I live in America.
My house is made of paper, chalk, and 2x4's
Everyone can hear almost every single word I say.
Between getting my bucket ready for inspection and paying student loans, I am broke as hell. What can I nig rig to provide a reasonable level of sound insulation?
You have to create a second wall for decent soundproofing with space in between. Maybe hang up some drywall a few inches from the actual wall?
Adding mass is the simplest way to add NR performance to any partition (double concrete wall with an airgap has a great STC rating.) Since that is also the most expensive you might want to think in a different direction.
Think Sound Masking.
Sound masking is the addition of an unobtrusive background sound, similar to HVAC airflow noise, to reduce the intelligibility of human speech and reduce distractions. The resulting environment leads to increased privacy and comfort.
Adding speakers, plus a small masking noise generator to any room is most likely your cheapest reliable method. It's a lot cheaper than hanging extra 3/8' gypboard on resillant channel isolators, adding flooting floor, and floating ceilings. Plus if you make it portable you can take it with you when you move.
>What can I nig rig to provide a reasonable level of sound insulation?
Oops! you meant nig rig. Crank that base line up until your neighbors are deaf.
>>948013
>You have to create a second wall for decent soundproofing with space in between.
Good answer, but first thing he should look at is the penetrations in the wall. Doors, windows, air vents, and electrical sockets all are the weakest point in heat and noise leaks and lower the performance rating of any wall. Seal those up first or you're throwing money away. Better doors, frames, and double windows help out a lot. Insuring wall sockets don't line up on opposite sides of the wall helps too.
>>948013
I have very small room, this isn't a reasonable option.
>>948008
buy egg crate foam , staple to walls its cheap and works
If you are still here.
>>948026
>I've been reading about using vinyl curtains, blankets, and I've seen egg cartons stuffed with paper used before. What about these options? Are they bunk?
Vinyl curtains and blankets are mostly used in workshops to partition off spaces and they do provide some abatement but not much. Their largest benefit is they help prevent noise from rebounding off of hard parallel walls by providing a small amount of noise absorption and no direct path between walls. So while putting absorption materials on the walls would "deaden" the echos in the room and lower the overall sound level they would also increase the speech intelligibility of the room. They would also do little to stop the noise from getting to your neighbors. For example, you can duct tape a shower curtain to a door way and talk to someone on the other side just fine. There would be less energy reflected back to you for less of an echo, but the energy passing though the curtain would not be significantly reduced.
Your goal is to stop your neighbors from hearing your deranged muttering or vidya teamspeak cursing, then interior absorption in the room is not the answer. XD
Seriously, try sound masking. You can turn it on, off, raise or lower the volume to your liking. It's the cheapest solution.
>>948074
I've got a couple fans in my room, what would be a better idea? Also, I don't see whats deranged about coordinating a Lesbian Skin Collecting Klan, btw would you like to donate?
Pink noise generator or a wav file that you can play on a set of speakers. Some sound studio computer software will have pink, white, and grey noise audio files. There is probably an app for it.
Hell I know there are apps for sleep/meditation/nature noise files one of those might work.
Or you can always learn sign language if you just have to talk to yourself or your skin collecting friends without your weird neighbors overhearing and judging you.
