| Soundproofing Is NOT "Room Treatment" [message #74467] |
Tue, 13 November 2012 18:03  |
VoigtClub
Messages: 15
Registered: October 2012
Location: Cambridge, MA
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Chancellor |
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I wanted to make this thread to help clear up the most common confusion regarding "soundproofing" vs. "acoustical treatment".
SOUNDPROOFING refers to blocking sound -- either keeping it out of your room (to make a quiet room) or keeping it in (to keep from disturbing others).
With only a few specific exceptions, there is only one way to block sound -- With MASS.
In other words, the only way to soundproof a room is to block off the sound with something heavy, ie. A SOLID WALL, and seal the cracks.
ROOM TREATMENT refers to making a room sound better by reducing echoes and bass resonances. You do this with ABSORBERS... like foam, blankets, and carpets, for high frequencies, and acoustical bass traps for low frequencies.
Light absorbers like foam, curtains, and blankets, are NOT soundproofing materials, because they do not block sound -- they merely absorb a small band of frequencies, allowing the rest of the sound to pass through.
It's true that putting blankets and carpets on the walls of your garage will make your band less annoying to the neighbors, but it's not because of "soundproofing" -- it's because the absorbers helped turn down your volume inside the garage. (You might have accomplished the same thing by not playing so loud!)
So in summary:
-- If what you want is to turn down the volume of certain annoying frequencies, you can use cheap absorbers like foam and blankets.
-- If you actually need to block sound, the only way to do that is with MASS, ie. by adding another layer of drywall (only -3dB difference) or by setting up another wall inside of the existing one... AND sealing all the cracks airtight.
Hope this helps. 
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