So my room at the moment is in a converted garage, so its off to the side of the building and single story. The wall facing the house is technicly an outside wall so its around 8 inches thick, however my family can still hear a lot of the noise I make in my room (I dabble in audio production), so basiclly I want to soundproof that wall so I can make my noise in peice. The wall is about 3m long and 2m high.
What would be my best angle of approch at this?
Thanks in advance
Bump
depends on what kind of budget you have, theres sound absorbing fiberglass panels that you can get there, i'll look for the site. in my room its only a 9x12 so i was having problems with sound just bouncing around which caused a poor listening experiance so i went to walmart and picked up some foam pads ( like what you sleep on) and that helped alot. but for blocking sound going into the house you need seal all air gaps like under the door and where the door makes contact to the door fram make sure it shuts snug and no light passes through. you can put sound damping boards up. theres a few options the foam stuff is stupid expensive. fiberglass stuff is much cheaper. I belive theres a wiki on this. I looked into it alot cuase i enjoy max volume and im sure my roomates don't
Well, acoustic foam would be a logical choice. It's the stuff you see in recording studios. You can also make some sound dampening panels out of OSB or Insulshield and cover them with fabric. All common sound dampening practices. That said, the best sound dampening technique I've personally seen (er, heard) is the use of an air cavity.
There are a few ways to do this, but the most common is to frame up a second wall in front of the existing wall, leaving an air pocket in between the two. The larger the gap between the two walls, the better it is for soundproofing (the greater the distance, the lower the frequency resonance and the less likely you are to produce a sound at the frequency). I'm by no means an expert on this, I've only really seen this type of thing in passing. Just google Quadruple Leaf Sound Proofing and you should find everything you need.
It's more expensive, more work and eats up floor space though... so it's not ideal for everyone. One good thing is that you are working with a wall that has a relatively small surface area. That should keep costs down no matter what method you choose.
http://gikacoustics.com/the-basics-bass-traps-diffusion-panels/
this is kind of the idea. its more about improving sound quality but at the same time a panel to absorb frequencies would also stop them from traveling so far
Buy a bunch of mattresses and put them against your walls.
False wall with a sheets of bed comfort >link< foam (has a similar shape to that of acoustic foam but is way way cheaper), works almost as good. As above, mattresses work quite well. Or go ghetto and cover the wall in egg cartons.
Egg cartons do zilch for acoustic purposes and pose a potential fire hazard. Not a good idea in my book.
MASS. Sound waves are energy. The only way professional recording studios exist in big cities is because they have fake sub-floors to reduce outside sound vibrations. On the other-hand, nobody hears you scream through a 12" thick wall of a turn of the century building.
Acoustic foam is great for isolating sound for recording and higher frequencies. If you want to be quiet in your situation, turn down the bass.
Egg cartons can do much to break up standing waves. Are they more of a fire hazard than acoustic foam/mattresses/anything else other than more mass like 2 inches of sheet rock?
Egg cartons can do much to break up standing waves.
Not much. (http://recordandproduce.com/studio-design-construction/egg-cartons-to-sound-proof-your-studio-help/)
Also, egg cartons are highly flammable. You can use them as fire starters.
It's a TERRIBLE idea, and I would wholeheartedly advise against putting an egg carton anywhere near a wall. No bueno.
I'm in no way suggesting it is a good solution, but a fire hazard? Ok...
They are still a fire hazard when they sit in the garbage can. I don't know where you live, but 1/2 the notorious "egg cartons" where I live are made from recycled material which also burns, the other half are foam.
If your garage burned down for any reason, it won't be the egg cartons on the wall that started it... But they also won't fix the noise issue.
Additionally, go look at you chart and do a price comparison. I've got walls of acoustic foam in my house, guess what? it burns - ...
I don't think you get what I'm trying to say.
People use egg cartons to start campfires. They're really freaking flammable! Your acoustic foam is usually coated with a flame retardant spray, and though it might burn at some point, at least you can't start a campfire with it.
Take another peak at that chart. The egg cartons work from 500-1000 Hz, which is pretty useless for soundproofing reasons. Foam is bad for soundproofing (and room treatment) too, as neither can do much for bass frequencies. Get some Owen's Corning 703 or Roxul Safe n' Sound.
Go to any respectable audio forum (with people who actually work in the industry) and ask them about egg cartons. I dare ya.
I understand what you are saying, but...
My acoustic foam from a reliable supplier can be used to start campfires.
You miss the point of using egg crates. Acoustic foam absorbs soundwaves due to its massive surface area. Egg crates disperse soundwaves due to their shape.
You can dare me all you want, i'll bet i've spent more that a couple minutes in a studio (and building them). We''re not talking about a studio here... Your insulation suggestion is surface area...
AND, to deal with bass, you must have MASS.
Egg crates disperse soundwaves due to their shape.
And are ineffective at doing so and are a MASSIVE fire hazard. Worse than acoustic foam. Worse than insulation. Worse than mattresses. Put a lighter to an egg carton. Yeah, not smart.
Do egg cartons diffuse sound? Yes.
Are they particularly good at it? No, they're too small. You're better off building an actual diffuser, or using a bookshelf, or anything else that you can't combine with gasoline to make napalm.
If you're building studios professionally and you're using/recommending egg cartons, you are putting your clients in danger and didn't deserve the job.
Additionally, the mass of quality insulation is greater than the mass of foam or egg cartons. That's why they do better with low frequencies.
I never said it was the safest option, or an effective option for the OP's needs, but you're going way overboard on this. I also like your link to some dude's chart trying to show sound absorption rates in his situation. Of course I did not say they were good for sound absorption, but why should you bother reading when you can rant about something you know nothing about.
Just use mattresses. Theres like 20 free mattresses on craigslist in my area. You could even paint them or something if you would like.
hahahahhahahhahahaha
cheap and affective: http://www.eevblog.com/2011/05/23/eevblog-172-diy-acoustic-sound-panels/
Lol at the guy who's worried about spontaneously combusting
use mattress foam