Soundproof Drywall, Floors, and Windows!

[Driver_King]

I have to say I've heard of sound proof glass and doors but never sound proof drywall!

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by Driver_King

I have to say I've heard of sound proof glass and doors but never sound proof drywall!

Hummm, are you giivng CrazyBLUE any new ideas?

[Hammie]

I figured it was going to be one of those THX-certified products. They are so overpriced.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by louhamilton

I figured it was going to be one of those THX-certified products. They are so overpriced.

Totally agree.....way overpriced.....and just because of the "rigorous" tests they put them through......

[quest88]

Originally Posted by Driver_King

I have to say I've heard of sound proof glass and doors but never sound proof drywall!

There are some other sound damping drywall on the market. I was looking into it due to my old thin walls I have now. When some of my neighbors come home late at night it sounds like they are in my living room.

[Deadset]

If I ever do a 'dedicated' room, this is what I'd do:



I did a variation in the ceiling in my basement with batts, 1/2" closed cell foam and 5/8" SR, caulked all corners I didn't use Z channel like the photo, but the closed cell foam worked like a champ.

[BluBrown]

I work for a company that sells drywall and there is all sorts of different soundproof/dampening drywall out there. We also have some that blocks all radio frequencies which runs about $275 per 4x8 sheet.

[mattym]

green glue. look that up.

[mj79]

I cant stand acoustical sealant.. We use it all the time when we do drywall, for a vapor and air seal.. stuff is nasty.. and messy

But man i wish i had a big enough house for a dedicated room

[kareface]

Originally Posted by Deads3t

If I ever do a 'dedicated' room, this is what I'd do:



I did a variation in the ceiling in my basement with batts, 1/2" closed cell foam and 5/8" SR, caulked all corners I didn't use Z channel like the photo, but the closed cell foam worked like a champ.

I actually wouldn't go this path. If you wanted to make a recording studio this would be better, but this isn't as nice for home theater. A large portion of that can be avoided by sacrificing a little space. Sound board is only good for mids and highs and those are the least likely to transmit. If you have the wall sealed well and properly decoupled you really don't need sound board or foam mats. Vinyl can get costly but does help improve low end quite a bit, which is the hardest to dampen for and can only really be done in the process of building a wall. 24 on center studs with mechanical decoupling with vinyl and a product like green glue is more then enough.

I would heavily recommend leaving a foot or more space between the back of the wall for the sound room and the wall to the rest of the house. There are some flexible materials (like specific plastic sheets) which are cheap (40$ to do an entire room) which you can nail on the back of the studs that flex with larger sound waves and remove more of their energy (great article on this stuff) and at the same time the extra space behind the wall lowers the resonance of the wall. Instead of having a double leaf the wall acts more like a solid object which will have a lower resonance, but you have to make sure that it's sealed well. You can't forget the lighting as well, otherwise you'll have huge holes for sound to escape.

[mattym]

i had a garage conversion to do, standard block walls for the construction, on the inside we put up a stud wall 2" from the blocks, insulated with Rockwool, put 2 layers of soundblock with green glue up and that was sorted. Stood outside right next to the drummer, couldnt hear a thing. MLV is ok, but its not easy to work with, and doesnt quite get the low end as well as GG

[GeleOpeli]

Why do I never hear of people building HTPCs with MCE? Why do most people use Windows XP Pro and then throw some other front-end on it? Is there some disadvantage to using MCE that I dont know about?

[Darkthrone]

Originally Posted by GeleOpeli

Why do I never hear of people building HTPCs with MCE? Why do most people use Windows XP Pro and then throw some other front-end on it? Is there some disadvantage to using MCE that I dont know about?

because its more soundproof? i assume you posted in wrong thread

[Beta Man]

Interesting thread...... Over the past week we've had three estimates (so far) for housing insulation.....

We have solid block foundation, so that's not an issue..... but here is what we've found....

1) Rock Wool.... not the best cost-to-performance ratio for us, and the weight of it causes more settlement issues than Cellulose or Fiber-Glass

2) Injected foam..... GREAT if you can make it work.... unfortunately no guarantee can be given to sustain the R-Values advertised, and it is also quite costly ($7k for our home, which puts it over double that of Fiberglass, Cellulose, or Rock Wool)

3) Cellulose has chemicals for fire-retardancy, so it goes in wet.... and we have an old wood-sided house, so the fact that it absorbs moisture makes it an option that "could" be bad, but there are LOTS of conflicting opinions on the use of this type of insulation.

