy]

I take it the studio doesn't have a properly isolated room/booth...

Are you using the switches in an audio application or is it a garage studio and your cab is in there too?

Are you using omnidirection mics instead of the cardoid patterned unidirectional?

I believe 1up removed the spring from some happs horizontal for a different feel and may be quieter (only thing that 'bounces" the button back up is the micrswitch itself)

You could also put sound dampening stuff inside the cabinet/cp box and work on sealing it up (a 1/4" hole can leak 80% db wise of the sound...)... or build a tent of moving blankets around the cabinet with spring clamps and boom mic stands ... also portable cubicle walls do nice poor mans isolation/segmentation...

*shrug* could you elaborate? those are my broad stroke thoughts... I wonder if there are quiet(er) replacement microswitches available.

good luck!
Rampy

[telengard]

I'm using a few Happs horizontal pushbuttons in a recording studio and they are so loud they sometimes show up in recordings.  Is there any way to dampen them and make them quieter?

Haver you considered using leaf spring push buttons?  They are much quieter and have pretty much the same form factor.

[pathdoc2]

Rampy I do have an isloation room but when recording by myself which I do 80% of the time I need to be close enough to the consule to hit the record button.  I installed a trackball with 2 horizontal buttons into my computer cabinet not thinking about the noise issue.  I guess I could try taking out the springs.  I don't think building an enclosure immediately surrounding the trackball unit is practical.  When the buttons are pressed they simply cause the whole surface to vibrate and produce a fair amount of noise.  Leafsprings are a good idea but I've never used them before.

[gndprx]

Leaf switches...probably your best option.

[grafixmonkey]

If you wanted to get technical with it, you could make your buttons optical.  You might be able to use optics from old mouse boards, since they are nice self-contained emitter and detector that would probably give you a logic signal with a few resistors.

But at that point, it might be less effort to get quiet buttons that don't click.  I've seen some at Radio Shack (shudder... expensive...  evil...  but necessary...) that don't make any sound when pressed, but they are not the same size as the pushbuttons you already have in your panel.  Could be mounted to button plugs, maybe, for a quick try.

Can you just edit out the very beginning and end of the recording, where you push the record and stop buttons?  or do you have to be pushing buttons all throughout a track?