Sealing off bedroom windows acoustically

[laptoppop]

OK, Lee, now if you tell us you also want this window to OPEN and still have as good isolation, we WILL hafta kill ya... Steve

I know I've been quiet around here lately - been putting a new studio together. This one has seperate rooms and is turning out nicely. Its not very far from a moderately busy road, so I had some road noise to deal with, but I still wanted windows to the outside because I had a nice view of a park on one side, and a view of the city skyline and ocean on the other.

I ended up using Milgard Quietline windows. They even open! <grin>

http://www.acousticalsolutions.com/prod ... etline.htm

They were expensive, but work wonderfully. Mine have a STC rating of 47, which isn't shabby. (They came with a sticker on them with the individual rating)

-lee-

[knightfly]

So keep us in suspense just a bit longer, Lee - Do those windows make the road noise completely inaudible, or just "quiet enough"? How 'bout a more elaborate description??!? Steve

[laptoppop]

So keep us in suspense just a bit longer, Lee - Do those windows make the road noise completely inaudible, or just "quiet enough"? How 'bout a more elaborate description??!? Steve

What do you want, bro? Suspense or info?

The windows work VERY VERY well. There's still a little bit of very low frequency coming in, but I believe its actually more through the ceiling and walls than the window. Its hard for me to judge well with low frequencies, however. Its definitely below 80 Hz - engaging the high pass filter on any of the mic channels cuts it right out. There's only a few sources that I work with where that makes a difference. Kick is loud enough that its not a problem, and often as not I'm running the bass direct in. At its worst, its down about 50+ dB from any reasonable signal source. If I end up recording any operatic basses, I'll have them go into the 2nd room where there's no real interference at all.

The windows are *thick* -- about 6-8" thick overall. They have a non-moving center section, and then two openable sections, one on each side. To open a section, you have to slide back two seperate sliders. After you slide the first one, you start hearing the traffic quietly, sliding the second one, the traffic seems deafeningly loud -- because the room is nice and quiet.

The windows were easy for the contractor to install. They first mounted in the plastic frame into a hole just the right size, and caulked it solidly. The various sliders and windows for the overall window just tilt in.

-lee-

[knightfly]

That's pretty impressive Lee; just curious - saw this comment - "Features a primary, external insulated glass unit and a secondary internal acoustical lite." - this sounds like at least a triple leaf construction, can you tell if the inner "acoustical lite" is also double glass?

If so, this might explain high STC numbers with lesser performance in the low end - as you add leaves to a barrier, midrange values improve while bass gets worse.

It would be interesting to see a full TL chart on these, but there wasn't one in evidence on their site.

Still, bottom line is they work for you - all that and fresh air too, wow... Steve

[laptoppop]

The middle fixed section appears to be triple leaf. I can't really tell what the layers are like. Someday (about a year from now?) I'll have to pull it apart for cleaning - I can check now. The side openings appear to be identical, with 2 panes in each slider, for 4 panes of glass on each side.

-lee-

[gullfo]

you're replying to a 6 year old thread...

[SamCalver]

Hi guys, Im looking to seal off a window and door totally and with the best possible sound reduction.
I can't find a link anywhere on here apart from this one and its for a removable option.
Has this been discussed previously?

Im starting a full studio build and am gathering all the info together and my plans to ask the forum, but first I need to seal off these damn windows :/

You're help is much appreciated

All the best,

Sam

[Soundman2020]

Hi Sam, and welcome!

It would be best to start your own thread about your build, with all your questions, designs, and construction details in there, instead of asking things on several different threads at once.

Im starting a full studio build and am gathering all the info together and my plans to ask the forum, but first I need to seal off these damn windows

Actually, you don't! The first thing you need to do is to design the entire studio, which will include the plan for sealing off the windows. You can't seal them off yet, because you don't yet know how the studio will be built, so you don't yet know how to seal them off, what materials to use, what method to use, what level of isolation to aim for, whether or not the window plug will create a dreaded 3-leaf system, if so what to do about that, etc, etc, etc.

Put another way, you are saying "I'm going to buy a new car, but first I really have to pump some air in the wheels!". Obviously, you cannot pump air into the wheels of a car that you don't have yet! And you also cannot plug the windows of a studio that you didn't design yet. Plugging them now would be a mistake, as it could have unexpected repercussions down the line.


- Stuart -

[SamCalver]

Hi Stuart,

Thank you for you're reply!
In that case I will get all the relevant information together and start a thread of my own.

My main worry was creating a 3-leaf, I guess I was thinking I need to find a way to start with all 4 walls the same before starting the build inside.

I've downloaded the Sketch up that everyone is using on here and drew something that looks like a star drawn by a 4year old!
I will take some photos and do some hand drawings and explain a little more where I'm at.

Thanks again,

Sam

[Soundman2020]

I've downloaded the Sketch up that everyone is using on here and drew something that looks like a star drawn by a 4year old!

There are several very good tutorials for beginners on YouTube. SketchUp has some strange way of doing things, but once you get the hang of it, it's a fantastic tool.

I will take some photos

Photos would be VERY useful!

- Stuart -