Sound Proofing/Reflection killing wall

[rowooo]

I live in a duplex, and although my neighbors have never complained about any loud music, sometimes when I'm listening I get this little voice in the back of my head telling me to TURN IT DOWN-YOUR NEIGHBORS are getting PISSED. I want to cover one wall, the wall to which the speakers point to, with some type of curtain or fabric the will do two things, kill reflections, and to some extent help sound proof the room a little. The wall is 10'x8'. I'm just going to nail the fabric/curtain on the wall since I rent. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best type of material to use? Thanks......................................................................

[lynnm]

If your building is of wood frame construction most of the sound transmission is going to be through the building's frame with only a relatively small amount of transmission via the common wall. Therefore covering the wall will do virtually nothing to solve that issue although if your room is overly bright such a treatment might cut down on excessive reflections.

If your building is of concrete construction then your idea might help somewhat.

Have you ever approached your neighbours and asked if they have a problem with excessive sound levels from your unit ?

[m00n]

You are going to need more than curtians... Low frequencies will look at your curtian and snicker as it plows right through it...

I had the same problems with my theater, I ended up doubling up my walls (think of a room inside a room). you need bass absorbtion panels and air gaps...

Here is a very good article.

Also look at the construction pics on my website.

[artto]

Sound gets through any small opening. It bounces back and forth between hard, parallel surfaces. The only two ways to stop sound from being transmitted from one space to another are dead air and mass. Limp mass is most often better than rigid mass (ok, a combination of the two is really what youre after, but dont get me started on that yet). Every item, every construction material has a resonant frequency at which its virtually an open window to sound kind of like a tuning fork that goes nuts at its particular resonant frequency. Different materials have different resonant frequencies. Trapped air is a very good insulator to sound. The best way to stop sound transmission through a building structure is to isolate the sound source from the structure before the structure has a chance to vibrate. Ideally walls need to be isolated from ceilings and floors, usually by means of dense, yet pliable rubber. Airtight construction is what were after. Sound, like air & water, will get through any small gap.

So basically, just covering the wall with some fabric like curtains will do virtually nothing to stop sound transmission. And, its not all that effective at reducing reflections either. Reducing the reflections has little to do stopping sound transmission though a wall. Most of what is going through that wall is the lower frequencies and youre going to need alternative construction techniques to reduce it to any substantial extent.

That being said, about the best suggestion I can make is to cover the wall with a dense limp mass material like the "Sound Block" compressed vinyl limp mass sheeting (available in rolls) from the likes of Sonex & Auralex (denser than lead). You can cover the sound block with other decorative material or sound board or various acoustic foam tiles. If you do it right, you can even take this stuff with you if you move. Even here, I doubt it would be very effective though since you really need to do the entire building to building common wall connection.

[minn_male42]

for a great deal of information concerning your question check out this website....

http://www.acousticalsurfaces.com/

[Marvel]

m00n,

Thanks for the link to Ethan Winer's material. I still have articles of his from the '70s, published in Recording Engineer/Producer, and they have always been helpful. He is a wealth of knowledge, and really seems eager to share with anyone.

Marvel

[m00n]

Yeah he is a moderator over at the www.recording.org forum.

[Painful Reality]

----------------

On 9/19/2003 2:59:02 PM rowooo wrote:

I live in a duplex, and although my neighbors have never complained about any loud music, sometimes when I'm listening I get this little voice in the back of my head telling me to TURN IT DOWN-YOUR NEIGHBORS are getting PISSED.

----------------

I live in a condo downtown. If the neighbours below me wanted absolute peace, they should have bought a bungalow in the suburbs...

I don't get these voices. Of course the fact that it's insulated like hell might help. Thanks to the previous owner who had 1.5 feet of insulating fibers placed between my floor and his ceiling.

In your case, it should be pretty simple to sound proof. Artto's suggestions are a good start (and finish).

[rowooo]

Thanks for all the replies.....The foundation is concrete with all the walls being wood. There is two, two car garages in between units so if there is an issue of him hearing my stereo, I believe it's minimal. I also always listen with door closed and blanket pushed under the door. Wouldn't putting some type of thicker curtain material on the wall facing the speakers tame the highs a tad?

[Griffinator]

----------------

On 9/19/2003 8:27:01 PM m00n wrote:

Yeah he is a moderator over at the www.recording.org forum.

----------------

He also spends a great deal of time at the musicplayer.com forums (another of my haunts) - really intelligent individual.