mjr
ADD -- blessing and curse
...cheap soundproofing or sound dampening material, and how much does it cost?
R
Rod Gervais
New member
Sound Isolation and Sound Dampening are 2 entirely different animals.
Sound Isolation products equal mass.......... Keep the sound within the space - and then dampen the room with finishes intended to deal with the problems that this causes.
Sound dampeners are meant to deal with problems associated with reflections that screw up the room sound itself. It could be early reflections, peaks and nulls that are the result of room modes, etc.
Probably the most cost effective isolation product is drywall........ however everything else that goes along with it to make properly constructed wall assemblies is anything but cheap.
You will need to be more specific in what you intend.
For example - if you build a wall that gives you 60 db of isolation and have problems with structural tranmission of sound (AKA flanking noise) that effectively reduces your isolation to 30db - then building a wall with 60db of isolation doesn't make financial sense - either everything works - or you build to suit your weakest point.
SO explain more about what you want (need) to do.
But lose the word "cheap" - it doesn't work with isolation.
Rod
Sound Isolation products equal mass.......... Keep the sound within the space - and then dampen the room with finishes intended to deal with the problems that this causes.
Sound dampeners are meant to deal with problems associated with reflections that screw up the room sound itself. It could be early reflections, peaks and nulls that are the result of room modes, etc.
Probably the most cost effective isolation product is drywall........ however everything else that goes along with it to make properly constructed wall assemblies is anything but cheap.
You will need to be more specific in what you intend.
For example - if you build a wall that gives you 60 db of isolation and have problems with structural tranmission of sound (AKA flanking noise) that effectively reduces your isolation to 30db - then building a wall with 60db of isolation doesn't make financial sense - either everything works - or you build to suit your weakest point.
SO explain more about what you want (need) to do.
But lose the word "cheap" - it doesn't work with isolation.
Rod
mjr
ADD -- blessing and curse
Well, I've heard of stories of people who use egg cartons, that padding stuff in upholstered furniture (that yellowish-orangeish soft, squishy stuff), and other types of "sound dampening" materials. They simply put it up over their (drywall) walls & ceiling.
Some of the "sound dampening" materials similiar to the ones I've mentioned above are VERY expensive, and I'm on a very, very tight budget.
Some of the "sound dampening" materials similiar to the ones I've mentioned above are VERY expensive, and I'm on a very, very tight budget.
frederic
New member
And sadly, that material works as good as egg cartons and orangy, spongy stuff looks. 
R
Rod Gervais
New member
mjr said:
I've also heard stories of people who have been abducted by aliens from space and had sex with them............
Actually - i find the alien stories slightly more believable that the egg cartons and squishy materials that go into furniture.
A. They just do not work for squat.
B. They are death traps just waiting for a spark.
Just how much money is your life worth? (Or that of a friend/family member?).
Rod
mjr
ADD -- blessing and curse
Wow! Since you put it that way...scrap the egg cartons and squishy orange stuff.
I've seen really high end dampening materials (they're probably flammable, too) that are used to dampen Radio Frequency Identification signals. That stuff is pretty darned expensive. I suppose if necessary I could buy it a piece or two at a time. All I know is that it's blue, it works really well, and it's super expensive.
Are all dampening materials (other than drywall) fire hazards?
I've seen really high end dampening materials (they're probably flammable, too) that are used to dampen Radio Frequency Identification signals. That stuff is pretty darned expensive. I suppose if necessary I could buy it a piece or two at a time. All I know is that it's blue, it works really well, and it's super expensive.
Are all dampening materials (other than drywall) fire hazards?
frederic
New member
No, official acoustical stuff generally is flame retardant. That means if you bump it with a cigarette its not going to flare up the wall. It is going to melt and smolder a little bit however.
The foam stuff by auralex and markertek generally absorb higher frequencies much better than lower frequencies, so if you want booming bass and no highs, its great stuff. And there are reasons to do that in certain cases. But to drop several hundred dollars and cover a room with foam really isn't a good idea. You could spend that same money elsewhere, and achieve better results.
A common method these days is to build an Ethan Bass Trap, which is a piece of 40 rigid fiberglass stuffed between a 2'x4' pine frame, covered with fabric of your choosing to make the appearance reasonable and contain the fiberglass. One of oh, 1000 ways of treating a room. In my home studio, I'll be using 409 fiberglass traps as well as auralex, in different parts of the room as necessary to tame any acoustic anomilies.
