Acoustic Panels in Apartment

[Connor1a]

So I’m getting ready to move into a new apartment and want to put up acoustic “material” to keep my new neighbors happy. I know less than nothing about acoustics…

I’ll be on the bottom floor of a duplex. My initial, again, me knowing nothing, thought was to fire up Amazon and buy a bunch of “cheap” panels to line across the ceiling of my new place. My new neighbor can’t be upset if I’m blocking the sound from going up right? Is that something that’s feasible? Clearly, something like that would kill Dolby ATMOS. At least the element that bounces sound off the ceiling. Could a happy neighbor be as straightforward as lining my ceiling with 12x12 acoustic tiles w/ double sided tape? I’m not looking to spend a ton of money nor am I looking to throw it away on something that’s not going to be of benefit. As it’ll be a rental, whatever I do has to come down without marring the surface underneath. Would I also need to consider wall mounted panels? The floors in the room I’m thinking of are solid with limited carpet so I’m sure sound will be bouncing around in there. I know that I can’t create a dead silent room, but its important I not set a bad initial impression with a neighbor I’ll likely live next to for the foreseeable future.

Sincerely appreciate your thinking. Thanks much!

 

[Soniclife]

Acoustic panels do not block sound unless they are very thick, the thin stick on type will have very little effect on noise. No panel will block sound if there is a way for sound too bypass it, cavities in walls, etc.
Make friends with you neighbours, be reasonable, consider headphones.

 

[HiMu]

My new neighbor can’t be upset if I’m blocking the sound from going up right?

Nope, doesn't work at all like that. Those foam squares that are sold in amazon have nothing to do with soundproofing, they are being marketed with the word porridge "acoustic soundproofing dampening panels" because of search engine optimization. Please don't waste your time and money on those.

As Soniclife suggested, go introduce yourself and communicate with your neighbors about your sound levels.

 

[Fledermaus]

Sound absorption with panels etc. has its merits, but soundproofing is another game - implying more complexity and more expense.
Further (summarized) explanations : https://www.acousticalsurfaces.com/blog/soundproofing/soundproofing-vs-sound-absorbing/

 

[Connor1a]

Acoustic panels do not block sound unless they are very thick, the thin stick on type will have very little effect on noise. No panel will block sound if there is a way for sound too bypass it, cavities in walls, etc.
Make friends with you neighbours, be reasonable, consider headphones.

Acoustic panels do not block sound unless they are very thick, the thin stick on type will have very little effect on noise. No panel will block sound if there is a way for sound too bypass it, cavities in walls, etc.
Make friends with you neighbours, be reasonable, consider headphones.

I’m a friendly enough guy lol. I’ll cover my bases regardless. I was hoping I could do something to reduce the sonics as a show of good faith… (but I also knew nothing is ever simple…) TYVM for the reply.

 

[Verig]

Having very damped room may have the opposite effect you're after - it will make you play louder.

I suggest you move in first and see how it looks (sounds). Some rooms are surprisingly nice with just basic mats, curtains, sofa and bookshelves. Also, taking care of the bass with a dsp helps a great deal even if you don't touch the upper frequencies directly at all.

 

[Connor1a]

Nope, doesn't work at all like that. Those foam squares that are sold in amazon have nothing to do with soundproofing, they are being marketed with the word porridge "acoustic soundproofing dampening panels" because of search engine optimization. Please don't waste your time and money on those.

As Soniclife suggested, go introduce yourself and communicate with your neighbors about your sound levels.

Thank you for the reply. Agreed. Communication is of course key. I was hopeful that I could at least do something to blunt the edge of the sound though. I’m in an apartment now, steel frame construction, even without a sub and with my volume set at 4 (of 10) I still rattle the neighbors’ dishes. We’ve worked through it. I’d hoped to be less of a nuisance going into my new place though.

 

[Connor1a]

Sound absorption with panels etc. has its merits, but soundproofing is another game - implying more complexity and more expense.
Further (summarized) explanations : https://www.acousticalsurfaces.com/blog/soundproofing/soundproofing-vs-sound-absorbing/

And this is why I come back to ASR for my novice questions. You guys consistently help without making me feel like an idiot. Thank you for this. It’s very helpful.

 

[JonK99]

 

[Connor1a]

Having very damped room may have the opposite effect you're after - it will make you play louder.

I suggest you move in first and see how it looks (sounds). Some rooms are surprisingly nice with just basic mats, curtains, sofa and bookshelves. Also, taking care of the bass with a dsp helps a great deal even if you don't touch the upper frequencies directly at all.

Yes - This makes sense. I was hoping to get in there before my stuff was moved in. Makes it easier to hang things and so forth without furniture in the way, but you’re right, I’m trying to solve for a problem that hasn’t manifested yet. Good advice. Thank you

 

[Connor1a]

Brilliant!

 

[Holmz]

IMO: Just save your money and just get a couple of Ficus plants to put in the room.

 

[Connor1a]

IMO: Just save your money and just get a couple of Ficus plants to put in the room.

They’d need to be faux plants. I suck the life out of organic things… Plants I mean…

 

[kemmler3D]

Two things:

I used to sell acoustic foam for a living, and everyone on this thread saying it does nothing for soundproofing is correct. The point about SEO terms having nothing to do with genuine functionality is also correct.

