Improving Room Acoustics

[blaupunk]

For those of you considering improving the acoustics of your listening space whether it is a gut job, or a more modest make over may I direct you to a product named 'Green Glue' for consideration.  Even if it turns out to not be your cup of tea, there are loads of interesting and useful tips to all things acoustic to help you make informed decisions.

You may find this product is just right for your purposes and is very cost effective compared with other audiophile 'hobbyist' (sorry I couldn't resist) alternatives.
I was not able to go the Mikel route, so I took the Frugal approach instead.  No slam there Mikel, my lot is .23 acres (postage stamp) and I am in a critical areas region of the Chesapeake Bay.  I had to stay within my home footprint.

I have no financial interest in any way, shape, or form with Green Glue their distributors, or their retailers.

[Dan Robertson]

Thanks for the info! I'm always looking for new ways to control and tame noise and sound in my listening room. Most of my sound treatments are home made, and have made a huge positive difference in the sound of my system. The nice thing about doing it yourself is not only the reduced cost, but the ability to try different things and find what works best in your room. After all, there is no theory or program that can take into account all the variables that exist in our listening rooms.

Dan

[ironbut]

It's good to hear that Green Glue works. I've been thinking about trying some between some layers of drywall and mdf to reduce the transmission of sound between the two halves of the duplex I live in.
Did you buy it directly from the manufacturer?

[Teeg]

  Green Glue is popular with the home theater crowd; these guys go to great lengths to decouple their rooms from the rest of the structure and have all sorts of tricks.....glue, special clips, etc. Check out 'Dedicated Theater Design and Construction' threads over at AVS Forum.

Tj

[blaupunk]

Steve,
You will get the best deal purchasing from an online etailer from the green glue website.
The guys in Richmond Va. are great, but I believe there are closer sources for you.
Calculate 3 tubes pre 4X8 sheet of drywall.
If you follow instructions, it is almost no mess at all.

If you let your neighbors know what you are up to they may offer to subsidize the project, unless they really like the same music as you do at all hours of the day or night!

[mikel]

if you are needing to do the maximum amount of isolation in the very minimum of depth, there is a great product perfectly designed for that; Quietrock 545THX. read about it here.

this product is used over drywall, it weighs about 210 pounds per 4'X8' sheet (costs approx $200 per sheet). it is a constrained layer design including a 1/4" layer of steel. it will create a 50db barrier at low frequencies and a 90db barrier at high freqencies in 1 and 3/8th inch depth.

green glue would be when you have 4" to 8" of depth and can use multiple layers of drywall. it still won't do what Quietrock will do.

if you are living in a condo or apartment and don't want to lose square footage to isolation Quietrock is 'the Bomb'!

i used 14 sheets of it in my room to solve a bass response imbalance problem. it created equal room boundaries on both sides of my room and solved a problem i had.

[docb]

Thanks for that link, Mike. My landlord had mentioned that material for use in isolating our new listening room from the sounds of distillery next door, but he didn't remember the brand name.

[ironbut]

Yeah, thanks Mike. I'm really just shopping for the different options right now. My old company had done several installations with Quietrock (particularly home theaters and kid's rooms) but just like Doc, I couldn't remember the name either!
In my case, I'm the landlord so I'm planning on doing both sides of the common wall plus lining my side with kitchen cabinetry.

I'm hoping to be able to crank up the volume anytime I feel like it without driving the tenants crazy. I should probably just find an aging rocker with significant hearing loss to rent that unit out to. Of course, there's nothing worse than having a neighbor that listens to his tv at 120 dB.

[mikel]

thanks Doc and Steve,

glad to be of help.

btw, my long time contractor, who did the original work on my room as well as the Quietrock project, about wanted to kill me after fighting the Quietrock. it's kinda nasty stuff to work with since it must be cut with a metal saw and it's so heavy. not for the faint of heart.

but it did exactly what my acoustic designer said it would do.

i think i ended up paying about $175 per 4"x 8" sheet. the drywall supply place had it in stock, so you can get it easily.

Mike

[jeri]

Yikes!  210 lb per sheet and 1/4-inch steel plate?!!  I guess it is literally bullet-proof.  How is it installed?  Welded?  And what about the ceiling?  What holds it up?

[mikel]

Yikes!  210 lb per sheet and 1/4-inch steel plate?!!  I guess it is literally bullet-proof.  How is it installed?  Welded?  And what about the ceiling?  What holds it up?

my room already had the whole room cocooned in a sandwitch of 5/8th" sheetrock<->1/2" soundboard<->5/8th"sheetrock. so the Quietrock was screwed (with very long screws) and glued to the drywall surface.

it is possible the metal layer is aluminum, but i think it's steel. i know they had a special blade on their saw to cut it. there are specs on the website for handling.

i did not use it on the ceiling but as long as it was screwed into studs properly anchored it should hold the weight just fine. normal sheetrock is not light.

[joeljoel1947]

Or, as another option you could spend $89 and get full 24-bit DSP room correction on the bass bins and make it perfectly flat +/- 1dB from 150Hz to well below 20Hz if you have the right subwoofers employed.  That is if you can accept such a thing being in your system....

IMHO, its the only way to fly.

[blaupunk]

What no off gassing of glues and acoustic sealants, drywall dust, and drywall 'mud' sanding generated fog?
Where is your sense of adventure and lung disease?
Can you see me now?
After we suffer, we employ the room correction software; but first we suffer.

But as for the steel layer of the Quiet rock, is that for the purposes of sound, or protection from a wayward hunter with a 30/06 looking to bag a deer, bear or moose?

[blaupunk]

Steve,
Quietrock for kids rooms?
OMG!
Was this at the house of detention, the PlayBoy mansion, or mom and pops split foyer?

Did Jeffrey Dahlmer do testimonials for this stuff?  I am sure he needed quiet to concentrate.

"Bad Day at Quiet Rock"?
Word association therapy in progress with a touch of cinema trivia ala Lee Marvin, Spencer Tracy, Ernest Borgine, Robert Ryan, Ann Francis, Dean Jagger, and Walter Brennan.  Even the cactus looked great.
Great film music as well.

My therapist says I should rest now.

[joanacaptrika]

Interesting thread.
This quietrock is really something.
I?ve been hearing that QuietRock is a good product for soundproofing walls.
Saw it on this show called Holmes on Homes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_x6DE9RAL0