I
The foam stuff by auralex and markertek generally absorb higher frequencies much better than lower frequencies, so if you want booming bass and no highs, its great stuff. And there are reasons to do that in certain cases. But to drop several hundred dollars and cover a room with foam really isn't a good idea. You could spend that same money elsewhere, and achieve better results.
A common method these days is to build an Ethan Bass Trap, which is a piece of 40 rigid fiberglass stuffed between a 2'x4' pine frame, covered with fabric of your choosing to make the appearance reasonable and contain the fiberglass. One of oh, 1000 ways of treating a room. In my home studio, I'll be using 409 fiberglass traps as well as auralex, in different parts of the room as necessary to tame any acoustic anomilies.
I
RICK FITZPATRICK
New member
Hahahaha, good grief Rod, you are getting as bad as me. Well, maybe not quite as bad.
fitZ
F
Freya
New member
Egg Carton Thread:
http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=53313&page=3&pp=25
I think the egg crate foam stuff used to make beds would have to be flame retardant too, tho you should test a tiny piece in your garden before you go sticking it on walls. The egg crate stuff to package things burns really well.
As I say at the end of the thread, I think you are better making cushions.
love
Freya
http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=53313&page=3&pp=25
I think the egg crate foam stuff used to make beds would have to be flame retardant too, tho you should test a tiny piece in your garden before you go sticking it on walls. The egg crate stuff to package things burns really well.
As I say at the end of the thread, I think you are better making cushions.
love
Freya
R
Rod Gervais
New member
mjr said:
Nope,
Wall Covering Products (including acoustic products intended to be exposed) will not sustain flame.
Example:
Take standard packing foam and light it up - remove the flame - it will continue to burn.
Take any acoustic foam product and light it up - remove the flame - it will extinguish itself.
That's the difference
Rod
knightfly
GrouchyOldFartOnBatteries
MJR, before you get any further we need to make it clear that there are two basic goals for a sound room, and that the two are ALMOST completely independent of each other (except that accomplishing the FIRST goal will normally cause you to work harder in order to accomplish the SECOND goal)
First is sound ISOLATION, commonly (incorrectly) called sound PROOFing - this means keeping sound IN or OUT of your space. The result of doing this is the same in both directions; if you keep sound IN, you keep it OUT as well. There is no portable, cheap, or easy way to accomplish serious isolation. There are, however, less expensive ways; you start by learning enough of the basic physics of sound control NOT to waste time, money or materials.
Second is sound CONDITIONING, or acoustic treatment. This means making the room SOUND GOOD, and is done AFTER you decide on, and accomplish, the level of ISOLATION you actually NEED - acoustic treatment of a space does very little to change the isolation, but isolation construction WILL change the acoustics in the room - this is why the isolation needs to be taken care of FIRST; otherwise, acoustic treatment that worked before will CHANGE, especially on the low frequency end.
That said, are you concerned at all with keeping sound IN/OUT, or just with getting a GOOD sound WITHIN the room, or is it BOTH?
It's not possible to solve a problem until you know WHAT problem you're solving; all the above is intended to help you decide WHAT your problem(s) is/are, so we can help you find a solution... Steve
First is sound ISOLATION, commonly (incorrectly) called sound PROOFing - this means keeping sound IN or OUT of your space. The result of doing this is the same in both directions; if you keep sound IN, you keep it OUT as well. There is no portable, cheap, or easy way to accomplish serious isolation. There are, however, less expensive ways; you start by learning enough of the basic physics of sound control NOT to waste time, money or materials.
Second is sound CONDITIONING, or acoustic treatment. This means making the room SOUND GOOD, and is done AFTER you decide on, and accomplish, the level of ISOLATION you actually NEED - acoustic treatment of a space does very little to change the isolation, but isolation construction WILL change the acoustics in the room - this is why the isolation needs to be taken care of FIRST; otherwise, acoustic treatment that worked before will CHANGE, especially on the low frequency end.
That said, are you concerned at all with keeping sound IN/OUT, or just with getting a GOOD sound WITHIN the room, or is it BOTH?
It's not possible to solve a problem until you know WHAT problem you're solving; all the above is intended to help you decide WHAT your problem(s) is/are, so we can help you find a solution... Steve