Building a completely soundproof room

I want to build a completely soundproof room, for vocals/drums/guitar amps. I need completely dead space so that no at home can hear, and I can't hear anyone in there. I know how to frame too, so I can frame extra walls, heavily insulate, cover it with drywall, and then put some foam on the outside for no reverb off the drywall.

 

What type of insulation can I use to make it completely soundproof?

 

Any special type of drywall?

 

Should I use 2x6 instead of 2x4 for thicker walls?

 

Special type of soundproof doors for entrance?

 

I want a sheet of glass so i can turn my computer monitor around and record myself in the booth using wireless keyboard/mouse. Should I use plexi glass? Do I need to double it up, or do I just need a really thick piece?

 

Also is ventilation necessary? I saw some vents on a site that were $800, that seams a little bit expensive, and it said it has (low noise fans), but low noise isn't good enough, I want no noise.

 

oooh im getting excited.

 

Please help!

The typical soundproof room design is a room-within-a-room, where the interior room is floated, leaving dead air space between the walls of the interior and exterior room that disperses the energy of the sound in the interior room. Short of building that (which can get very expensive), the general theory is that mass stops sound. That's why companies like Auralex sell special rubber (neoprene?) sheeting that can be used as a sound barrier, installed behind sheetrock and so on. Probably the best thing to do would be to visit the Auralex website, keeping in mind that soundproofing means using various building materials and construction techniques in the actual construction of the room -- a totally different and separate approach from treating the acoustics of a room by using various materials (like foam and fabric/fiberglass panels, quadriatic diffusers, and bass traps) placed in an existing room to disperse reflections and standing waves or trap bass frequency buildup.

 

I suggest that before you start worring about ventilation, learn the basics of soundproofing from that Auralex website.

thats about right.

 

First - you simply can't afford a "completely" silent room.

 

You'll get the most bang for your buck with a wall and ceiling shell, with double doors. Yes - you should use 2 different thickness sheets of glass.

 

Look into resilient channeling to hang sheetrock on.

 

Beyond that, you'll need to spend a LOT of money to get much further (floating floors etc), And a single shell room is far from "completely silent" but it will be MUCH better (I've built two with good success, but reasonable expectations).

 

ventilation is a bitch. i found some insulated flexible ducting in 25 foot lengths at home depot once. If you snake that around a bit, above a ceiling, and bring it in through a box, it works pretty well, but this will compromise the room. Thus, you have to move into expensive approaches to be really effective.

 

Sorry - but that kick drum and bass guitar are just gonna travel...

 

As ski points out - people often confuse sound isolation with acoustical treatment. They have little in common.

 

good luck!!!!

Ok thanks for the help so far. Im checking out the auralex website. And yes I am prepared to spend big dollar.

 

Now if it is in a basement, do you think its really necessary to have a floating floor?

 

And also, If I am framing in a room(large vocal booth) within a corner of a bigger room, would it be ok to frame the wall right up against the existing drywall ie. a layer of rubber, 2 layers of drywall (dif thickness), stagerred studs insulated, layer of rubber, drywall 2 thickenesses, then absorbers.

 

Or should there literally be a gap between the two walls (spiders and bugs and dust might get in there).

I want to build a completely soundproof room, for vocals/drums/guitar amps. I need completely dead space so that no at home can hear, and I can't hear anyone in there. . . . .

 

What type of insulation can I use to make it completely soundproof?

With the possible exception of the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle, "completely soundproof" is not a reasonable goal.

 

And yes I am prepared to spend big dollar.

Good. Hire an architect. The problem is that you can spend many, many thousands on materials and construction based on dubious "web recommendations" but it only takes one small mistake in design, construction or material selection to render most of that expense useless. You need a comprehensive plan. You also need to have a specific target noise transmission criteria because when you reach a certain point, the cost to achieve each additional dB of isolation raises exponentially.

 

FYI, a couple of years ago I was involved with someone who had similar desires. It turned out to be cheaper to build an outbuilding from scratch for her studio than it was to convert her basement. The point is that if you don't bring in the proper expertise in the front end, a lot of money can be wasted.

I would pay to get old and half-deaf neighbours .

Hi All!

 

There have been some great advancement in the understanding of walls and sound isolation. It is indeed possible to get great sound isolation without breaking the bank if the 4 basic elements of sound isolation are used. In my work, I help people who are using sound isolation to address situations like not wanting to hear their neighbors in a condominium, to Home Theaters, Music Practice Rooms and Recording Studios.

 

The Four Basic Elements of Sound Isolation are:

Mass (The heavier the wall the better)

Absorption (Insulation - for mid-high range frequencies)

Decoupling (To stop a direct path for sound transmission)(Double Stud/Room w/in Room), Staggered Stud, or Clip/Hat Channel)

Damping (To take the resonance out of the panel)

 

In addressing sound isolation you have to address low end frequencies.

