Basement studio insulation question

Hello all... I have a basement studio I am building. I have purchased an 8'x9' isolation booth that will be used for vocals, amps, and maybe drums. The ceiling is low and the top of the booth will almost touch the ceiling so basically all I can do is insulate and put up one layer of ceiling material. The floor above the studio (1st floor of house) are hardwood over a particle board subfloor on top of typical floor joists. I would like to reduce the floor bourne noise from family walking and "living" on the floor above to the best of my ability as well as reduce the studio noise to the living area of the home. What is the best insulation to use to fill in between the joists? would 5/8" drywall or 5/8" MDF be a better ceiling? Last, a gentleman I know builds hotels and said they often install a thin lead sheeting between the studs and drywall to reduce noise between rooms...Has anyone ever heard of such a thing in a studio and would anyone recommend this in the ceiling? Thanks in advance, Ross

Lead=heavy (mass) about 12250kg/m3 (about 15 times as heavy as drywall), so yeah good isolator. but it's not cheap ya know. You talk about hardboard, is it real hardboard? since hardboard has great mass. about 1000kg/m3 (gypsum is about 700/800, go figure). But that only works if installed properly.

What is the best insulation to use to fill in between the joists? would 5/8" drywall or 5/8" MDF be a better ceiling?

They both have the same mass, so either will do just fine. Drywall is cheaper tho...

Yes the hardwood is real hardwood. Do you have a recommendation on the insulation to put in between joists? Ross

Much more detail is needed. How do you know your joists can handle the extra weight of a layer of drywall? What is your plan to improve your footfall impact noise issue? Will you be using resilient channel or RSIC clips? Will you end up with a third leaf issue above your booth? If I had time and resources right now, I'd dig up some threads for linkage. I hope there are enough hints for you to search or for other members to elaborate. --Keith :mrgreen:

Keith,

How do you know your joists can handle the extra weight of a layer of drywall?

Three Quarters of the basement has a drywalled ceiling except the unfinished area that I am now "developing/constructing". The area is no larger than any other area in the basement so my sense is there will be no problem here.

What is your plan to improve your footfall impact noise issue?

There is nothing I can do about the footfall. It is my hope that a well insulated ceiling and the prefabbed vocal booth will eliminate typical foot traffic above. Am I being too optomistic?

Will you be using resilient channel or RSIC clips?

Most likely I will not be able to use these. The prefabbed booth is 89" and the area from floor to the bottom of the joist is 91". I need at least an inch to get the prefabbed ceiling into the booth so I think at best I can install a layer of 5/8" drywall directly to the joists.

Will you end up with a third leaf issue above your booth?

I had never thought about the roof in the prefabbed vocal booth ceiling being leaf 1, the drywall attached to bottom of joists being leaf 2 and I guess the floor above as leaf 3 correct? So three leafs is bad correct? The vocal booth manufacture recommends that you lay additional plywood on the roof once installed. Maybe I should just do that and not actually install drywall over the 8'x9' footprint of the booth and only drywall the ceiling around the booth, which I could then use RC channel. Basically my studio right now is 11'x13' and I am knocking out the wall to add another 12'x13' to it. Inside of the 12x13 will be the 8x9 prefabbed vocal booth. I'm hoping to get most of my sound isolation from the booth, but any that does leak out I would like to create an environment that will minimize the amount of bleed through up to the living area of the home. Any advice on the best material to insulate the ceiling? Ross