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Old 08-17-2019, 08:57 PM   #1
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recording studio sound deadening foam panels

Has anyone used these to quiet a bus interior?


They are inexpensive, lightweight and create can be purchased in a few different colors.

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Old 08-17-2019, 10:20 PM   #2
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What happened to the link?
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Old 08-17-2019, 11:27 PM   #3
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What happened to the link?


I don't know if this helps or not

https://www.controlnoise.com/treatme...ording-studio/
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Old 08-17-2019, 11:47 PM   #4
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I've been reading up on soundproofing for a while now. I'm always intersted in links that lead to stories about people's experiences with their use of soundproofing techniques and materials.

Early this spring, when I first brought the bus over to the coast here, there was an intense downpour while I was in the bus, It just hammered down for 20 minutes or so. It was litterly deafening even with the original steel and fiberglass ceiling still intact. I had earplugs. That's the only reason I stayed. If I would not have had any earplugs, I would have went out into the rain. I was only about 60 feet from the garage. Getting soaked would be better than getting deaf.

That's when I started learning about soundproofing techniques and materials. My ceiling will be quieter than the OEM. It's not done yet, so I am not sure how much quieter.

But just to be on the safe side, I plan to move to a drier climate before the spring rains start next year. That's going to be my first line defense against thunderous downpours from now on.
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Old 08-18-2019, 12:45 AM   #5
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So, I might actually be able to help here. I'm a recording musician, worked as a theatre tech, done sound control on my home studio, and know a bit about the subject.

I could give you links for a few college courses worth of physics and wavelengths of frequencies and properties of specific materials, but honestly, all of the deep technical math can be dumbed down to a few practical principles-
  • Hard, smooth surfaces reflect sound.
  • Soft, rough surfaces absorb sound.
  • Parallel surfaces can amplify sounds or create feedback.
  • Pretty much anything that vibrates will transmit or amplify sound.
  • To that end, soundproofing requires controlling vibration.

Again, my experience is largely based around recording studios and theatres, but you might still find something useful, and I'm happy to help with questions.

For a studio, for example, a lot of thought goes into mixing hard and soft surfaces to tune the room for just the right amount of natural reverb. This is also something that's done a lot for restaurants, to keep the noise level down. I have a bunch of 18" squares on my wall that I made from quilt batting and burlap or felt over a backing board. They do far more to keep the room quiet than you would think- I'm using them like that studio foam you're looking at. They do 90% of the job for 10% of the cost. For restaurants and such, they make panels with a wood frame and basically just batting or acoustic ceiling tiles, and fabric- They sell for absurd prices.

Anyway, that's basically what you're looking at with studio foam- It's for absorbing sound inside the room. I'm not saying it wouldn't help, or that it wouldn't make a decent insulator, but I'm not sure it's ideal for what you're thinking.

A fully soundproof room like you'd find in an expensive studio- an isolation booth- is often a solid room inside a slightly larger room. It floats on a thick rubber pad, and has a few inches of dead air space between double walls and windows. This means that when something causes the inner room to vibrate (like a loud amplifier), that vibration isn't carried to the outer room- And vice versa.

Sheet metal vibrates a lot- Especially when you have largish unsupported sections of it. Hence the noise. So the first thing we're going to want to do is to stop it from vibrating. This is ultimately going to be more effective than trying to quiet the noise after the fact.

Placing a layer of insulation against the metal goes a long way- But bear in mind that the more hard/rigid the insulation is, the more it itself will vibrate. Admittedly, it will be far less than the metal, but still enough to not be ideal.

I'm speculating at this point, but I'm wondering if a layer of something like EVA foam glued directly to the steel roof, before putting on a styrofoam insulation, might do wonders for killing the sound. I've been working with the stuff a bit lately, and I think it's got just enough weight and elasticity to dampen the vibration of the metal.

I'm going to play with that a bit and get back to you.
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Old 08-18-2019, 12:59 AM   #6
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Please, do, it sounds very interesting. My planned first effort at sound deadening is going to save myself some dump fees at the same time. I ripped the ugly green flooring out of my bus and intended to throw it away purely based upon the color. As I was ripping it up, I noticed how heavy it was, and then I started reading about sound deadening.

So the OEM MLV has been sitting around, spared a trip to the dump, so far at least, because I think I should hack it up into small pieces and glue it to and around the wheel wells before covering them up with cupboards built on top of the wheel wells. I also ripped some of the vinyl off the bench seat in the back before I realized that was a very poor idea. So I intend to put that back and the cover the whole engine area with vinyl from the floor.

Cutting that MLV into manageable chunks will be hard on cutting tools, but I have to pay to get rid of the stuff so I am motivated to use it myself.
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Old 08-18-2019, 02:16 AM   #7
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I'm speculating at this point, but I'm wondering if a layer of something like EVA foam glued directly to the steel roof, before putting on a styrofoam insulation, might do wonders for killing the sound. I've been working with the stuff a bit lately, and I think it's got just enough weight and elasticity to dampen the vibration of the metal.

I'm going to play with that a bit and get back to you.
They make sound deadening thin rubber or neoprene sheets, that glue (self-adhesive?) directly to the sheet metal body work, before putting in your thermal insulation. Sorry I can't tell you what it's called, but somebody should show up with that answer shortly, as well as how effective it might be. I've got pencil and notepad ready, so I can find it for my build.
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Old 08-18-2019, 05:12 AM   #8
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I agree with MTB... I, too, did some recording in a home studio built by a late friend... He used some stuff I'd never seen before, it was basically soft foam similar to what you'd see in cushions or something, but different pieces were textured in different manners. Some resembled a houndstooth pattern, some resembled an endless array of miniature pyramids, some had the appearance of dragging a ridged potato chip through some dip, similar to the edge of a serrated knife, but with deeper ridges.