4) Fiberglass..... it goes in dry..... it's CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP, so for the same price as Cellulose, they can pump extra in (at extra pressure) and achieve the same R-Value, and it settles less than Cellulose or Rock Wool.

It ended up being slightly more than Cellulose, but we're going with Fiberglass (no chemicals is a big selling point for the wife)

All walls, attic crawl, attic ceiling (suspended ceiling) and in-between all roof-rafters.....

We should have a much lower energy bill, considering our walls are currently E M P T Y

This should help with exterior noise..... I know that wasn't the point of this thread, but thought I'd give some insight I've discovered over the last week

[kingofgrills]

No insulation? Beta, you better get it done quick! It will make a big difference in your heating bills and comfort.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by kingofgrills

No insulation? Beta, you better get it done quick! It will make a big difference in your heating bills and comfort.

yeah.... we know.... but it's been a tough year...... I don't want to venture a guess on how much we've pumped into this home in terms of renovations/improvements.

The insulation HAS to happen...... we got 21 of the windows replaced, plus glass-block for the basement, so we're moving in the right direction towards money saving!

Apparently 101 years ago setting wood on fire to heat your home was cheap

[Deadset]

Originally Posted by sentinel41

I actually wouldn't go this path. If you wanted to make a recording studio this would be better, but this isn't as nice for home theater. A large portion of that can be avoided by sacrificing a little space. Sound board is only good for mids and highs and those are the least likely to transmit. If you have the wall sealed well and properly decoupled you really don't need sound board or foam mats. Vinyl can get costly but does help improve low end quite a bit, which is the hardest to dampen for and can only really be done in the process of building a wall. 24 on center studs with mechanical decoupling with vinyl and a product like green glue is more then enough.

I would heavily recommend leaving a foot or more space between the back of the wall for the sound room and the wall to the rest of the house. There are some flexible materials (like specific plastic sheets) which are cheap (40$ to do an entire room) which you can nail on the back of the studs that flex with larger sound waves and remove more of their energy (great article on this stuff) and at the same time the extra space behind the wall lowers the resonance of the wall. Instead of having a double leaf the wall acts more like a solid object which will have a lower resonance, but you have to make sure that it's sealed well. You can't forget the lighting as well, otherwise you'll have huge holes for sound to escape.

The picture was just meant to give some ideas, not like someone in a home theater would follow it step by step. I did a modified version of this in my basement.

[Ted White]

There is some distinct misinformation in those diagrams.

Closed cell foam will not assist in that assembly.

Soundboard will not assist either.

Foam on the channel will not assist.

Mass loaded vinyl should be substituted for another sheet of drywall.

Vibration pads will not assist.

Regarding insulations, in a partition, a medium density (desirable) application of mineral fiber, fiberglass, cellulose, cotton or polyester will all perform similarly.

[kareface]

Originally Posted by Ted White

Mass loaded vinyl should be substituted for another sheet of drywall

The diagram is obviously intended to increase STC, and in that case mass loaded vinyl would outperform 2 layers of drywall. As a matter of fact, sound board and foam will help absorb mids-highs as well. The point I was arguing is that STC is usually secondary to room acoustics for home theaters and the diagram does little to improve that. You still have room reflections which have more impact on the sound then transmission and you've spent a ton of money on making sure no one can hear you play movies.

Originally Posted by Ted White

Regarding insulations, in a partition, a medium density (desirable) application of mineral fiber, fiberglass, cellulose, cotton or polyester will all perform similarly.

>100hrz: mineral fiber > fiberglass > low density foams (like blow-in).

<100hz: You have to use high density foams or rubbers, pressure wave equalization, constrained layers or viscoelastic materials depending on the surface and scale of the project.

[Ted White]

Mass is mass. There is no improvement using MLV relative to other comparable mass (especially in a decoupled system). The spring system created when a system is decoupled is highly dependant on mass. 2 sheets of 5/8" drywall weigh perhaps 125-140 lbs. the same area of MLV weighs in at 32 lbs. Mass law.

Soundboard and foam have great absorptive properties when mounted on a wall, but when installed inside a wall we want a lighter density like thermal fiberglass. The use of other materials in an air cavity simply take up effective airspace. Possibly increasing the low frequency resonance point of the entire assembly.

Better too keep it simple:

Decouple the framing (better to stagger than use channel).

Introduce absorption in the form of a medium density insulation.

Add mass in whatever form is economical. More mass wins.

Damp the mass by one of a number of means.

Once a system is decoupled, you can further drop the low frequency resonance point (allowing greater control over lower frequencies) by making the wall heavier and deeper.