I'm starting to plan extra rooms for my house. One problem I have is that I have audio conferences and need a room where I can not hear anything from oitside. At the moment, I hear dogs barking and off course motorbikes. 

 

Does the noise come through the walls of the windows? 

Should I plan to have some sort of sound proofing bricks or stuff in the wall, dies double glazing keep the noise out? 

 

 

If you need a sound proof room, you need double skin brick or similar walls, no windows unless triple glazed with heavy curtains. 

A thick wood door and a solid concrete ceiling.

There is a wealth of information on the net regarding sound proofing a room. Well worth the read. 

If you're adding room(s) anyway, you might think about using  room with no exterior walls. It could double nicely as a home theater...

 

 

6 hours ago, Neeranam said:

I'm starting to plan extra rooms for my house. One problem I have is that I have audio conferences and need a room where I can not hear anything from oitside. At the moment, I hear dogs barking and off course motorbikes. 

 

Does the noise come through the walls of the windows? 

Should I plan to have some sort of sound proofing bricks or stuff in the wall, dies double glazing keep the noise out? 

 

 

 

 "Noise", unwanted sound, comes through, around, and from a frustrating variety of sources in a myriad of ways. Windows, doors, ceilings, appiances. Problem is you might spend a ton on windows  and walls and still have a major problem from another source.

 

One thing that you need to determine is your attenuation target. If you don't know that, you can spend a lot of money and still be disappointed.

 

Recommend an experienced acoustical engineer with REFERENCES that match your needs.

5 hours ago, Artisi said:

There is a wealth of information on the net regarding sound proofing a room. Well worth the read. 

"Sound Proofing" a room is virtually impossible. Sound reduction is possible .. but how much ...m at what cost.

3 hours ago, klikster said:

"Sound Proofing" a room is virtually impossible. Sound reduction is possible .. but how much ...m at what cost.

In space, no one can hear the soi dogs.

 

We can simulate space here on Earth using a vacuum.  So I propose an airtight container within another airtight container which has attached to it the pump necessary to create the vacuum.  The two are unavoidably attached at the base owing to gravity so liberal quantities of neoprene or similar is advised.

 

Then you'd need to think about doors.

21 hours ago, Neeranam said:

I'm starting to plan extra rooms for my house. One problem I have is that I have audio conferences and need a room where I can not hear anything from oitside. At the moment, I hear dogs barking and off course motorbikes. 

 

Does the noise come through the walls of the windows? 

Should I plan to have some sort of sound proofing bricks or stuff in the wall, dies double glazing keep the noise out? 

 

 

No need to go crazy. The best way of isolating interference is to have a clip on lavalier type microphone when you conference. It should pick up very little sound except your voice.

By all means use double glazing/triple glazing etc but benefits will not exceed the cost.

Run the mic through an app like Krisp and voila

https://krisp.ai/

39 minutes ago, ourmanflint said:

No need to go crazy. The best way of isolating interference is to have a clip on lavalier type microphone when you conference. It should pick up very little sound except your voice.

By all means use double glazing/triple glazing etc but benefits will not exceed the cost.

Run the mic through an app like Krisp and voila

https://krisp.ai/

I would have thought a throat mike would be even more effective. They work so well that they're often used by ground staff working on the apron at airports.

 

Paired up with some noise cancelling headphones and I would think you've smashed it.

 

 

18 hours ago, klikster said:

 

 "Noise", unwanted sound, comes through, around, and from a frustrating variety of sources in a myriad of ways. Windows, doors, ceilings, appiances. Problem is you might spend a ton on windows  and walls and still have a major problem from another source.

 

One thing that you need to determine is your attenuation target. If you don't know that, you can spend a lot of money and still be disappointed.

 

Recommend an experienced acoustical engineer with REFERENCES that match your needs.

The main reason I think is the french doors. I plan to build an extra little room cover them. The other window, I could replace with triple glazing. 

4 hours ago, ourmanflint said:

No need to go crazy. The best way of isolating interference is to have a clip on lavalier type microphone when you conference. It should pick up very little sound except your voice.

By all means use double glazing/triple glazing etc but benefits will not exceed the cost.

Run the mic through an app like Krisp and voila

https://krisp.ai/

That seems to be to mute out background noise from the person talking to you, not the other way. 

Thanks I'll look into it.

I had this as part of my Uni course years ago, then applied it in practice in cases of community noise complaints.

 

You can attenuate sound in three main ways ....

 

Sound proofing

Sound absorption

Active noise cancelling

 

I suggest you try the easiest measures first, then see if the noise levels are acceptable.  So in order .....

 

1. Gaps - Seal any holes or gaps - direct connection to the outside is the biggest issue - use rubber seals on windows and doors, seal any gaps or holes - such as where the AC pipes enter, not forgetting roof spaces or suspended ceilings.

 

2. Windows - replace glass with thicker panes, add secondary double glazing with a 1 inch plus air gap.

 

3. Absorbers - add soft furnishing to absord sound and reduce the reflected sound within the room - cushions, curtains etc.  Cover as much as practical of the flat, reflective surfaces of walls, ceiling, floor with drapes, carpets, curtains, cushions, soft sofa etc.

 

4. Walls - add an inner wall of heavy plasterboard suspended on a wood frame that does not touch the outer house wall.  Put sound absorbing material in the air-space between the walls.  Weight/mass of materials is important for proofing, lighter/softer materials for absorbing.

 

5. Active cancelling - microphone near the window connected to a speaker with a 180 phase adjustment - like in some cars (I've never tried this one - so no idea if it's effective).

 

In my experience - sealing gaps, adding a layer of heavy plasterboard to outside walls and adding thicker glass to windows will cut noise to manageable levels.  Thai houses tend to have lightweight, single skin walls, thin glazing and gaps/holes everywhere - so they transmit noise very effectively.  But if your chosen room is on an upper floor with the roof over the room - you'll need a heavy plasterboard ceiling too.

 

So in that case a good noise cancelling mic may be a better option?

 

 

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

That seems to be to mute out background noise from the person talking to you, not the other way. 

Thanks I'll look into it.

It is meant to work both ways.

https://www.pocket-lint.com/apps/news/152152-how-to-use-krisp-noise-cancelling-app-zoom-teams-meet