 

If you have the opportunity (Sounds like you do), make a double stud (Room within a Room) wall with the bottom plate at least 1/2" away from your concrete exteriors walls. Airspace is your friend so the more you can afford, the better.

 

For your new walls, make a double stud or staggered stud (2'x 4's staggered on 2x6" plates) wall framed @ 16" OC. These are both decoupled wall types and you get a great deal of low end performance from these assemblies.

 

If you are concerned with loosing too much space with either of those two wall assemblies, then perhaps think about framing a single stud wall @ 24" OC and using Resilient Clips and Hat Channel to decouple. This will allow for more flex in your panel which is good.

 

For the ceiling, use the same approach.

 

Here's an example

 

On double stud or staggered stud walls: 2 or 3 layers 5/8" DW with 1 to 2 Damping layers

Stud (Insulation in cavity) > 5/8" DW > Damping Compound > 5/8" DW (> Damping Compound > 5/8" DW)

 

On Resilient Clip/Hat Channel Wall: 2 or 3 layers 5/8" DW with 1 to 2 Damping layers (The DW gets attached to Hat Channel, not stud)

Stud (Insulation in cavity) > Clips on Stud > Hat Channel on Clip > 5/8" DW > Damping Compound > 5/8" DW (> Damping Compound > 5/8" DW)

 

It is common to see that if not using a damping compound to use two different thicknesses of DW, but when using damping compounds (which takes the resonance out of the panel) Mass is better, so 2 to 3 layers of 5/8" is the ticket.

 

Solid core doors with a good door seal system. There are some good ways to address ventilation as well.

 

I see that my post got fairly long. I'd be happy to help if you have more questions.

 

I hope this helped.

You can get it reasonably quiet, but forget about totally quiet for what it will cost.

 

It had better be well ventilated because if someone cuts a stinky....

 

http://www.steptalk.org/images/smileys/barf.gif

 

 

 

 

7 manuals, 314 voices, 449 ranks, 1,235 stops, 33,112 pipe... the world's largest, most powerful, and most complicated musical instrument is located in the auditorium of the Atlantic City Convention Hall in New Jersey. Designed by State Senator Emerson Lewis Richards (1884-1963) during 1927-28, and built by the Midmer-Losh Organ Company of Long Island, New York between May, 1929, and December, 1932, this organ could be called "The King of the King of Instruments".

 

It possesses one of the two full 64' stops in existence, the Dulzian-Diaphone Profunda (8 Hz, or C-1), and this can be combined with the 42 2/3' Dulzian-Diaphone stop to produce an acoustic 128' (4Hz, or C-2). Even this monster stop is voiced on 35 inches of wind, giving it literally earthshaking output. Upon its first usage, it was found that rivets in the rafters would come loose, and soundproofing would be shaken from the ceiling of the building!

 

The organ possesses four stops voiced on 100 inches of wind pressure, one of which, the Grand Ophicleide, is considered by Guiness Book of World Records to be the world's loudest organ stop, with a measured output of over 130 dB at 1 meter distance.

 

This organ has a limitless number of other unique features. More information can be found about it at http://www.acchos.org/ and at http://www.die-orgelseite.de/index_e.html, including a complete stop list.

You can get it reasonably quiet, but forget about totally quiet for what it will cost.

 

I respectfully disagree. If a sound isolation project is planned carefully, great sound isolation can be done for a bit more than a typical remodeling project using readily available building products like ordinary drywall. These projects are 90% planning and 10% construction.

 

elgrizzle did state that he had a budget and I believe that he can get much better than "reasonably quiet" if done correctly. Sound isolation projects are becoming very popular with the introduction of the Home Theater, and the techniques used are easy, and effective.

 

I agree completely that ventilation will be needed, and there are ways to do this properly as well.

Wow thanks for all the info John Hile, and everyone else. This is very usefull, I very much appreciate it, I plan on doing the 2x6 with staggered 2x4. Im not sure what your meaning for use the same approach for the ceiling.

 

1. Is there any use of putting DW on the outside of the new walls?

 

2. What type of insulation should I use behind the DW? I guess I'll just go to home depot and get the densest most soundproof insulation the have?

 

3.Oh and what about that heavy rubber sheets(db-bloc) before I put on the drywall?

 

I think Im gonna go with two different thicknesses of drywall, 1/2 then 5/8s

 

4.Is there some sort of special set up to get cables through either than running them underground?

 

5.Also, seeing as we will be blocking soundwaves, will a wireless keyboard and mouse work through all of this?

 

6.And how thick should glass be for a window? are there special types of frames to use for indoor windows. I know you guys said something about using two different thicknesses, I know a friend who works at a window shop I could get him to make this for me.

