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Soundproofing... Or at least dampening

Raijin QuickfootRaijin Quickfoot I'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPA regular
I like to watch my movies loud and I've put good money into my home theater.
My wife does not particularly like to hear my loud ass movies when I watch them.

Now, my theater is in the basement.

What would be a relatively inexpensive way to dampen the sound coming from the basement?

It doesn't have to be completely sound proof necessarily though if I could block most of the sound for not a lot of money I'd be interested.

Posts

  • bowenbowen Sup? Registered User regular
    edited February 2019
    Inexpensive? Probably foam dampening material you see youtubers use. You're going to want to turn the bass down, that's the shit that carries between rooms easily.

    If you've got a few hundred dollars in your budget you can add some fiberglass insulation into the area above you and put drywall on the ceiling. Dollar for dollar this will probably be the cheapest route, foam gets expensive if you're want to be effective with it.

    bowen on
    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • JasconiusJasconius sword criminal mad onlineRegistered User regular
    ive tried the foam bricks before... and I can say.. if you go that route

    prepare to just foam your entire room... which is a lot of work and expensive. TBH I didn't not find those foam squares to be all that effective. feels to me like some nice thick blankets are at LEAST as good and don't require you to spray glue your entire room

    this is a discord of mostly PA people interested in fighting games: https://discord.gg/DZWa97d5rz

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  • Raijin QuickfootRaijin Quickfoot I'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPA regular
    Maybe I'll just invest in ear plugs for her...

  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator Mod Emeritus
    Earplugs wont do much for the bass, as a person who used to live above asshole neighbors who put surround sound in their fucking apartment like real jerks. If the bass is vibrating floors and walls, even noise cancelling headphones cant save you. It sucks and I cycled through excellent headphones trying to drown that shit out, it was maddening.

    Get some surround sound headphones and listen to your movies real loud when your wife is out is my suggestion, You can get really nice pairs and be in your own little movie bubble and not shake the whole damn house, but I readily admit that I am projecting a bit. Maybe your wife is generally okay with the situation but If this were a problem for me and my partner I would probably murder him if he came at me with ear plugs, even as a joke.

  • BlindZenDriverBlindZenDriver Registered User regular
    Not sound/noise insulation as such, but make sure there aren't places where sound is free to sneak through like say a door which doesn't closes completely and close to air tight.

    Bones heal, glory is forever.
  • LovelyLovely Registered User regular
    Iruka wrote: »
    Earplugs wont do much for the bass, as a person who used to live above asshole neighbors who put surround sound in their fucking apartment like real jerks. If the bass is vibrating floors and walls, even noise cancelling headphones cant save you. It sucks and I cycled through excellent headphones trying to drown that shit out, it was maddening.

    Get some surround sound headphones and listen to your movies real loud when your wife is out is my suggestion, You can get really nice pairs and be in your own little movie bubble and not shake the whole damn house, but I readily admit that I am projecting a bit. Maybe your wife is generally okay with the situation but If this were a problem for me and my partner I would probably murder him if he came at me with ear plugs, even as a joke.

    Preach. Yeah, when it comes to bass, earplugs do nothing accept make you MORE mad.

    I wanted to murder my downstairs neighbor in the last place I lived at. Dude just couldn't understand that while his bitchin' bass didn't sound that loud in his apartment, UPSTAIRS, where I was, the floor was shaking and the "boom boom boom" without any accompanying music is just.... aGGGHGGHG.

    It was rough since otherwise, he was a pretty okay guy.

    (I live in a new place now, thank the gods.)

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  • John MatrixJohn Matrix Registered User regular
    Assuming you're watching alone - what about good headphones for you?

  • Raijin QuickfootRaijin Quickfoot I'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPA regular
    The headphones defeat the purpose. I'm not always watching alone and I already have my home theater setup.

    Like, I should say that it's not a HUGE deal. She's not pissed off when I watch a movie but it would be nice if I could crank a movie once in awhile without worrying about it.

  • dispatch.odispatch.o Registered User regular
    edited February 2019
    Decreasing the bass will probably do more than any real soundproofing. Low frequencies travel through material very well and are omni directional so you might try lowering the bass and moving the sub closer to your seat.

    Otherwise there's not much to do if you're really cranking it up.

    Probably worth high end headphones instead of sound insulation just by cost comparison. You could get really nice Sennheiser headphones and still use your dac/amp/receiver so it's not exactly a waste. Also it would be an option for when you just want to listen loud at night, no one's saying you can't use the surround system ever again. Just that soundproofing is really expensive and may not isolate the inception wub wub anyway.

    dispatch.o on
  • That_GuyThat_Guy I don't wanna be that guy Registered User regular
    I've actually done a ton of research into this over the last few months. Most of the solutions I've found are unattractive and all are super expensive. I think the cheapest option I've found is sound dampening drywall. IDK where to buy it (still working on that part) but I've seen pricing estimates online of around $50 per standard size sheet for 5/8ths in thick, double layer with special sound deadening material inside. I've seen options that go up to 1-3/8th but have no idea the price.

    Quietrock is the one I've been eyeing but no where around me carries it.

    https://www.quietrock.com/products/quietrock-530

    It's a LOT cheaper than other options I had been entertaining and can be put up over your existing drywall for a nice, clean, stock finish.

  • zepherinzepherin Russian warship, go fuck yourself Registered User regular
    edited February 2019
    What kind of basement ceiling do you have?

    Drop ceiling? Drywall ceiling?

    Cheapest solution throw a heavy rug down in the room above the theater room.

    Depending on the ceiling depends on options.

    zepherin on
  • Anon the FelonAnon the Felon In bat country.Registered User regular
    Might also be a problem of sound balance. If you've got it loud so you can hear one aspect (dialog), but then the sound effects reverberate through the house, your mix on the amp might be off.

  • IncenjucarIncenjucar VChatter Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Textured foam is mostly to reduce echoes to keep sound clean. Velvet curtains and thick, soft carpet are your friends here, as well.

  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User regular
    yeah foam pads are for echo cancellation for recording more than soundproofing

    BahamutZERO.gif
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