Weird quiestion: Sound proofing

[Bradtemple87]

Eggcrate foam works really well for a cheap price. I have experience doing this for playing music. This material deadens sounds instead of projecting them to another point in the room though, so keep that in mind.

[AppleQueso]

Like I said, it's acoustical treatment, not sound proofing. People seem to use those terms interchangeably for some reason, but generally what's good for acoustical treatment isn't necessarily good for sound proofing, and vice-versa.

[gtmtnbiker]

Sound proofing is not easy and won't be cheap. There are different ways of doing this with different level of effectiveness: staggered studs, resilient channels, special wallboard (e.g, quietrock.com), etc.

[J T]

Here's some useful articles for you:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb98/a ... ofing.html
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar98/a ... ofing.html
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr98/a ... ofing.html
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may98/a ... ofing.html
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul00/a ... oustic.htm

[KDub]

Like I said, it's acoustical treatment, not sound proofing. People seem to use those terms interchangeably for some reason, but generally what's good for acoustical treatment isn't necessarily good for sound proofing, and vice-versa.

Just want to confirm that he is right.

Things like "egg crate foam", actual egg crates, foam boards, and fabrics (like carpet) don't sound proof. While they can help some they are more for drying out the room. They take a rather live room with very resonant surfaces and absorb sound so they don't echo so much.

It is a fine line really; while they will absorb the sounds and thus not allow as much sound out they are not sound proofing, which lets no sound out of the room but doesn't really change the sound within the room.

[Ziggy]

Thanks every one for the tips and input so far.

Sound proofing is not easy and won't be cheap. There are different ways of doing this with different level of effectiveness: staggered studs, resilient channels, special wallboard (e.g, quietrock.com), etc.

Well like I said, I can't afford real sound proofing. That's why I had the ghetto idea. But I have seen the sound proofing sheet rock in Lowes once, not sure if it was the quiet rock brand or not. But it was a little under $50 per sheet. It would cost me $200 or $250 just to do the one wall! At that point, if it didn't make a noticeable difference, I would have wasted a lot of money and a lot of time.

[gtmtnbiker]

But I have seen the sound proofing sheet rock in Lowes once, not sure if it was the quiet rock brand or not. But it was a little under $50 per sheet. It would cost me $200 or $250 just to do the one wall! At that point, if it didn't make a noticeable difference, I would have wasted a lot of money and a lot of time.

I didn't realize that Lowes is selling this stuff. That's good. I did a quick google search and came up with this post:
http://soundproofingwithdave.com/2009/0 ... ly-at.html

You can now buy QuietRock 500 1/2" drywall exclusively at selected Lowe's stores. The say that you can "Experience an increase in noise reduction from 25% to 65%, depending on how you use it." There is no other information provided regarding the soundproofing qualities of QuietRock 500. If you follow this link you will find that QuietSolutions does not provide acoustic tests for QuietRock 500. However, they do provide the chart that you see above.

At the price of $29.96, this is the cheapes QuitRock yet. I believe QuitRock 510 is $40 a panel. Visit QuietSolution for a list of stores that carry QuietRock 510.

This guy's blog might have some good tips so it would be worth checking out. You probably already have done this but I suggest googling "how to soundproof a room" and read the various posts. Then pick the one that makes the most sense for you.

[Ziggy]

Yeah, I actually just found QuietRock on the Lowes website, $35 each. That's not too bad, considering I need 4 maybe 5 sheets. I'm now considering this.

edit: Now looking at the chart, adding the QuietRock to just one side doesn't appear to have much of an effect. Especially compared to adding it to both sides, which is not an option.

[gtmtnbiker]

Yeah, I actually just found QuietRock on the Lowes website, $35 each. That's not too bad, considering I need 4 maybe 5 sheets. I'm now considering this.

edit: Now looking at the chart, adding the QuietRock to just one side doesn't appear to have much of an effect. Especially compared to adding it to both sides, which is not an option.

I'm not sure what chart you're looking at. Are you looking at the dB reduction? What reduction do you get? Supposedly a sheet of quietrock is equivalent to something like 8 sheets of drywall so you will have an effect. I think the rule is 3dB drop is a 50% sound reduction. That's because sound is measured on a log scale.

You could also buy a case of Green Glue. You put that on the back side of Quiet Rock to further reduce the sound. See this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/archive/ ... 55485.html

[Ziggy]

No, I was looking at this chart for the $35 QuietRock...



The chart is pretty hard to follow, but it looks like if I add the QuietRock to one side of the wall (which already has regular dry wall and insulation) I'll get an extra 5% sound reduction, which doesn't seem like a whole lot to me.

To further confuse me, the next bar over says "replace one side with QuietRock" as oppose to adding one, and has another 5% reduction. Does this mean I get more reduction with just a layer of QuietRock than I would with a layer of regular dry wall and then a layer of QuietRock?

To rephrase that, what I have now is regular old Sheet Rock with insulation in between. If I wanna add QuietRock to one side, do I get better results taking down the old Sheet Rock and replacing it with Quiet Rock, or putting the Quiet Rock over the existing Sheet Rock?

I don't have any idea what a 10% reduction sounds like though, so I can't tell if that's good.