 

7.If I had a choice, should I frame in something for the corners of the room, or will some triangular shaped foam suffice?

 

I need to know more about ventilation too. Here is what I am thinking. a zigzag type of pattern made out of thick rubber (about 6 layers top and bottom) with an extremely quiet fan on the outside of the vent/soundroom.

If you want glass, get a studio window, don't mess with doing it yourself. Real windows are vacuum sealed and are 2 panes of glass set in a metal frame at different angles. Also, without a floating floor, you will still hear things like trains, planes, and large trucks such as the garbage truck. I used to use a shock-mounted U87 and even in a pro studio which for all intensive purposes was soundproof, you could still hear the trains. The one floating floor in the building was the only truly isolated room. We aren't talking about sound waves anymore, but physical vibration through the ground, up the mic stand, and into the diaphragm. If true isolation is what you want, spend the money and float the floor. Also 4 layers of drywall, staggered like stair steps is pretty standard as well as steel doors/frames. The air ducts are so expensive because they produce no air noise when the system is running. This will also be one of your biggest issues, which is most easily combatted by installing a manual switch for your a/c. Just cut it off when you record. Good Luck.

Your welcome, and here is some answers to your questions.

 

If you have foundation walls, you only have to build 2 x 4 single stud walls with the base plate at least 1/2" away from the original wall (more airspace is better if you can afford the space). This wall will be decoupled from the foundation wall. Then for your new framed wall, use your staggered stud wall. Here is a link that describes a couple of different ways to address your ceiling: http://www.soundproofingcompany.com/index.php?/library/articles/room_within_a_room

 

1. You do not want to put drywall on the outside of the new walls. You want to have as deep a cavity as you can between the existing wall and the inside DW panel.

If you have: Original wall . Airspace > panel > Airspace > panel You will end up with what is called a Triple Leaf Wall and the wall would perform even worse than if you hadn't built this new wall at all.

 

2. You do not have to get expensive, super dense insulation for the cavity. Insulation's job in the sound isolation equation is to absorb mid to high end frequencies. In many tests on different isolation, there is no real difference between expensive and inexpensive insulation. Simple inexpensive pink R-13 works as good as anything else for the wall cavities, and for the ceiling Joist cavities, use R-19 (It's a bit thicker as joist cavities are usually deeper) You don't want to have your insulation packed tightly (this may cause coupling) just put it in there nice and loose.

 

3. Products like dB-Block or other types of MLV (Mass Loaded Vinyl) are a waste of $ and hard to work with. What this does is add Mass to the wall. MLV is roughly $1.75 - $2.50 sq.ft, and weighs 1 to 2 lbs/sq.ft.. This would be roughly $56 for a 4'x8' section. A 4'x8' panel of $10/board 5/8" Drywall weighs 2.2 lbs/sq.ft. Drywall = More Mass & much less cost.

 

If using a damping compound like Green Glue you do not need 2 different thicknesses of DW. I would go with 2 to 3 layers x 5/8" drywall for more mass. If you have never heard of Green Glue, here is a link that describes it quite well. It is being used in many high end theaters, and recording studios. http://store.soundproofingcompany.com/category_s/1.htm

 

4. There are many ways to run cable without compromising sound isolation.

 

5. If you are talking about using wireless from control room to live room, I don't think the glass is going to stop the signal. I'm not 100% sure, just my guess.

 

6. I believe that bmdaugherty has good advice as far as a studio window goes. Consult your friend as well to see which way makes more sense for you.

 

bmdaugherty's comment on a floating floor is a good one. If you do have loud noise sources such as trucks, trains, plains, etc. produce a great deal of low end frequency. Many times it can effect the studio by resonating the structure causing structure-borne sound and vibration (coming up the mic stand) and airborne sound that will come through undamped walls that can be picked up through the Mic. Here is a link to making a floating Floor: http://www.soundproofingcompany.com/index.php?/library/articles/flooring_options If you look at the top pic, the "subfloor" would be your concrete floor.

 

7. I take it you want to do this to reduce reflections. It would be your choice as I have seen it done as part of the build out, and after. In either case, make your square isolated room shell first then build in you corners.

 

And as far as ventilation goes... This article will help you a great deal: http://www.soundproofingcompany.com/index.php?/library/articles/the_dead_vent

 

Once again, I see my post has grown long.

 

I do hope it helps.

Hello. I was doing a similar project. To be honest, it was not easy. The biggest challenge was choosing the normal materials. Some of the materials are great but very expensive. I couldn’t pick a chunky middle. But when I made the floor I was lucky and I used Rigid Core Vinyl Flooring. Some LVPs include a 68 STC rated acoustic underlay for comfort and sound absorption. The design uses an incredibly easy-to-install locking and locking system.