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Making a room in a flat soundproof


hanhau

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Looks for some used folding Gymnastics/Gym  mats and hang them on walls and ceiling. Then hang bed comforters and/or cotton blankets over that to knock out echo's and reverbs from the slick mats.   Prob the cheapest way out and maybe the most effective

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Ah yes, been there done that - round the same age too.

The problem is the joys of paper thin walls making it difficult to control the dispersion of LFE (that was mine anyway, and I'm guessing it's yours). There was a period of time where I actually had my sub jack-knifed in the middle of the room with a rug underneath it and adjusted so the port was firing into the air. This did the trick for me, but it looks terrible.

Of course, I don't have a sub with a port anymore.

Actually your imaging should be damn near perfect, had your LP been center of the room.

I had a setup where there were two LPs for the longest time. My resolution for the issue was simply to eliminate one of them.

Hope that might help SOME. I see my title may be in jeopardy too. :)

Cheers!

Yea you're now an old man, you could almost be his dad! :o:D:lol:

 

Mark

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Hannes welcome to the forum!  There is so much I love about this thread!

 

First of all the fact that at your age you have such great taste in gear and that people like us at various decades of experience, but sharing your passion are chiming in!  I think Mark wins with his pic of that setup of audio hairblowing Nirvana - with the encouraging reminder of this is where you are headed!  :)

 

Also there is the nostalgic element many of us probably share from your post also - we all remember our first "real" setup, mine was given to me by my parents at age 16 for Christmas and I think my mother has few greater regrets.  ;)  (Turn that DOWN!!!)

 

I think you have already received some good advice on things you can try - definitely see if you can get your sub separated from the floor - the bass is your bleed over enemy #1 (& always will be).  Good luck tinkering with different layouts and most of all - enjoy it anyway!


 

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Thank you akdave,

 

Update to the "set up":
Sub is now on the shelve of the desk (so it doesnt take away place actually). The coverage of the sub is now pretty perfect, the characteristics of the sub got back ! :)

The sub is so much higher (1,5m) and the floor is now vibrating much less. Even my sister has now a better work condition, but the staircase ... well, the wall to the staircase is thicker (20-30cm, half ytong, half brick I guessed).

I am using now 3.1 until I have my cork and it isnt that bad, but 5.1 improves the overall experience in games for a little bit more (even in my small room).
I will stick foam on my door, so my mum wont hear me then, because 2 rooms away, she sleeps.

The idea with the old gymnastic mats is a great one (no doubt) but I will stick now to my cork I guess :3

It´s good to have people here, even I feeled now the "nostalgic feel" you wrote down in the comments.
I had to laugh actually, I am so happy that I landed in a great community ! I can´t thank you enough !
 

I hope I have a good taste in gear, otherwise my life would have been until now a complete lie :D
I am never searching for the most expensive affordable, I always searched for realistic solutions for a long time. So yeah,
Hannes Hauptmann my name, I am now a little bit of a "audioholic" :)

I will enjoy my journey I guess, the way is the goal ! :)

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Haha, well you're just starting your journey down the rabbit hole. Trust me it's pretty deep. I was born into it, but I started my own venture when I was 9 or 10 - depending on how you want to look at it. I still have my first set of real speakers, and have absolutely no intention of changing them. Think if you search the forums a little bit you can probably find my "coming of audio" story - and probably a lot of the others too.

Stick around, you'll learn quite a few new things.

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That is a very helpful diagram.

Soundproofing often means keeping the sound inside your room from getting out to adjacent rooms. It is impossible to achieve without using very thick walls or double walls. Also all small holes which air pressure can get through have to be sealed. I think you can not do that in your flat. If you hear sounds from other rooms, they will hear the sound from your room.

The sub is going to vibrate the floor but this might be reduced if you put a pillow or cushioning under it. "Aiming" is not really happening because it is omnidirectional.

As you say, your two listening positions are very far from optimal. In fact, quite bad. It seems to me that you are using the term soundproofing to reduce this problem. No amount of acoustic treatment like absorbers or diffusers will solve this.

The only solution to placement I see is to re-arrange your furniture and be content to use the narrow end of the room. Referring to your diagram: Move your desk to the window to nature on the left (is that a door getting in the way?). Put the cupboard / wardrobe at the right wall, and put your bed in line. Then the main speakers go on the left wall and the center overhead tilted down.

WMcD

Edited by WMcD
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You need to decouple the sub from the floor.

 

You can use dense foam or rubber. A way to make a cheap isolator is to cut 2 tennis balls in half, turn them upside down and put a piece of plywood over it to make a platform for the sub to sit on.

 

I was wondering about that, I'm glad you suggested decoupling the sub from the floor.  Every little bit helps.

 

Edit:  I just read Hannes' most current post.  He has already been busy moving the sub, so good job, Hannes!  :emotion-21:   :emotion-19:

Edited by wvu80
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"We have built rooms for clients that have two 8″ thick walls of poured concrete separated by another 6″ of air space and can still measure 30 Hz. wave activity on the outside of the wall. Trapping “bass” does not exist."
That is consistent with my perception -- many of the suggestions in this thread will only deal with mid and high frequencies, which can be absorbed and blocked by the methods described.

 

However, bass is easily transmitted through the structure of the building -- the wood frame, floors and walls -- and may be impossible to block.  If nothing else works, I'd suggest getting rid or or turning off the sub.  Ordinary bass is very musical, perhaps more so than when exaggerated, and many speakers provide ample, well-proportioned bass without needing a sub.  Movies and electronic bass is a different story, unfortunately.

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  • 4 years later...

If possible, what I’d do is get the speakers down to ear level. Put them on stands or brackets on either short wall. Right now they are too high and too far apart for proper listening. Let alone any imaging. 

You are not going to be able to do much in regards to sound management. Keep the door shut, etc. Maybe if you have the speakers placed better, you won’t need the sub so much or have to put the volume up as you’ll get a more direct sound.

Realistically, headphones are best for those times when the music might annoy others. They’re something I need to use in my place also.

Good luck. Keep listening.

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