What are you guys using to SOUNDPROOF your room?

[Big 3rd]

I'm in the midst of soundproofing my basement and I'm looking into doing it with Acousiblok. Has anyone used it and/or is there something better?

Thanks in advance for the response.

[Ziggy!!]

Soundblock won't do it alone...


They are only 3 ways i know of to stop sound

- Density. And lots of it. Think 4 or 5 layers of concrete/brick... or a layer or two of lead.
- A vacuum... Empty space... you can figure that one out
- A totally decouped dead air space.


The last is probably the most common. It is essentially a room built within a room but do so that there is a sealed space between the outer room and the original room. This space needs to be airtight for it to work effectively. The inner and outer rooms must not be touching either (the floor is floated using rubber).

Either way, its time consuming & expensive or a scientific challenge depending which method you choose.

[Midlandmorgan]

Although it could be argued that there really is no such thing as soundPROOF...example: while attending a recent event at the "Austin City Limits" studios, we clearly heard thunder...

These studios have a minimum of 12" of concrete on ever floor, ceiling, and wall...huge facilities well treated....2 floors down from the rooftop.

I would have thought that a foot of concrete, plus absorption/treatments, plus the area being protected by the building all around, would have provided the PERFECT soundproof environment....that was not the case, though.

[George Necola]

this might be the forum to ask your question:

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/

or go to http://www.johnlsayers.com for nice fotos and infos!

[dasbin]

Soundproofing is extremely tricky business, but there is a relatively easier way to getting acceptable isolation.
Basically you just airtight the room. Make sure no air can get in or out even through the smallest pinhole. And make sure that every single inch of the surface is dense (i.e. either thick drywall or drywall filler or (better) acoustic sealant).

Once you've done that then you address the weak points: doors and windows.
The only way to get a door system working alright is to use two solid-wood core doors, as thick and heavy as possible, with a space between them, and make sure they both make complete airtight contact with good weather-stripping when they close.
Windows need to be thick, two panes, with a very good sealing around both the panes and the frame itself. The more space between the panes, the better.

If you do all this and address EVERYTHING... not a single millimeter of unsealed air, and make darn sure that if you have a false ceiling, the space above it is just as sealed... then the space can be quite workable. I've done this in my studio and don't require anything more. It can't be called soundproof if I have a whole punk band playing in the live room, but it's enough so that I can still mix at the same time without it influencing my decisions.
If you want to effectively soundproof <200Hz as well, then you need to totally isolate the space as mentioned above.

Keep in mind that the weakest points are doors and windows and ceilings and corners... NOT expanses of plain drywall walls. Therefore there are far more effective ways to address a room than to just throw Acoustiblock where you can.

[ajcamlet]

and...be aware of your local building codes and permitting. this can bite you in the ass down the road...

[Big 3rd]

Ok, maybe I'm using the word soundproof wrong or you guys are a little to literal. I'm not talking about a room that's so isolated that I could shoot a 12 gauge and no one would know it in the next room.

I just need my control room to keep excessive noise to a minimum. Say I'm recording a real drummer; I don't want the neighbor next to me to know it and barely want my wife to know it that's above me. Or if I just need the music bangin a little; I don't have to have it dead silent but very low.

[bpatural]

You will have to soundproof to the extreme to not hear a drummer in the next room. Stopping ambient noise is much easier, maybe some more drywall and seal the doors.
-brian

[Mike Chafee]

Kinetics noise control has all the bits you need to isolate the room, and will do the design for you

kineticsnoise.com

Mike Chafee

[Sobe]

$100 - 500 a square foot to get close to doing it right !

[faeflora]

Well if the room is built already give up on soundproofing your room.

About all you can do with major construction work on your house is to put a real heavy pad in the room where your wife is and a thick carpet.

You can also install a gasketed door, or just weatherseal gaskets and a floor fitting.

You can also replace the windows with double paned gas sealed storm windows.

[catfish11]

sheetrock - 2-3 layers 3/4"
as someone said density and airtightness stops sound
also isolating/cushioning any adjoining segments - walls, ceiling

you want as little as possible that will transfer vibration

it does not have to be overly expensive for what you are trying to do

i hate to be the bearer of bad news but carpet won't stop much sound at all

install a double layer ceiling hang a drop/single layer ceiling fairy well isolated from the main structure
and you will stop alot of sound

density, isolation

everything else is acoustic treatment, after the fact

you can always float a floor off of the concrete and build an internal, seperate structure, not really that hard,
frame it out, room in a room

you won't being hearing much