Home studio wall help needed

  • Thread starter Thread starter kidkage
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Hey John...

Yea, where were they when I had $2 in my pocket and needed a new alternator on my Dautsun 1200 but had the backside of a Dodge alternator with good diodes. Bet they wouldn't bolt it to the firewall and wire the good diodes to the bad alternator....like my Snap on toolLESS ass did..in the middle of the desert.:rolleyes:
:cool: See folks?

That's my whole point - Experience and know-how will beat the crap out of money every time. :D

Cheers,
John
 
Don't get upset when all your hard earned money and diligent iso construction technique FAILS to completely isolate your rock drummer.:o You won't be the first to discover this fact.

fitZ

Yeah, I wasn't expecting it to be completely soundproof.
As it is now, I'm told it's not too loud. One of my neighbors said she's never heard anything...which kind of doesn't make sense because it's pretty loud. and by "pretty loud" I mean "stuff moves" :o

//Thanks for the help guys
 
@Jeff D- I was just going to get some Auralex stuff

Don't waste your money. You can do MUCH better (and cheaper) without a single piece of foam. Since you're in the budget phase right now, I'd make sure you have $500-$700 for acoustic treatment to start... :)

(edit; that would be a budget for DIY panels- add a bunch more if you want to buy pre-built)
 
That's my whole point - Experience and know-how will beat the crap out of money every time.
:p(sorry John, I didn't mean to come across like an ***hole. Thanks for expanding on that)

Yeah, I wasn't expecting it to be completely soundproof.
"Soundproof" is a relative concept. It may appear to be soundproof to a neighbor in a brick house 50 feet from an exterior wall, but listen at 5 feet. And thats the catch. A listener in an adjacent room may hear sound at a level that is annoying. For those who are designing spaces with SPECIFIED transmission loss to adjacent spaces, they must MEASURE the existing TL in order to design assemblies that will meet the specification. Usually, with an SPL meter, both inside and out. Of course, it takes a qualified user to analyse the results and extrapolate a solution for any given set of data, as frequency has a direct bearing...especially low frequencies.

One of my neighbors said she's never heard anything...which kind of doesn't make sense because it's pretty loud. and by "pretty loud" I mean "stuff moves"
:p Hahahahahahahahaha! I like it..."stuff moves"!

Thats a good one. I'll remember it.:D

Does her house have a brick exterior too? That might explain it. Since you were producing sound WItHIN a brick shiethed structure, and hers is too, well, that would be a pretty good indication why.

But in reality..you are absolutely right. Especially when it comes to structural transmission of impact noise...like drums. :D You may not see it, but vibrations will transmit through connected structures very easily. Thats why "decoupling" is an important tool when designing for TL. In your case, the slab shouldn't be directly connected to the existing slab..nor should you use the existing exterior wall as part of the studio wall. It should be a seperate assembly..which basically means this add on room really isn't "added on"...as in building THREE walls that are connected to the house envelope. It should be an entirely seperate building, although it may appear to be an add on. The difficult part is the roof. Although, you can decouple the ceiling shiething from the roof via Resilant channel or other decoupling hardware.

Thats not to say you can't. It just means that if you use the existing exterior brick wall as the partition wall to the studio, you might have to design this wall in a different manner..like using Resiliant channel or something. In fact, you might consider building the rest of the three walls using a STAGGERED STUD design. This will help a lot. Especially if you plan on shiething the exterior with a brick veneer.

However, this all assumes you want the best TL you can afford.

Which btw brings up the issue of exterior shiething. Are you planning on matching the BRICK facade? Good for TL...but very expensive to impliment. I'd consider an alternative though with your budget. If no one can see the add on...who cares. Anyway, lots to discuss after I see your plan and pictures. Which reminds me. Take an exterior picture of the exact location where the door to the studio will be. Oh, an what type material is on the wall INSIDE...drywall or plaster?

One other thing. Before you design this whole wall in relationship to the studio...it might be wise to "open" the wall from the inside, where the door is going to be and see what type material is BEHIND the brick. If this is a fairly modern house, there should be some kind of sheithing that the brick is fastened to via mortar clips. If not..thats why you need to know.:D I did a job remodeling a room with a brick fireplace facade one time. Just as we were finishing up the trim around the brick...we discovered the WHOLE BRICK FACADE was loose..we could move it back and forth over 1/2". In an earthquake, this would have collapsed:rolleyes: Anyway, later.
fitZ
 
Don't waste your money. You can do MUCH better (and cheaper) without a single piece of foam. Since you're in the budget phase right now, I'd make sure you have $500-$700 for acoustic treatment to start... :)

(edit; that would be a budget for DIY panels- add a bunch more if you want to buy pre-built)


OHHH so rather than spending $700 on foam, I should spend $700 on better materials (Insulation, panels, etc.)?


:p Hahahahahahahahaha! I like it..."stuff moves"!
Thats a good one. I'll remember it.:D

Awesome :D

Does her house have a brick exterior too? That might explain it. Since you were producing sound WItHIN a brick shiethed structure, and hers is too, well, that would be a pretty good indication why.

It does. Actually every house on my street is brick

Anyway, lots to discuss after I see your plan and pictures. Which reminds me. Take an exterior picture of the exact location where the door to the studio will be. Oh, an what type material is on the wall INSIDE...drywall or plaster?

fitZ

I'm still going to get those pics. It's just hot outside right now :p I live in the Mississippi delta. 108 degrees. :eek:
 
OHHH so rather than spending $700 on foam, I should spend $700 on better materials (Insulation, panels, etc.)?

You want rigid fiberglass or rockwool, which absorbs in pretty much the entire range of human hearing- especially in the bass range. Foam just plain doesn't do any good when it comes to bass absorption, which consequently is where you're bound to have most of your acoustic trouble in any small room. Foam for treating a small room is pretty much a waste. Do a search for DIY basstraps. Also, go check out WhiteStrats new studio thread in this forum. Is place is shaping up nicely. :)
 
Will do.
I just checked out the thread, and I have good news- as a child of the 90's I have not 1 but TWO lava lamps.
 
OHHH so rather than spending $700 on foam, I should spend $700 on better materials (Insulation, panels, etc.)?

That's exactly right. If you plan to DIY, $700 will get you pretty far. It'll get you almost as far even if you buy pre-made (from us, anyway). :)
 
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