How can I minimize noise pollution cheaply and effectively?

[Bluyoda]

Hi everyone!

It's been alright for some months now, but I have just got the first complaint.

A family with kids has moved in above me, and everyone can hear me.

I really need your help!

I don't want to move out of there, because it's a great place and at a great location, so I would like to know some cheap and effective ways to minimize noise going through the walls, windows,....

It's of course mainly the bass and drums (I listen to music a lot, mostly jazz or Fusion however)!

Please look at my HT pics and let me know what I could do!!

The building is old style, so the insulation is basically non existent!

I always turn down to room levels at 10 p.m, so that's not the problem.

Any real help would be much appreciated.

[kareface]

Originally Posted by Bluyoda

Hi everyone!

It's been alright for some months now, but I have just got the first complaint.

A family with kids has moved in above me, and everyone can hear me.

I really need your help!

I don't want to move out of there, because it's a great place and at a great location, so I would like to know some cheap and effective ways to minimize noise going through the walls, windows,....

It's of course mainly the bass and drums (I listen to music a lot, mostly jazz or Fusion however)!

Please look at my HT pics and let me know what I could do!!

The building is old style, so the insulation is basically non existent!

I always turn down to room levels at 10 p.m, so that's not the problem.

Any real help would be much appreciated.

Anything below 100hz is going to travel no matter what. Dampening panels will cover you till ~150hz, but below that there is pretty much nothing you can do that would be cheap or not long term. I was in your same situation, the best solution is to just move to a house.

[Ted White]

Agreed. You'd need to remodel for any effective imrovement

[househead]

you wont be able to soundproof your place but you can cut down on the sound that travels through.

I'm in a townhouse and built some sound absorption panels to hang on the connecting wall. 4" Roxul mineral wool inside 2x4 frames and covered in material. They do a decent job on cutting down the sound. Maybe put some on your walls/ceiling?

Is there a sub in your setup? Another thing I did was cut down the volume on my sub and added some $50 aura bass shakers under the sofa. The bass isn't as loud but you can definitely "feel" it. These things are awesome for movies. I wouldn't use them with music though - which it looks like you're into.

Good luck. I wish I had a unattached house (with a basement) EVERY DAY!

[Artie]

Can you post some pics of your absorbtion panels. I just bought a condo and am planning out my set up

[Mr.Poindexter]

You won't be able to block the bass, so the best thing to do there is to cut out some of the deepest bass from your speakers and then reroute that bass via the LFE into a tactile transducer which will shake your seat but not translate that bass into the other walls.

For higher frequencies, there are plenty of things that will absorb those that you could try but bass is generally a killer and that would be my suggestion. For tactile transducer, I think the Crowson is the best unit out there and as it is direct coupled it is much more power efficient than a buttkicker.

[guitarist155]

sorry but i realy have to agree, you won't stop the bass.. you could turn the sub wayyyyy down and use transducers in the seating to get more feel from the bass.

Treating the whole room with treatments is going to kill the high freq, as sound proofing is NOT spot treating.. so don't do it.. you would have to isolate with a sub structure. it would cost a lottttt of money and space. if it is a condo you could build a iso room, if it is an apartment then isolation is almost a no go..

have to repeat myself here, if you use spot treatments as sound proofing and treat the whole wall as would have to be done to prevent sound from leaking. you will kill the acoustics as it will take all the highs out and make the room "boomy"

[Mr.Poindexter]

Originally Posted by guitarist155

have to repeat myself here, if you use spot treatments as sound proofing and treat the whole wall as would have to be done to prevent sound from leaking. you will kill the acoustics as it will take all the highs out and make the room "boomy"

Not necessarily. To do it correctly though, one would have to cover absorption with reflective surfaces so that what goes past the reflection points is absorbed. In effect, one would make the whole room absorptive and then add reflective panels to effectively re-liven the room. That would of course be a large undertaking.

[guitarist155]

Originally Posted by Mr.Poindexter

Not necessarily. To do it correctly though, one would have to cover absorption with reflective surfaces so that what goes past the reflection points is absorbed. In effect, one would make the whole room absorptive and then add reflective panels to effectively re-liven the room. That would of course be a large undertaking.

yes to make the room more live, but that is just about like room in a room lol.. the problem becomes that with isolation, any little pin hole becomes like a speaker for sound.. it finds its way out.. now if it was a permanent residence then he could use Resilient channel on all the walls with double layer Sheetrock with green glue, but without a puck floor and offset outlet holes and seals it will still find a way.. i suppose it is all in how much isolation.. I would say treatments will only do well with maybe 70db of highs and minimal bass levels.. from 75db up would need renovation imho

[Mr.Poindexter]

I would be willing to bet that the HVAC is a source of a lot of sound pollution. He has a hardwood floor and not much in the way of treatment so a lot of sound bouncing around. A room like that probably has the HVAC going through the ceiling space which is going to be right under his neighbor's feet.

Another option that he might not like would be surround sound headphones for late night viewing. Of course, them make 3D glasses seem lightweight...

[guitarist155]

Yea we always had to use iso boxes on the hvac just before the register to isolate one duct line from the next, they are fairly simple to build but require space to put them. I would agree on the headphones, there is most certainly a time and place for them.

[shikoku86]

If your lazy like me, i bought Dynamat/Fatmat and lined the walls of my room then rippled carpet. I wouldnt be able to hear my fathers huge lawn mower unless i put my ear to the window and my parents don't hear anything when i am blasting a movie unless they walk by the door. They'd just hear a muffle.

[john_1958]

Originally Posted by Bluyoda

Hi everyone!

It's been alright for some months now, but I have just got the first complaint.

A family with kids has moved in above me, and everyone can hear me.

I really need your help!

I don't want to move out of there, because it's a great place and at a great location, so I would like to know some cheap and effective ways to minimize noise going through the walls, windows,....

It's of course mainly the bass and drums (I listen to music a lot, mostly jazz or Fusion however)!

Please look at my HT pics and let me know what I could do!!

The building is old style, so the insulation is basically non existent!

I always turn down to room levels at 10 p.m, so that's not the problem.

Any real help would be much appreciated.

how about insolating and double the drywall soundproofing i suggest googling on how to do that

[Ronecol]

My basement theatre was constructed with every possible sound control that I could think of. The walls are framed with staggered double studding. Every joint and crack calked. Solid wood doors with gaskets. Roxal safe & sound insulation in the walls. Ceiling is sprayed with 3 inches of foam between the joists and then filled the remaining space with Roxal safe & sound. The walls are sheeted with 5/8 drywall on resiliant channels. The ceiling has a layer of 5/8 drywall secured to metal channels on the joists and then a second layer of 5/8 drywall on resiliant channels. The room is virually sound proof. However, low frequency bass still makes its way into the family room above and even up to the second floor bedroom above that. Those are 500 watt Bryston mono amps into Mirage M1si speakers and with a set of 12in powered subs in the corners. The Marantz receiver looks after the center front & rear surrounds. It's a lot of sound to try to contain but nothing is going to stop that low frequency bass.