Sound-proofing

I’m really surprised you have this problem unless you are playing inside the house at ear damaging levels.   I tried the same test myself  & with the general (not dynamic peak) volume set  at 85dB at the listening positions,  the noise outside was audible, but not excessive.  My house is much the same as yours,  brick & block, cavity wall insulation, d.glazed etc.    So it begs the question as to what is the volume dB inside the house - You can get a free SPL meter app from Apple or Android 

I look at it as a kind of public service...

Letting them listen to some great music in high quality without paying for all that gear

Have they thanked you yet?

Have tried a couple of SPL meters on the phone and they seem consistent. At the volume it was on earlier R2 and 6M sit at around the mid-70s on the meter; Arctic Monkeys marginally higher but still averaging below 80. Nowhere close to ear-splitting.

Moving sideways away from a direct line from the window that faces directly into the garden, it drops away significantly so it's not as much of an issue as I imagined at these volumes, but the no-one else in / glass of wine vols may be more problematical. The only sure way is to put it on then drop over for a cup of tea at the house in a line directly behind to see what it's like from there.

Japtimscarlet posted:

I look at it as a kind of public service...

Letting them listen to some great music in high quality without paying for all that gear

Have they thanked you yet?

Not the current lot, but an earlier neighbour did once say 'thanks for blasting Queensryche late last night' when I'd forgotten that the amp required a button push to disconnect the speakers when h/phones were in. It was delivered with a v definite snide sarcastic tone though. Whoops.

Sounds like you've got flanking transmission going on i.e. there are holes in your construction somewhere allowing the sound to travel directly out. These may be air vents around the windows; poorly installed windows; air bricks; etc. If you look at many sound booths in recording studios they are often single glazed but totally sealed from the studio and little or no sound transmits through them - so it is not the materials themselves

Did  you check by getting up close and moving around to see where the sound was loudest - by the glass of the windows?  round the edges of the frames? Through vents maybe built into the tops of the window frames? Or other vents? Through the walls? If single storey, through the roof? Inot I would do that fopirst, it may help decide whether/what you might be able to do about it.

Double glazed windows vary in their sound reduction, the wider the internal gap the better - if the sound is predominently through them the options are to add secondary double glazing (probably the most effective (but beware any necessary  window vents) otherwise change the windows for ones with bigger gaps, maybe heavier glass, or triple glazed even better. Otherwise at night heavy curtains may assist, at least above bass frequencies. 

Vents are a common cause, and can be solved but not simply by blocking up as they are there for a reason. Best solution is whole a house heat recovery system, but remember to have silencers in ncluded to prevent loud music getting from music room to quiet rooms, bathroom noises getting to th kitchen dining room, and bedroom noises between bedrooms... However it can be expensive and tricky to install, depending on the property. Otherwise it should be possible to find acoustic vents. 

Through the wall might require an internal stud liner to be added,  filled with high density mineral wool. Roof space if insulated with polyurethane foam or similar (e.g. “Kingspan”) may require adding a  high density mineral wool layer as Kingspan is not a good acoustic insulator.

And in call cases ensure good sealing of any unintended gaps.

in all cases there would be the bonus of some improvement in thermal insulation as well!

But complete noise isolation can be very demanding - one sound studio I saw used triple double-glazed patio doors for entrance and light, with mayvpbe 6 inch gap between them, which might be overkill on a house. I have triple glazing, whole house ventilation system uprated wall insulation, and all gaps fully sealed, and if I play ‘enthusiatically’ my music is clearly audible in the garden - but not loud, and probably barely audible at the boundary. (While inside, I cannot hear birds in the garden, which took a bit of getting used to at first.)

Many years back, I remember my next door neighbour banging on my front door (semi) and screaming in my face to “TURN IT DOWN!!” (note the upper case). I couldn’t resist by replying “I can’t hear you”.

We moved very soon after.

I know a chap who had an extension built to provide himself with a drum studio. He was told that the only way to stop the noise entering the house was to line the walls with sheet lead.  In the end he had double stud walls, rockwool covered with pre-coated garage roof sheets (??chipboard and bitumen?)) then rockwool and plasterboard with carpet hanging loose.

I suffer in reverse, my elderly neighbours assure me that all they can hear is a low noise enough to know there is someone at home. They have a fifty inch TV stood on a cabinet in front of the party wall, depending on the programme they are watching I get conversation through the wall, or far worse the whole of the front window eight foot wide by five tall rattling in time to their sound. It's double glazed, the uprights in the frame have metal beams inside the plastic and I have been in the room with them, the volume is not particularly loud. My only solution, put music on....

Hi Chris,

Have you spoken with your neighbours and asked them what they think?

I have neighbours in every direction from a room where my system resides. I am always conscious of the volume level and the time of day but sometimes a good track does get the better of me and I might let loose with volume control from time to time. At one time, I had my music up for about an hour or so and after that I felt so guilty I went around and apologised to everyone of my neighbours even though I had no complaints. I was very surprised to be told "what music? I didn't hear anything".  REALLY? I couldn't believe it!

I reckon because of the clarity and tight bass coming off a decent system it might not be as much of a problem as one might think but then again it could also be how tolerant or deaf one's neighbours are.

I still think it is a good idea to have a word with them as at least they will see that you are trying to reach a tolerable compromise, they might even give you a time when they could not really care how loud you have it!

In the main, most people are very tolerant and helpful if you choose the right time of day and they know you are conscious of it, obviously.

As for sound proofing?  well that's another story altogether I guess and it could well worth looking into if your neighbours need total peace and quiet. I'm sure there are many ways of tackling it and it won't be very easy in recommending a solution here as there are so many variables. The first place I would start with if bass boom is an issue is the flooring but this could turn out to be a major task depending on your property layout and what needs to be done.

I hope you find good a solution.

When I refitted my listening room, I replaced the ceiling with 2 layers of acoustic plasterboard separated by a layer of 'green glue' acoustic sealant. The listening room is in a single story annex in the corner nearest to neighbours, so I wanted to avoid too much sound leakage. It's not perfect, but it really does help.

I’m so glad that I live in a part of the country where, for the price of a small 2 bed apartment in London, we can afford a 4 bedroom detached house with thick stone walls, garden all round, and no neighbors within earshot. 

Thanks for the input; some interesting thoughts in there. No-one's ever said anything altho that doesn't mean no-one's ever been bothered by it.

Maybe relocating it all to my folks' farm is the best solution...

Cheers all.