Bass Proofing a Basement

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nathan Cairns
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Nathan Cairns

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Hey everybody! I'm new to the forums and I've done some searching around about this topic but I haven't quite found a viable fix so far so maybe I can be a little more specific and you guys can help me out?

So I have a room in a basement, the basement has a drop ceiling. Above my room in the upstairs is the home owners living room. The problem that I have is I often listen to fairly bass heavy music and before you tell me to just turn the bass down, the problem is that at minimal volume, you can hear the bass up stairs. I never listen to my music louder than what I need to just hear it, but it's almost like my tiny subwoofer is in every room of the house when I listen to music. It just travels through the whole place and the owner finds it to be quite an issue.

My question is what can I add to the room to make the bass travel through the house less? I've tried putting the subwoofer on an isolated platform with rubber under it to try and dampen the vibrations, but it didn't help too much. I can't make any drastic changes to the room, but I can stuff things in the drop ceiling, and I can probably put up padding on the walls if need be. What would be my best plan of attack? I don't need to completely bass proof my room, but cut back on the volume by like 50% at least.


Thanks for any tips you can provide me with! If you have anything you suggest I read or anything to help please let me know
 
You really do not want to know what it takes to achieve that. I could probably buy another house for what it would cost to stop low end from reaching the top floor of the home I am in now.

That is not even an exaggeration man. Low end is transferred through the structure itself. You would likely need to alter the structure of the building and build another room inside of the existing one you have (decoupling of structure) to have any worthy results.

My best advice without shelling out a huge amount of cash; move.
 
jimmys69 said:
You really do not want to know what it takes to achieve that. I could probably buy another house for what it would cost to stop low end from reaching the top floor of the home I am in now.

That is not even an exaggeration man. Low end is transferred through the structure itself. You would likely need to alter the structure of the building and build another room inside of the existing one you have (decoupling of structure) to have any worthy results.

My best advice without shelling out a huge amount of cash; move.
Click to expand...
:laughings:
 
about $100 sq ft and depending on the archetecture of the house. you have to decouple accustically the walls and the ceiling above the ceiling, exterior windows, then room inside room build to decouple the floor and create another bass trap by leaving a space between the outer room and inside room.

its almost cheaper to buy a tracking booth the size you need.
 
While everyone in this thread is completely right, it still might be worth experimenting with the location of the subwoofer and trying to decouple the woofer from the floor/walls/whatever. This won't stop bass resonances from the air in the room traveling through the structure, but if part of your problem is the physical transfer of the vibration of the woofer directly onto the floor/walls, then some sort of decoupling could go a long way to stopping the bass bleed. I'd start with just putting a pillow or two under it as a proof of concept to see if it helps, and then if so looking into a more permanent solution - I don't know how big your woofer is, but I use these with my monitors:

Auralex MoPAD - Monitor Isolation Pads | Sweetwater.com
 
DrewPeterson7 said:
While everyone in this thread is completely right, it still might be worth experimenting with the location of the subwoofer and trying to decouple the woofer from the floor/walls/whatever. This won't stop bass resonances from the air in the room traveling through the structure, but if part of your problem is the physical transfer of the vibration of the woofer directly onto the floor/walls, then some sort of decoupling could go a long way to stopping the bass bleed. I'd start with just putting a pillow or two under it as a proof of concept to see if it helps, and then if so looking into a more permanent solution - I don't know how big your woofer is, but I use these with my monitors:

Auralex MoPAD - Monitor Isolation Pads | Sweetwater.com
Click to expand...

Yep, that might help a bit. The OP said he was using rubber (whatever that means) to decouple. Not knowing exactly what it is he is talking about makes it difficult to judge.

Yes, a foam or similar base may help a bit.

Explain more as to what the structure is that you are in. Basement concrete floors? Wood floors?

Headphones are an option but I can't stand them either..
 
Replace your sub with a Bass Shaker mounted to your seat.
 
without making drastic changes to the house, you are stuck with headphones.
 
Without making a drastic change to headphones, you are stuck with the house !
 
You could try first by isolating/decoupling your subwoofer from the room/floor. Buy one of these or make your own. I just made mine and it helps attenuate the transfer of bass frequencies caused by structural vibration. Won't stop it completely, but maybe he'll complain less.
 
RecordingMaster said:
You could try first by isolating/decoupling your subwoofer from the room/floor. Buy one of these or make your own. I just made mine and it helps attenuate the transfer of bass frequencies caused by structural vibration. Won't stop it completely, but maybe he'll complain less.
Click to expand...

I want to know the names of the 'famous recording artists' who use these for live work as in the description!
 
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