Sound proofing listening room

I put insulation between the first and second floor of our home (blown in) and found it didn't help very much. There are so many cavities (walls) that remain sound carriers, and I think the joists themselves may carry sound.

I have found that if you can have two doors between you and "them" that is *much* more effective than a single door.

I'll be curious to hear how it works for you.

- Eric

You have to look at the room / system as a "whole". Don't jump into anything as you may end up wasting your money or having to re-do it later.

If your floor beams / joists are exposed ( unfinished with no ceiling ), THICK fiberglass insulation is your best bet. It is both linear in absorption characteristics and cheap. In plain English, it will absorb bass, midrange and treble frequencies pretty evenly. This is especially true if you can use at least a 6" - 8" layer of it ( your floor joists should be that deep anyhow ). You could / should then cover this in a layer of polyester batting ( acts as a "filter" to the fiberglass and adds more absorption ) and then a layer of burlap dyed to match the walls. If your wife wants to get involved, she can even create designs by sewing or crochetting ( spelling ??? ) colors / patterns into the burlap, kind of like a HUGE ceiling tapestry.

As to using "foam" or acoustic tile type treatments, they will produce an uneven tonal balance due to non-linear absorption characteristics. You'll then have a whole new set of problems to deal with as a side effect.

Outside of that, try and pick up at least one of the two books already mentioned. I'm just getting ready to dive into the Master Handbook of Acoustics myself. You may be able to borrow it from a local library or you can order it from Amazon, Parts Express, etc... Sean
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The suggestions for fiberglass insulation between the floor joists is the first step. The next would be to decouple the floor joists from the acoustic space of the basement. This could be done in the same way that an offset or staggered stud wall would be constucted. In other words you don't want sound to hit the ceiling of the basement and then transmit into the floor joists (and upstairs floor) therby making it's way upstairs. You could do this by adding additional framing (not directly connected to the floor joists), using specialty metal decoupling strips or rubber isolators. Both ASC (1-800-ASC-TUBE) and Owens Corning make products specifically for this purpose. Of course this requires a layer of sheetrock to be installed-this is the only way to really get the results you desire. Avoid "drop" ceiling acoustical tiles in your application.

Todd you may never be able to completely get rid of the noise causing the complaints. A double ceiling may help? Alternatively you may want to look into eliminating the source of the complaints? (I doubt the Dr. Baker would be very interested in crochet). If I was relegated to the basement for my listening, hmmm...

Several interesting products and acoustic isolation ideas are available at "foamorder.com". Neoprene sheeting, acoustic foam, etc. Good luck.