John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi guys
I intend to make a home recording studio and just need some advice.
To begin with I will using the "floating floor room within a room" design but I need to consider methods
and materials due to budget restraints.I will be working within an area of 5.5 meters x 3.6 meters
Firstly I am really only concerned with just vocal soundproofing as all recordings employ DAW vst's etc
ie no live instruments and I generally monitor at low levels. Also I am not too concerned about outside noise as I live in a
very quiet area.
So......will just 16mm plasterboard/dry board suffice for cladding all wall surfaces to achieve my objectives.
The "inside" walls and celing will be dual stud(about 6 inches wide with insulation and about 6 inches clear of the existing walls.The floor will be floating on suitable acoustic matting.
As mentioned meterials can get quite expensive if I desire good soundproofing for the whole frequency range.
Any help will be appreciated
Bryzar

Hi "Bryzar". Please read the forum rules for posting (click here). You seem to be missing a couple of things!

To begin with I will using the "floating floor room within a room" design

Why do you think you need a floating floor? That is almost certainly unnecessary.

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... f=2&t=8173

I will be working within an area of 5.5 meters x 3.6 meters

How high?

Firstly I am really only concerned with just vocal soundproofing as all recordings employ DAW vst's etc. ie no live instruments and I generally monitor at low levels.

Even more reasons why you don't need a floating floor! Who told you that you need one?

Also I am not too concerned about outside noise as I live in a very quiet area.

Are you sure? So it never rains where you live? No thunder, no lightning, no wind, no rain, no hail? No aircraft / helicopters flying over? No cars arriving/leaving/passing by? No neighbors, dogs, lawnmowers, radios, people? No other sound sources around you at all? Those are all things that are often overlooked, but that can totally ruin your best take What about the house itself: no phones ringing, TV, radio, people talking, toilets flushing, vacuum cleaner, microwave oven, washing machine, dish washer, furnace or anything else that makes a sound?

So......will just 16mm plasterboard/dry board suffice for cladding all wall surfaces to achieve my objectives.

That depends on how you do it. If you really do build a proper fully-decoupled, hermetically sealer two-leaf MSM "room-in-a-room", then yes, that might be enough. But it also depends on how much isolation you need, stated in decibels. Different types of construction can attain different levels of isolation, but that is all measured in objective decibels, not subjective explanations.

The "inside" walls and celing will be dual stud(about 6 inches wide with insulation and about 6 inches clear of the existing walls.

That is probably overkill for simple vocal isolation. There is seldom need for a wall that is over 14 inches thick, unless you need really high levels of isolation. 8 to 10 inches is usually enough.

The floor will be floating on suitable acoustic matting.

What do you mean by "acoustic matting", and how do you plan to float your walls? Floating walls is just as hard as floating a floor, and you almost certainly do not need to do that. Floated walls are only needed in extreme cases, for very high levels of isolation.

Any help will be appreciated

Please read the forum rules that I linked to above: many people here won't reply to your thread unless you follow the rules...


- Stuart -