soundproofing my bedroom?

[outwar6010]

lol how effective would that be?

[Bluecube]

Were egg boxes not to reduce echoes rather than for soundproofing?

[Dooms]

Were egg boxes not to reduce echoes rather than for soundproofing?

It seems so!

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul0...aqacoustic.htm

Q I've heard that sticking egg boxes or acoustic foam to walls will help soundproof a room. Is this true?

Egg boxes can make a marginal improvement to some aspects of a room's acoustics by breakingup reflections from hard surfaces, but they are virtually useless for soundproofing. The same is true of lightweight suspended ceilings, acoustic foam and even Rockwool (Rockwool tends to be used for acoustic treatment or for damping out resonances inside partition walls. All these materials have their uses, but they're mainly for acoustic treatment, not for soundproofing).

[watercooled]

From what I've read these '5.1' headsets are a bit of a gimmick/marketing fluff, not emulating 5.1 at all and reducing sound quality because of the need to cram in a load of smaller drivers.

Rather, a decent set of stereo headphones should serve you fine, giving decent positional sound etc.

Also, 'gaming headsets' in general tend to be a bit overpriced vs headphones. I mean I understand the preference for a boom mic of a headset if gaming online, but since you've said a mic isn't important, don't pay for one and the 'gaming' brand. Something like the Sennheiser HD range would be a good place to start looking, but it really depends how much you want to spend.

Edit: Maybe a bit over budget, but here's some to look at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Audio-Techni.../dp/B000CMS0XU
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-H.../dp/B004FEEY9A
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beyerdynamic.../dp/B0011UB9CQ

Head-Fi tends to be a good place to look for audio advice IMO.

Edit2: Also bear in mind what you're driving them with, in terms of sound quality + impedance. It might not be worth spending hundreds on a headset if you're going to be using on-board sound.

[Butuz]

Realistically there isn't anything you can do without serious structural work. Covering your room with acoustic foam, new speaker stands, etc etc is going to make at most 5% difference (probably less). There are two options.
1. Reduce the amount of bass you run as bass carries through walls the most.
2. Use headphones.

I suspect option 2 is the only reasonable way.

Butuz

[outwar6010]

From what I've read these '5.1' headsets are a bit of a gimmick/marketing fluff, not emulating 5.1 at all and reducing sound quality because of the need to cram in a load of smaller drivers.

Rather, a decent set of stereo headphones should serve you fine, giving decent positional sound etc.

Also, 'gaming headsets' in general tend to be a bit overpriced vs headphones. I mean I understand the preference for a boom mic of a headset if gaming online, but since you've said a mic isn't important, don't pay for one and the 'gaming' brand. Something like the Sennheiser HD range would be a good place to start looking, but it really depends how much you want to spend.

Edit: Maybe a bit over budget, but here's some to look at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Audio-Techni.../dp/B000CMS0XU
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-H.../dp/B004FEEY9A
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beyerdynamic.../dp/B0011UB9CQ

Head-Fi tends to be a good place to look for audio advice IMO.

Edit2: Also bear in mind what you're driving them with, in terms of sound quality + impedance. It might not be worth spending hundreds on a headset if you're going to be using on-board sound.

Thanks for the input but over a hundred quid for headphones is too much for me considering its just for late night gaming sessions. Im using this sb http://www.scan.co.uk/products/creat...optical-in-out.
The reviews for the g930 have been quite positive; would sound quality really be that much better with the other headsets? and i kind of decided i want the headset to be wireless. I have an av receiver and speakers so is it going to be a pain to switch from the speakers to headset?

[outwar6010]

5%? really? lets say by next summer i can save a sufficient amount and have time to deal with it all. What kind of stuff can be done?

[herulach]

Since you already have a card with a headphone amp and a decent microphone, I'm going to reccomend some Grado SR80s - they're £112 from amazon, and are pretty great headphones. Alternatively if you want to come down in budget a bit, (and be able to use them outside the house) I have used my etymotic MC5s for gaming with quite decent results in the past-they're available for about £50. I get on well with in ear headphones though - if you don't then it might be an issue.

