is isolating just the floor worth it?

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 11:57 pm

I'm about to start the construction of a small tracking room. And I have a couple of questions.

I want decent soundproofing (e.g. being able to track guitar, vocals, and bass without bothering the outside world / minimizing drums to the point of being bearable to my neighboor)

I know a room within a room is the best bet, but unfortunately I can't afford to loose valuable real estate. (the room is merely 8.8 by 9.8 feet)

Here are my questions:

1) If I decouple the floor, with u-boats, 4 inches mineral wool, plywood, sheetblok, mdf, stopgap, etc. And build solid concrete walls, solid concrete ceiling, no windows, an acoustic door with acoustic door seals. Would I get decent soundproofing (I know this is subjective), but is isolating just the floor worth it???

2) I have recommended ratios, I know how to measure the distance from one solid wall to the other. But if I raise the floor, would I still be measuring the distance from the existing floor to the ceiling, or from the new floor structure to the ceiling in order to maintain the proper room modes??

Thanks to all.
Any help is much appreciatied,

Rodrigo

Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 3:51 am

Rodrigo-

I am definitely not an expert, but I was in a somewhat similar situation, and decided to just work on the floor. I went with the relatively low budget carpet foam/homasote/carpet foam/thick carpet over the existing floor, and it seems to have made a difference. I still can't track late at night, but the guys down stairs seem pretty cool with the tracking during the day. I am however still bothering the guys upstairs, becuase the original construction of this place is so cheap (i can actually hear the people upstairs saving MS word documents!).
Anyway, it seems to be a bit helpfull, but it's probably not worth going crazy on the floor if the sound is just going to flank down the walls. . .

-Chris

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