Hello teamdresch, What makes you think you need staggered steel studs? What woud you do with the studs opposite the sheithing studs? Especially if the walls are concrete.
Considering you want to record rock bands, you want to soundproof, and are considering using a staggered wall before you even know you need it, you need to understand some things first.
Number one, I'm no expert, although I and others can help you. But only if you help us by providing information. LOTS OF IT! However, there are things you must do yourself first. We can't communicate if you don't know what we are talking about. Like STC.
#2. Soundproofing is not an easy task and is ONLY as good as its weakest link, which can be any number of things. Even your construction technique lazyness. SoundPROOFING is a misnomer. There are levels of SOUND ATTENUATION, which have been designated as a rating by testing authoritys. These ratings are assigned to tested assemblys, such as doors, walls, floors jambs, ceilings, roofs etc and etc. Simply stated, these ratiangs are called STC.....which means....SOUND TRANSMISSION CLASS....Here is a definition
Sound Transmission Class rates a partition’s resistance to airborne sound transfer
at the speech frequencies (125-4000 Hz). The higher the number, the better the
isolation.
STC Strength: Classifies an assembly’s resistance to airborne sound transmission in a
single number.
STC Weakness: This rating only assesses isolation in the speech frequencies and
provides no evaluation of the barrier’s ability to block low frequency noise, such as the
bass in music or the noise of some mechanical equipment.
Here is an example:
An assembly rated at STC 50 will satisfy some building code requirements, however,
residents could still be subject to awareness, if not understanding, of loud speech. It is
typically argued that luxury accommodations require a more stringent design goal (as
much as 10dB better – STC 60). Regardless of what STC is selected, all air-gaps and
penetrations must be carefully controlled and sealed. Even a small air-gap can degrade
the isolation integrity of an assembly.
It is a measure of tested assemblys that are given a rating that assures designers the assemblies ability to attenuate sound will meet these ratings. The higher the number, the better the assembly restricts the transmission of sound. Hence weakest link. Why build a wall with a rating of 65 when your door only reachs a rating of 34. Another thing, for every db increase in sound attenuation target, it requires TEN TIMES the ability of the assembly to meet this need. In otherwords, if your STC target is 60, to reach 61, it requires an assembly with 10 times more resistance to transmission. Now, when you start pounding drums and blasting Marshall Amps, you enter the world of INTENSE awareness of every little detail. Otherwise you are wasting your time and money. Unless you have it to waste. I don't, hence the attempt at enlightenment.
Notice that this definition states....AIRBORN. It says nothing in regards to STRUCTURAL TRANSMISSION or impact transmission of noise. And to your neighbors, your much practiced music may well be NOISE to them. Bass Drums cause IMPACT noise. Bass amps on a membrane floor is a perfect generator of STRUCTURAL transmission. Your floor is wood. IS it a membrane, or simply a veneer over a slab. Get my drift?
#3Soundproofing construction DEMANDS attention to detail. Simply put, a 1/32" hole might as be a 1" hole, as sound propogates by pressure. Therefore, the soundproof room is an AIRPROOF room. Which creates a conundrum. No air, no breath. Comprende? That is the real problem. Heat build up from equipment, lights, and human beings makes for an unhealthy envioronment at worst, uncomfortable for musicians at best. Hence, your biggest problem is HVAC and venting. Later on that.
#4.Soundproofing is NOT intuition friendly. You cannot second guess it, unless you like to waste time and money. EITHER, you do it right, or you fail. PERIOD. You CAN improve the rooms ability to attenuate sound by using some techniques and materials that are designed for this purpose, but to meet a STC design goal means you must DEFINE it. Not an easy task. Although, the use of a Sound Level Meter, can be usefull in determining how LOUD the sound is in the room, and at a given distance. However, the use of this meter is only as good as the operater is at interpreting and using the data. Needless to say, flying by the seat of your pants on the flight to soundproofing can lead to a reality stall. And an empty pocket book while STILL not soundproof.
5# Sound attenuation is achieved by two methods. MASS, and decoupling. This can be deceiving though.
Sound transmitts though ANYTHING, including concrete. In fact, sound travels faster in solids, than in air. Simply applying mass to a wall may raise the attenuation, but will not stop it. Decoupling combined with mass is the usual stratagy to maximize the attenuation. This is achieved in various ways. However, it is no simple task to decouple a floor, let alone a floor with a room built upon it, which is called "room in a room". Which given a certain STC goal, may need it. I don't know what your goal is. And as it is beyond the scope of one small post to describe all there is to learn prior to attempting a project like this.
I suggest you do some reading. Start here on HR. Do a search on SOUNDPROOFING and read EVERYTHING. Especially by KNIGHTFLY..
Then go here....READ THE STICKYS!! There is more info there than we could post in a month.
http://johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=6eec816a43cf6848fcb0dcd4ab1a337c
No one can tell you everything you need to know on one thread. Especially if you are not construction savvy. And from your description of your room , I can tell you have a lot to learn. Forgive me if this sounds condencending, its not intended that way but the way to ask intelligent questions is to know a little about the subject. It does no good to tell you to use RC if you don't know what it is or what it does, not to mention the correct way to use it. So, do some reading first, and then come back armed with pertinent questions. I or others will be glad to help then. You also need to define your soundproofing goals. Simply saying you want to soundproof, is like saying you want to learn music theory. Teaching you a C7sus chord is not teaching you theory. Teaching you the 60 chord system is. So regarding soundproofing, you need to learn some theory first if you want to succeed. A lot of that theory is found on the link.
Cheers
fitZ
What is it you want to do? Soundproofing or treating the room? Budget? Adjacency to neighbors? Airports? Freeways?
What kind of music? Recording? What type, bands, yourself, drums? Rehearsal? Garage car door? Are you sure the walls are concrete and not stucco, as this is a bit unusual to have concrete walls and no slab. Are you sure the wood floor is not applied over a slab? If not, what sort of structure is it? Joist size, sheithing, etc? What is on the interior walls? Open ceiling to the roof it sounds like. Are there joists across the cieling, or are there truss'es? Any electrical? Be as thorough as possible or the answers won't relate as well. One piece of missing info can make a difference in solutions and budget.
Thats the problem. Unless you know how much soundproofing in STC you need, its all guess work. But I'll take a shot, since you've already been to Johns, which I'm surprized you didn't get any satisfaction from Steve. But he is very busy with work. Sooo. Ok. Lets start.
But man, I do have some questions regarding this "two" leaf thing that don't make a damn bit of sense to me. I've drawn up some different types of scenarios for two leaf walls, floors and ceiling/roof assemblys. I'll post em this weekend on your forum. Hey, about the hemholtz formula reply, don't take my questions as an afront, even though they may sound like it Steve. You know me. Always questioning everything, like "why didn't my new muffler bearings stop the blue smoke? The sales guy said they were "top notch"...special...high tech....made of titanium....AND he'd make me a deal of the century...if I bought a 10 pack he'd let me have em at half price....I mean, wtf, how can ya go wrong! I know, I bet they were made in China.....