There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to why different textures were arranged and mixed with others, though I'm sure there was. Not sure where he got the stuff he used, but I believe Musician's Friend or Guitar Center, etc. sell the same stuff or something similar. It's made out of soft foam so it can be easily cut to fit unique shapes and patterns.

Alternately, as you are dealing with metal, I would consider Dynamat. May get much better results.
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Old 08-18-2019, 08:17 AM   #9
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They make sound deadening thin rubber or neoprene sheets, that glue (self-adhesive?) directly to the sheet metal body work, before putting in your thermal insulation. Sorry I can't tell you what it's called, but somebody should show up with that answer shortly, as well as how effective it might be. I've got pencil and notepad ready, so I can find it for my build.
I have not insulated yet but have put Noico 80 mil car sound deadening mat on every panel on the inside, self adhesive. The difference is enormous.
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Old 08-18-2019, 11:23 AM   #10
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Noico 80 mil car sound deadening mat is worth $65.99 on Amazon. Other vendors charge about the same. The catch is that $65.99 is for 36 square feet. That's nearly $2/ square foot.

I've been looking and haven't yet found any larger packages anywhere. So unless I can find a roll or some way to buy in quantity that will reduce the price, I am left with the conclusion that Noico sound deadening mat is out of my price range.
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Old 08-18-2019, 03:28 PM   #11
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I see a lot of folks are using spray foam to insulate their builds.



Does anyone notice less noise after foaming your bus?
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Old 08-18-2019, 03:42 PM   #12
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I didn't include a link. I had seen the sound absorbing/deadening foam panels on Amazon and remembered also seeing them in a few home YouTuber studios.



I may try it and post the results with sound meter readings.
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Old 08-18-2019, 04:37 PM   #13
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Noico 80 mil car sound deadening mat is worth $65.99 on Amazon. Other vendors charge about the same. The catch is that $65.99 is for 36 square feet. That's nearly $2/ square foot.

I've been looking and haven't yet found any larger packages anywhere. So unless I can find a roll or some way to buy in quantity that will reduce the price, I am left with the conclusion that Noico sound deadening mat is out of my price range.
You don't cover the panels with it. You strategically place patches of it along the length of your roof. It absorbs the vibrations of the adjacent area as well. It works in much the same way that putting a single finger on the side of a bell significantly reduces it's volume
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Old 08-18-2019, 05:55 PM   #14
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So, how does one develop a strategy for determing placement?

And how many square feet of Noico sound deadening mat would you say I might expect to use on a 35 foot rear-engine?
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Old 08-18-2019, 06:34 PM   #15
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So, how does one develop a strategy for determing placement?

And how many square feet of Noico sound deadening mat would you say I might expect to use on a 35 foot rear-engine?
My ONE experience with it was on a friend's van build, and I'm almost feeling disqualified from this forum since I'm about to start a van build instead of a bus.
But, to the point, I wasn't involved with the calculations, but can say for sure that he covered less than 20% of the roof and 10% of the walls, which made it very quiet going down the road, empty and before the Thinsulate thermal insulation. But I haven't experienced a rainstorm in it.
Anyhow, based on what I've seen, and my calculations of 35 ft X 7.5 ft = 262.5 sf...I'd think that two of the 36 sf rolls should be more than enough. But that's just a poorly educated guess.
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Old 08-18-2019, 06:42 PM   #16
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Thanks for trying. You've got me interested. I could afford 10 to 20 percent coverage, but I'm guessing that at that low rate of coverage, placement may be critical, so more research is called for. Thanks for the info.
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Old 08-18-2019, 06:54 PM   #17
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Your friend didn't put anything in the floor? I've got a roll of felt underlayment that I intend to put in the floor. The leftovers won't be enough to do the ceiling, but I am considering getting another roll and putting it in the ceiling too.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008N6Q7HI/
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Old 08-18-2019, 07:13 PM   #18
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Yes, there's insulation under the subfloor of the finished build, but that first ride, with ONLY the patches of Noico made a world of difference. He didn't put any Noico on the floor, partly because the floor isn't flat. I'm pretty sure he's only using foam board under the floor. I think you need to be careful with what you put under the flooring because it will compress under weight. OTOH, it would still absorb vibrations, but I still wouldn't use Noico because the floor isn't flat, and it would make the surface where you're putting foam board even more uneven. Those rolls of felt look perfect for the floor though.
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Old 08-18-2019, 07:40 PM   #19
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I have the impression from my reading that foamboard doesn't do very much to interfere with the passage of sound waves through it because it's not very dense. But putting foamboard on the floor of a bus will dampen the vibration of the metal floor and thus reduce the overall noise level.

So I would like something else in my ceiling in addition to the xps I intend to put there. I'm thinking about putting some of this stuff, glued to the metal underneath the foam board, but it's expensive, and to effectively counter heavy precipitation noise from intense hail or rain in I think it would have to cover the entire roof.

https://www.amazon.com/Loaded-Soundp...dp/B007N3356S/
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Old 08-18-2019, 07:57 PM   #20
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I have read that rock wool insulation provides excellent sound-deadening properties, one of the reasons I'm considering it instead of XPS or spray foam.
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