Monday, September 9, 2013

Home Studio Acoustics: Part 2

     In the last post I discussed home studio acoustics and ways to improve the quality of your listening environment.  In this continuation I will talk about home studio sound isolation solutions to help keep sound from leaking into your neighbor’s place.  First, the basics of sound isolation.  Sound will ALWAYS find a way through openings.  Any opening, big or small, will let sound pass through.  Sound will also travel through the structure of the wall by vibrating the surface and passing those vibrations to the opposite side.  Three things happen when sound hits a surface.  Some of the energy is reflected, some is absorbed, and some is transferred.  We have already covered reflection and absorption, so onto transference.
    The most obvious place to start is at the door.  The quality of the door is going to make a huge difference in the isolation of the room.  Hollow core doors will let more sound through while solid core doors will absorb and reflect more.  So if you can, try to buy a nice solid door.  The next step is seal around the edges of the door.  You can buy standard seals from a hardware store and install it along the jamb of the door.  When the doors closes it will create a nice seal.  Next is to get a threshold seal for the bottom of the door.  Something along the lines of a standard bubble seal should suffice.  This will stop sound from escaping under the door.  
     

     Next is to find other places where sound can get into the wall or outside of the room.  Such locations include power outlets.  By taking off the faceplate you will notice a gap between the back box and the drywall.  Placing some sealant in this gap will stop sound from escaping.  So where else can sound get out?
     If you have a drop ceiling then chances are sound is escaping from there.  Special acoustic ceiling can be purchased that will not only increase the isolation, but the absorption as well.  If you can’t afford ceiling tiles then placing some insulation above the ceiling will work too.  Now just keep looking for places where sound can escape and do your best to seal up those exits.  Many people have asked me how to improve their walls.  If you have think walls that are bad at isolating sound, then it is best to rebuild the wall to be more resilient.  Using dual layer drywall or mass loaded vinyl is an excellent way to improve the performance of your walls.  Gaps in the fiberglass insulation can let sound through so using sprayed insulation will drastically improve your performance.  It will also save you money on the heating bill!  If you live in an apartment and can’t open your walls to fix them, then there isn’t much you can do.  The best solution is to try and place absorption and diffusion on the wall to catch as much sound to keep it from transferring through the wall.  Keep in mind that more absorption will alter the acoustics inside the room so use with caution.
    
     This concludes the two-part segment on home studio acoustics.  Stay tuned for future posts that will revisit some things in more detail.  Please do some research on your own and familiarize yourself with basic small room acoustics.  It will really help you during the treatment process.  Thanks for reading!


-Jon    

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