[watercooled]

Presumably you want to isolate sounds travelling to other rooms upstairs? It depends on what type of walls you have but as others have said, it's really not going to be a simple job to get worthwhile attenuation across the range of frequencies. Even isolating vibrations with soft mountings, low frequencies will still be picked up by your surroundings and induce vibrations.

Unless you want to essentially rebuild your room with something like 1ft of insulation foam on every wall/floor/ceiling/door, you'll likely see very minimal differences. Sticking up a few cushions won't help - they might reduce echoes, which is why some broadcasters do it, but it's essentially useless at soundproofing. Even with insulation, it can be very hard to effectively attenuate low frequencies.

Headphones would be cheaper too...

[peterb]

Thanks for the input but over a hundred quid for headphones is too much for me considering its just for late night gaming sessions.

That is a lot less than soundproofing your bedroom, and probably more effective! (Just remember to keep the volume down - you only have one pair of ears, and they have to last you a lifetime)

[Andrew McP]

5%? really? lets say by next summer i can save a sufficient amount and have time to deal with it all. What kind of stuff can be done?

Despite all the fancy gimmicks, there is really only one thing which provides sound isolation, and that's mass. You need good solid, thick walls and ceilings & floors. That's easy to sort out at the building stage, but very hard to retrofit.

Buy a great set of headphones and they'll last you years. But if you spend a good chunk of money, make sure the lead is replaceable. :-)

5.1 is problematic in headphones though. I've spent a fortune on headphones over the past 20 years (in a noisy, poorly isolated flat) and great stereo headphones always win over surround gimmickery. Buy circumaural rather than supra though; it makes a huge difference when wearing them for long periods.

[watercooled]

Agreed^ I know personally, supra-aural headsets occasionally cause sharp pains in my ears after wearing them for extended periods, I'd always go for decent circumaural in future, although I've tried at least one shallow set of circumaurals where the driver casing pressed uncomfortably against my ear, so it still pays to read up on them IMO.

[g8ina]

Just chucking my 2p worth in a bit late sorry.

No such thing as 5.1 headphones, dont care what anyone says. The 3D effect your ears supplies is due to minute phase and time differences of the audio signals being received by your ears.

The *only* way is headphones, as to *properly* insulate a room can cost thousands (having done this in a studio), and, as others have already pointed out, most of the "noise" you generate from the speakers will be LF and transmitted via conduction thru floorboards etc. Bass speakers have to be decoupled so there is no benefit by flying (hanging by wire) the speakers either.

As for which headphones, I agree with the Sennheiser crowd. My HD580s are superb, as will be any of the HD500 or HD600 series. They are not cheap either, but I can wear mine for ten hours at a stretch and not feel any discomfort.

Good Luck with any compromises you might try

[TheDutyPaid]

Were egg boxes not to reduce echoes rather than for soundproofing?

That is why the neighbours could still hear my guitar, the mistakes if youth.

[cptwhite_uk]

erudito I hear you loud and clear when you say you hate big hot ear crushing ear muff headphones. Check out the Koss Porta Pro. Retro design and only stereo but the lightest and most comfy pair of headphones I've ever used. I love them to bits - your ears stay relatively cool and the sound quality is excellent. They do leak sound but it won't be an issue if you're in the room alone. They ever accomodate glasses with a gap and foam pad above the arm on the side of your head. I've had my pair ~3 years now and they're still going strong despite multiple trips in hand luggage when going on holiday and taking some serious abuse - at the beach, being squashed etc. In fact I've had to replace the ear pads as they wore out before the headphones got knackered (easily available on ebay).

Forgot to mention they come with a lifetime guarantee from Koss, so you can get a replacement pair for around ~ £10 postage costs with proof of purchase.



Available here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Koss-Stereo-...dp/B00001P4ZH:

Read the user reviews they'll all bang on about how comfy they are, I've not read them but I know that's what they'll all say, and the excellent bass levels.

[watercooled]

They look interesting, it seems like they're putting the clamping pressure on those higher pads rather than your ears?