Soundproofing Articles

The Soundproofing Company has assembled several articles and laboratory data that hopefully will give you a better understanding of the sound isolation challenges you face. We have found that if you have a better understanding of the science involved, the proper soundproofing solution will be more obvious.

As always, if the project proves more than you can wrap your arms around, consider calling us for a complimentary consultation. Call (800) 397-8791

Acoustical Glossary

Don’t let a few soundproofing terms slow you down. This Glossary of Acoustic Terms will help you. Included in the glossary are definitions for various soundproofing words, as well as detailed descriptions of sound isolation concepts.

Elements of Room Construction

How exactly do you build a soundproof room? Start with a basic understanding soundproofing construction. If you understand the basics, you'll have a more educated eye to view your problem room. This article explains step-by-step the various elements of soundproof room construction.

Flanking

Build a big wall between you and your neighbor. You can still hear neighbor’s noise? How can that be? How does sound sneak around a brand new soundproof wall? We call this phenomenon Flanking Noise. Sound entered the floor and snuck under your new wall. Or noise enters the ceiling and scoots over your new soundproof wall. Flanking is a major problem that you need to be aware of. Learn what you’re up against with flanking and how to deal with it.

Furring Channel with Resilient Sound Clips

For high level soundproofing you need to deploy some method to decouple the framing from the drywall. A very common and effective soundproofing solution is to use resilient sound isolation clips and drywall furring channel. Find out the soundproofing details before you buy the wrong product. You won’t want your soundproof ceining to become your floor.

Neighbor Noise Ceilings

Soundproofing a ceiling; probably the worst soundproofing problem to tackle. Floors these days have no carpet and pad, so all the pounding, scraping and thumping comes right through your ceiling. When the noisy neighbor is upstairs there are ceiling soundproofing options for you. We detail various soundproofing options depending on your circumstances.

Neighbor Noise Walls

Soundproofing a wall is a straightforward project. Neighbor noise through a wall can be significantly reduced with the addition of new drywall and Green Glue damping compound. We have several sound isolation tutorials complete with diagrams that detail various soundproofing options depending on your circumstances.

Room Within a Room

Casual noise can be reduced to a very tolerable level by simply "beefing up" existing walls, floors and ceilings. However, if you want to achieve significant soundproofing, then a dedicated construction plan is in order. The room within a room is the most sound isolated system you can build. Find out the details of building a first rate soundproof room here.

Staggered Stud Wall Construction

A staggered stud wall is an effective way to decouple and sound isolate your walls. If you have an existing 2x4 wall, this article explains how to convert a poor performing wall into a soundproof wall. Learn exactly how to build a staggered stud soundproof wall, complete with diagrams of each step. Use simple building materials to modify the wall you already have.

The Dead Vent

If you have a dedicated room to control sound, you will inevitably have sealed it up tighter than a drum. This is great to avoid flanking noise and sound leaks, but not so great for cool, fresh air exchange. Ventilation can be a huge hole for sound to travel through. You can soundproof your ventilation with the help of a Dead Vent. These can be built with standard building materials with very good soundproofing results.

The Significance of Air Cavity Depth & the Triple Leaf Effect

One of the more common problems we are called in to fix is a botched soundproofing job. Often a less educated solution involves installing soundproofing products incorrectly, resulting in a small trapped air cavity. How can this small airspace create such sound isolation problems? Actually make the soundproofing worse? Air cavities must be carefully considered when building a sound isolated environment. An air cavity can help you enormously or make noise matters worse.

Understanding STC

You will come across a great many terms when researching soundproofing. Perhaps the most common sound isolation term is STC. What is Sound Transmission Class and what does it mean for your soundproofing project? The answers in this article may surprise you. When discussing the reduction of sound vibration as it travels from one side of a wall to the other, we need to quantify and measure this loss. Many soundproofing products that have a high STC perform terribly. Find out why.

What is Sound?

Sometimes we take the simplest things for granted. Sound is all around us, yet most of us have no idea what sound really is. This tutorial explores the physics of sound with animations, schematics and common examples. This is a great science primer for students or anyone else that is interested in the science around them.