Sound deadening suggestions?

Kinja'd!!! "Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
03/17/2020 at 12:45 • Filed to: None

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Still working on setting up my home office and I am/was looking for options to reduce echo and noise in my office. Right now it is all hard surfaces so... plenty of room for improvement.

So far I’ve hung some fabric curtains and plan on getting a rug for under the desk. I also have some leftover egg crate foam I plan on mounting under the desks because.... well I don’t have anything else to do with it. Also going to put a white noise m achine in the “common” area to help drown out common noise.

I did buy some of this stuff off Amazon, but the foam didn’t expand fully and wasn’t actually 2" thick, so I spite returned them .

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That said, I have no idea what I’m doing, so any suggestions would be great!

Also if I went into an actual like... store... what kind would I go into and would they have this for not crazy high prices?  I’m not really wanting to spend more than $50.


DISCUSSION (18)


Kinja'd!!! Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/17/2020 at 12:53

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I have used noise deadening panels in the past with good results, you still hear loud talkers but there is less echo. You have to cover a certain percentage of the walls to have a good result tho.

https://www.acoustimac.com/dmd-acoustic-panel-422-G?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6sHzBRCbARIsAF8FMpXJEmYZ33BkPBThJJHk-L5N6YbVZ1azwHZwrWFUopJKA6_tix9UwKsaAhgsEALw_wcB


Kinja'd!!! functionoverfashion > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/17/2020 at 12:54

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I would think any fabric in the room would help. A blanket hung up on a wall, or anything. One of the sound-dampest rooms in our house is the mudroom, which has a wood floor with a cheap thin rug, but a wall of coats on one and half sides, and 6' x 6' stack of cubbies on the other side full of gloves, hats, shoes, etc.

I’m working on the same thing, the room I’m setting up as home office is 4 walls of drywall, and about 1,000,000 Lego things, but not much else. At least the floor is carpet. 


Kinja'd!!! ClassicDatsunDebate > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/17/2020 at 12:56

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You could turn it into a DIY and build your own panels out of rockwool and fabric. There’s a ton of guides out these.


Kinja'd!!! If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/17/2020 at 12:58

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Fabric wall hangings can make a huge difference. Find some tapestries or flags or something that you like 


Kinja'd!!! Sovande > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/17/2020 at 13:03

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Wouldn't it be cheaper, easier and better looking to just get some noise canceling headphones and a rug? 


Kinja'd!!! Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Sovande
03/17/2020 at 13:07

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Rug yes, headphones no. Not looking to block all sound, just looking to make a poor working environment better passively .


Kinja'd!!! RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/17/2020 at 13:12

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FIND THE THINGS MAKING NOISE AND HIT THEM WITH A BAT


Kinja'd!!! Sovande > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/17/2020 at 13:19

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You can hear with noise canceling headphones. I wear them everyday at my office so I don't murder people. 


Kinja'd!!! Snuze: Needs another Swede > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/17/2020 at 13:20

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Go full anechnoic chamber!

I work in acoustics, al though this is a bit outside of my normal focus, but I will try to offer at least some general advice .

First consider the noise source and transmission path - how the sound from outside gets into the room. Airborne noise can bounce down halls and such, so shutting the door is a good start. But it also travels mechanically through walls. The problem is that a lot of the products you are looking at, like the foam or the panels, are more focused on canceling out noise within a room (i.e. echos). Stopping the transmission from another room is a different matter .

There are some types of sound deadening acoustic insulation (Roxul comes to mind) you can put in the walls. Another strategy is to acoustically isolate the drywall - they make stuff you put on the studs before you screw up the drywall to mechanically isolate it. The problem with both these solutions is that they are really construction issues, not something you can easily go back and retrofit. Another strategy is mass loading - hang heavy stuff on the walls to reduce the resonant frequency down to levels below the human hearing threshold. The problem is it needs to be firmly attached, so hanging pictures isn’t going to do much. Also, depending on how well the drywall is attached, you’d need to do this between most, if not all studs to be most effective. The issue is the drywall acts like a drum head, and each void between studs acts like a drum body. But mass loading does work - his is why you sometimes see that thick putty stuff stuck inside car door panels, it’s called mastic padding and it’s basically a mass tuner.

Another strategy is to cancel the sound. This is a geometric thing and again goes back into room design. But it’s also why those tiles above are shaped the way they are.

Finally, you can attempt to absorb the sound, which is what those panels above do. But ideally you’d want to put them outside the room, so they can absorb the sound before it has a chance to vibrate the walls.

I have an idea - never tried this but it might be a good experiment if you don’t mind a few little holes in your drywall or something. If you have some really fluffy blankets, like down comforters - try tacking them to the walls on the other side of the room you’re trying to isolate. 


Kinja'd!!! Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
03/17/2020 at 14:01

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HIT MY DOGS WITH A BAT YOU’RE A MONSTER!


Kinja'd!!! My X-type is too a real Jaguar > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/17/2020 at 14:02

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Wall art without glass is a great sound deade ner

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Elvis-Presley-Black-Velvet-Hand-Painting-Signed-Framed-Carved-Wood-23x19/303510693650?hash=item46aaa5a712:g:YVUAAOSw0sVeZwKF

Seriously check Thrift Stores and Antique stores for economical art


Kinja'd!!! TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/17/2020 at 14:05

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INSTRUCTIONS UNCLEAR, DOG NOW STUCK IN A FAN. 


Kinja'd!!! RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/17/2020 at 14:30

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FIND THE THINGS MAKING NOISE AND HIT THEM WITH A BAT UNLESS THEY’RE YOUR DOGS I GUESS SHEESH


Kinja'd!!! Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > My X-type is too a real Jaguar
03/17/2020 at 17:11

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Haha agree. This was just added to my wall yesterday. Not as squishy as I’d like but it’ll do. I’m going for “whatever the hell I feel like” aesthetic in here (the rest of the house’s art is.... arty) and this thing makes me smile.


Kinja'd!!! Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Snuze: Needs another Swede
03/17/2020 at 17:13

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This is all excellent info, thank you! Unfortunately I wasn’t super clear on my goal, which may have led you down a rabbit hole.

Luckily I am looking to deaden sound coming from inside the room. The room is about 350 sqft and was recently divided into 3 with temporary walls. My partner and I share the office so when he is talking/moving/printing I can hear it quite clearly on my side. Additionally the new room dynamics are quite live, so microphones and stuff sound tinny due to the lack of fluffy stuff (technical term). I hung a room dividing curtain which... well I’d love to say it helped but it didn’t really as much as I expected. I think I’m just used to this room being big and not loud...

So on the foam stuff.  I’m returning the stuff I bought because it sucked, but I am tempted by the 1" stuff as I can get a lot more of it and put it behind some wall tapestries/flags/etc.  Thoughts on 1" vs 2"?

ANYWAY, the walls in the house are plaster, which is sort of a non-starter for adding insulation. The good part is it doesn’t transmit sound well, so the room-to-room isolation is decent.


Kinja'd!!! Snuze: Needs another Swede > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/17/2020 at 17:21

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I think the 1" stuff will help.  If your main goal is to reduce echos, covering as many hard surfaces as possible should go a long way. The tiles may also be helpful, but foam would be a good start.  


Kinja'd!!! MM54 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/17/2020 at 17:35

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Acoustic foam is hella expensive

When I replaced all the carpet in my house with hardwood, I thought I ruined the acoustics until I put furni ture in the corners. It’s worth a shot.


Kinja'd!!! SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/17/2020 at 17:40

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Hang a Dacron stuffed doona behind that...