industrial ring at A#3?!

disuye · 18th March 2008

Bit of an odd one ... just moved into the top floor of an industrial / warehouse building and during the daytime some machinery / fans / HVAC units belonging a property many floors down seems to case my property to "ring" at a pitch just a few cents below A#3.

As I mainly do my mix work during the night, this slight ring is not a big deal to me - however I was wondering if there's anything I could do to absorb or alleviate the tone. The volume of this ringing sounds depends greatly on position in the property plus vertical distance in the room.

I *suspect* that the sound is being fed up the building thru the fire service / sprinkler system. There are many potential factors, and to save space I'm happy to answer any Q's people may have about the room instead of dumping a ton of potentially useless info in here.

Otherwise, I've got bass and room tone pretty much under control (trial & error placement of a dozen or so homemade Rock Wool panels). Just this ring which - coincidentally - is loudest right in the middle of the room where my head is

Thanks in advance for reading.

Dan

Ethan Winer · 18th March 2008

This sounds more like an isolation issue than an absorption issue. Meaning it might be expensive to cure. The first step is to identify for certain where the sound is getting into your space.

--Ethan

avare · 18th March 2008

Working with guesses, it is very unusual for that high a frequency to travel through several floors, long distances etc. Is there anything in the room that resonates at that frequency that is being excited by sound?

This is in addition what was already posted in this thread. Not nullifying it.

Quietly,
Andre

disuye · 19th March 2008

thanks for the replies. was fearing the worst on this. I may just move my listening position to where the noise seems to be naturally quieter. there's a couple of useable albeit not functionally perfect locations.

It's proving extremely difficult to locate where the sound is coming from. It seems to be loudest right next to a vertical drain pipe which runs thru my unit and the 20 floors below me; but at the same time if I open the window at the rear of my property (which opens to the vertical service shaft in the middle of the building) the ringing noise oscillates in time with the cyclical noise of the fans & AC units located out there.

Hong Kong is just one of those cities where you need to mix, record & do critical work over night. I've not had one property in the last 10 years which has been without background noise quirks. This one runs from 9am until 6pm and I'm usually asleep then

Will let you know how I get on. As far as noise isolation, my property is very good. The windows & balcony door kill all outdoor noise very well, plus I share my floor with a dried shark-fin trader, and the front door and wall were carefully made airtight to keep the funk of the hallway out of my property!

thanks again,

Dan

18th March 2008	#1
disuye Gear nut Joined: Oct 2006 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 127 Thread Starter	industrial ring at A#3?! Bit of an odd one ... just moved into the top floor of an industrial / warehouse building and during the daytime some machinery / fans / HVAC units belonging a property many floors down seems to case my property to "ring" at a pitch just a few cents below A#3. As I mainly do my mix work during the night, this slight ring is not a big deal to me - however I was wondering if there's anything I could do to absorb or alleviate the tone. The volume of this ringing sounds depends greatly on position in the property plus vertical distance in the room. I suspect that the sound is being fed up the building thru the fire service / sprinkler system. There are many potential factors, and to save space I'm happy to answer any Q's people may have about the room instead of dumping a ton of potentially useless info in here. Otherwise, I've got bass and room tone pretty much under control (trial & error placement of a dozen or so homemade Rock Wool panels). Just this ring which - coincidentally - is loudest right in the middle of the room where my head is Thanks in advance for reading. Dan

18th March 2008	#2
Ethan Winer Gear Guru Joined: Oct 2002 Location: New Milford, CT, USA Posts: 12,334	This sounds more like an isolation issue than an absorption issue. Meaning it might be expensive to cure. The first step is to identify for certain where the sound is getting into your space. --Ethan __________________ Ethan's audio book is now available!

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18th March 2008	#3
avare Lives for gear Joined: May 2004 Location: Hamilton, On Canada Posts: 3,699	Working with guesses, it is very unusual for that high a frequency to travel through several floors, long distances etc. Is there anything in the room that resonates at that frequency that is being excited by sound? This is in addition what was already posted in this thread. Not nullifying it. Quietly, Andre

19th March 2008	#4
disuye Gear nut Joined: Oct 2006 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 127 Thread Starter	thanks for the replies. was fearing the worst on this. I may just move my listening position to where the noise seems to be naturally quieter. there's a couple of useable albeit not functionally perfect locations. It's proving extremely difficult to locate where the sound is coming from. It seems to be loudest right next to a vertical drain pipe which runs thru my unit and the 20 floors below me; but at the same time if I open the window at the rear of my property (which opens to the vertical service shaft in the middle of the building) the ringing noise oscillates in time with the cyclical noise of the fans & AC units located out there. Hong Kong is just one of those cities where you need to mix, record & do critical work over night. I've not had one property in the last 10 years which has been without background noise quirks. This one runs from 9am until 6pm and I'm usually asleep then Will let you know how I get on. As far as noise isolation, my property is very good. The windows & balcony door kill all outdoor noise very well, plus I share my floor with a dried shark-fin trader, and the front door and wall were carefully made airtight to keep the funk of the hallway out of my property! thanks again, Dan