the sound of true isolation

I've been quite busy lately reading up on how to acoustically treat a room, as I have a makeshift recording studio in my basement. There's so much to consider. First, you have the option of "floating" new walls and floors to isolate it from the rest of the structure. You can treat all seams with some sort of caulk or sealant, and also use a black rubbery sheet product called "sheetblock" to help prep sub-surfaces. Then there's acoustical foam available from lots of different vendors in both pyramid and flat styles (and in multiple colors). It's expensive stuff, though. By the time you have figured out how much you will need to treat your studio or home theater, you may be looking at a bill of over $1000. Especially if you want to do it right and add things like bass traps and diffusers.

One quick word of advice: if you order this stuff on the internet, request that they ship it with signature confirmation. UPS left $1000 worth of foam sitting on my front porch. The boxes were huge and easily visible from the street. I'm surprised that they were still there when I got home from work. I was also relieved that I managed to bring them in just before a torrential rain fall. I can imagine what the foam (and my studio!) may have smelled like after enduring a thoroughly wet cardboard soak. This will probably be the most money you've ever spent on something that weighs so little for its volume.

Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to assist with acoustics that won't kill your credit card. For one, if you're on a hard surface like tile, concrete or hardwood floors, you can put down a nice thick floor rug. Of course, if you're treating a studio, this can pose a problem for you if you have a desk with rolling chairs. According to one of the manufacturers I researched, there is a simple 38% rule that you can follow to help out with balancing the resident frequencies and reflections of a room. You basically setup your listening position 38% away from the front or back wall. So if your room is ten feet long, you would be 3.8 feet away from the wall. This sounds simply enough, but not everybody wants to be sitting right in front of their huge screen TV. The 38% rule fortunately applies to the rear wall, as well. The direct center of the room is supposed to be one of the worst places, though.

Best of luck if you decide to treat your own room acoustically. It is quite a challenge. You can pick up some free software and test tones on the internet that will help with your analysis and design. A cheap SPL meter is good to have, too. If you've got the cash, you may just want to call a professional acoustical engineer, though.