If you want to run a sub and not bother your neighbors too much, you can do 4 things:

- Don't play the sub after hours (whatever you think they'd consider "late")
- Don't play it any louder than you need to
- Use DSP/PEQ to cut down the room modes (if you only lower gain, it can only help the situation)
- Decouple the sub from the floor with rubber feet of some kind - probably won't do much but could help a little.

Using thick 4" rockwool MIGHT help a little in the ~150hz range, but it's the 20-80hz range that really bothers people. If it will go through a wall, it will go through your acoustic treatment just as well.

 

[JakeK]

I know this thread is a few weeks old but I want to add my experience in case it helps someone that reads this.

I can agree that acoustic foam does very little to prevent sound escaping a room. I did a test using a sound meter on small door as some people say adding foam tiles can help stop sound coming through the door and I measured 1db of difference or less after adding foam panels to the door which is likely within my margin of error so no audible effect.

What does make a big difference is carpets and perhaps heavy curtains. When our neighbours in the next door semi-detached moved in they had good carpets and custains throughout and so do we and we couldn't hear them very much, only the dog barking and they said they couldn't hear us, only my sneezing (which is very loud), not the TV or music which we have on fairly loud sometimes. Then they had the carpets removed and hard flooring indead plus blinds in the living room and no curtains or anything on the patio doors. Now unless we have music or the TV on and sometimes even when we do, we can hear them all the time almost every word when it's quiet in the mornings, the children thudding around, the dog claws clacking on the floor, almost everything. We don't hear the man very much as his voice is lower so it's higher frequencies that are reverberating, not being absorbed in the room and coming through the walls and floors.

The other thing is how robust are the walls? Our neighbours also had some walls and a chimney breast removed at a later date and I'm less sure about how much difference this has made but I don't think it's helped.

So if you want your neighbours to hear less sound from you and you want to spend lots of money, get your walls, ceilings and floors reinforced and the spaces in between filled with rockwool. If you want to spend less money, get thick carpets throughout and heavy curtains or drapes instead of blinds. I strongly believe that if you fully carpet a room, not with thin carpet tiles or a small rug, your neighbours, even above when the carpet is on your floor, will hear a lot less sound from you. Your room should also sound better with music without spending a lot more on sound panels.

 

[JakeK]

- Decouple the sub from the floor with rubber feet of some kind - probably won't do much but could help a little.

When I lived in a flat and had a sub I put it on a stone slab with two layers of thick coir type matting under that. No complaints from the neighbours.

This https://www.jewson.co.uk/p/marshalls-textured-paving-slab-450-x-450-x-32mm-l-x-w-x-t-buff-LSTPB443

With these under: https://www.wickes.co.uk/Plain-PVC-Coir-Doormat---40-x-60cm/p/273155

I think it made the sub sound better as well but I have no proof of that.

 

[Connor1a]

I know this thread is a few weeks old but I want to add my experience in case it helps someone that reads this.

I can agree that acoustic foam does very little to prevent sound escaping a room. I did a test using a sound meter on small door as some people say adding foam tiles can help stop sound coming through the door and I measured 1db of difference or less after adding foam panels to the door which is likely within my margin of error so no audible effect.

What does make a big difference is carpets and perhaps heavy curtains. When our neighbours in the next door semi-detached moved in they had good carpets and custains throughout and so do we and we couldn't hear them very much, only the dog barking and they said they couldn't hear us, only my sneezing (which is very loud), not the TV or music which we have on fairly loud sometimes. Then they had the carpets removed and hard flooring indead plus blinds in the living room and no curtains or anything on the patio doors. Now unless we have music or the TV on and sometimes even when we do, we can hear them all the time almost every word when it's quiet in the mornings, the children thudding around, the dog claws clacking on the floor, almost everything. We don't hear the man very much as his voice is lower so it's higher frequencies that are reverberating, not being absorbed in the room and coming through the walls and floors.

The other thing is how robust are the walls? Our neighbours also had some walls and a chimney breast removed at a later date and I'm less sure about how much difference this has made but I don't think it's helped.

So if you want your neighbours to hear less sound from you and you want to spend lots of money, get your walls, ceilings and floors reinforced and the spaces in between filled with rockwool. If you want to spend less money, get thick carpets throughout and heavy curtains or drapes instead of blinds. I strongly believe that if you fully carpet a room, not with thin carpet tiles or a small rug, your neighbours, even above when the carpet is on your floor, will hear a lot less sound from you. Your room should also sound better with music without spending a lot more on sound panels.

Hey - Thank you for taking the time to reply. I know from experience that carpets definitely make a difference. I currently have vinyl flooring. When I leave my pup alone during the day, I need to leave her in my bedroom where I have a thick carpet because if I don’t her near constant barking annoys the crud out of the neighbors. She has a loud bark which bounces off the walls and reverberates through the apartment; the bare walls / floor almost amplify the sound. Similar situation, my neighbors above on one side have carpets down and I almost never hear them. They have children playing. A dog. It’s quiet, but I know the kids, they’re rambunctious so the carpets are definitely deadening the sound of their play. My neighbors on the other side, however, do not have carpets and I hear everything (I mean …. everything). So my thought on the tiles was almost as if I was carpeting another hard surface. I.e. it would deaden the sound just like carpet on the floor. But I guess that’s just not the case. As it happens, I ended up leasing a single family home so the sound issue is no longer a problem. At least not to the extent I was concerned about before. But again, thank you for the time and response…!