Is there any soundproofing that works for a bedroom please? (low-frequency bass sounds)

Thanks so much for thinking of me Bunny . It looks very interesting so I will definitely follow up what happens. I also registered for updates on the DeNoize pilots that are running in the Netherlands currently in case they make it to the UK soon. I would very much like to reclaim my house and sanity and am very hopeful that there will be a viable solution before too long...  

Best wishes

Kate

A campaign has just launched on Kickstarter for a new product that aims to block noise from outside before it reaches you. In view of everything we've discussed in your posts, I thought it might be of interest to you.

As its creator explains:

"Sonify Shield is an adaptive sound masking system. Surface-mounted exciters turn your walls, ceilings, and windows into barriers against outside noise. The system identifies unwanted sounds and sends a frequency-matched masking signal to the exciters, blocking intrusions at half the volume of a white noise machine."

More specifiically, their FAQ's include:

"Does it block bass and footsteps?

Yes, impact and low-frequency noise are exactly what we built Sonify for. The device ramps masking automatically when it detects those patterns."

Kickstarter: Sonify Shield: Block Noise Before it Gets to You

If you're not familiar with Kickstarter, I strongly suggest making sure to fully familiarise yourself with how it works before backing anything. There's a help section here that covers most topics.

For example, it's not an online shop. Rather, it's an online platform that enables people to back early stage products and services from a range of creators. Rewards aren't guaranteed, and neither are launch timings for projects.

Also be aware that import duties, taxes, and handling fees can apply, depending on where each creator ships from, and how they've chosen to address that issue. For this project, the creator says that shipping fees and import taxes aren't included, so they'll be payable in addition.

Even if you don't back this project, you might like to follow their progress and perhaps any subsequent (and perhaps improved) versions that might be developed. 

No problem at all! While I am fairly noise sensitive to sounds out of my control, really I come at this from the opposite: trying to stop other people hearing the sounds I make... I think being noise sensitive makes you more aware of the need to reduce your own as much as possible*. 

I didn't know about white noise headbands - I'd worry about tinnitus (a regular worry after decades of headphone wearing) but apparently they are a direct fix for that - guessing it's about getting levels as low as possible. 

 I hope you can get it all within acceptable levels - I certainly understand that feeling of being totally locked in to something outside of your own control. Good luck! 

(* I'm no saint though - I'm sure my neighbours hear the soundbar under my TV when I watch a film!)

Thanks Acquiesce .  I really appreciate all your helpful pointers. I have not heard of acoustic sealant, but it sounds good so I will look into it. I agree re sealing noise out being pretty challenging in the summer, but I am hoping that if I can seal it out when I first go to bed, I can open windows at 2am when the noise goes down and still get some cooling into the room.  A fan may be a good intermediate.  I have a white noise sleep headband, but it sometimes makes my ears ring or gives me more of a headache, so perhaps the fan would be enough to break up the repetitive music even if not drowning it out.  I will do some more research, but I am grateful for your informed experience! You must have been through the exact same experiences/feelings.  Hope your situation now is good.  Thanks again. x

Ah, hadn't thought about the link thing...

I've read acoustic sealant is pretty good, though don't have any direct experience there but understand the logic - it's flexible and, if done right, seals the space. I guess I'd try that with a reasonably plush carpet on top. More furniture/mass helps too - think creatively; if you have space under the bed for example fill it with high density rockwool or similar (even keeping it wrapped in the plastic coating it comes in will work). 

Web searching wise id look up DIY home studio soundproofing - obviously you're looking to keep noise out rather than in but it's the same principle. 

With the headphones thing I wonder whether a well positioned fan would cause enough white noise to drown out the outside - I lived abroad in a city for a bit and it really helped me to zone out of the outside noise. Took a long while to adjust to not having one on too.

Bests to you too, and remember: a soundproof room is an airtight room... I wouldn't recommend living in a vacuum though; air is pretty useful!  

Thanks Acquiesce . I am going to try window inserts and maybe some flooring, but other than that, you are right, headphones and white noise may be my only option.  It would be nice to be able to live freely, but I have to hold on until my kids are old enough for me to start saving up again...  Thanks for your help.  Any floor suggestions/websites would be great, but I am not sure if you are allowed to post them here?  best wishes. K

Not only are they expensive, I imagine success is very subjective. There's lots of things you can try, but you run the risk of throwing a lot of cash at it for marginal improvements, depending on how sensitive you are to it. 

With low frequency waves once they're in they're in - I'd feel around and try to guage where the worst spots are (as in can you feel the vibrations on the windows the same as the walls, floors etc... and try not to get too focussed in here - keep it within an hour or so!). If you can determine one area that's worse I'd start there...

For windows I believe you can also have inserts made, though obviously opening and closing is then a potential issue. There's also thick dampening curtains which may help a little.

Walls/floors you can insulate - adding mass is going to help the most but there are other options. I know of studio types that have taken doors off wardrobes and added furniture to absorb bass frequencies too, but really you've got to go with what's practical.  

At my last place my studio was in the cellar - I went the high density foam (100mm rockwool) in the walls route with acoustic dampening plasterboard, bass traps etc... it did a great job of sending the sound up through the floorboards into the living room above! We sold the house before I went the let's dump sand/high density foam into the floorboard spaces, but really headphones for 99% of the time was my solution, with speakers used only to briefly reference/fix at the final stages. 

Good luck, and if I can point you in the direction of ideas/useful websites I'm happy to - I'm here periodically but will try to remember to log in a bit more often. 

Thanks, that is so kind of you!  I can't pinpoint where the sound is most intruding from - I feel it everywhere and I am sure it must come through the floor as well as the windows as I feel it through my pillow when I try to sleep.  I am going to fit more glazing and some more padded/proofed flooring, but I cannot afford to get in a proper soundproof consultant as they cost so much.  I am going to a meeting now, so please don't think I have lost interest if I cannot reply any more today. I am really grateful for your kindness and your intelligent perspectives. x

Thanks for getting it - sometimes knowing the facts/challenges can help with perspective. From the outside looking in it seems like you need to find a happy medium with the two priorities - the kids also need parents who aren't stressed to their limit due to external triggers. 

Can you (literally) feel for a sense of where the vibrations are at their worst? If it were the walls more than the floors for example I might be able to point you in a slightly better/more practical direction than building a DIY anechoic chamber! Also worth thinking is it all walls/rooms etc. 

Thanks for the well wishes too!

Please don't apologise Acquiesce , your points are very helpful. I am looking into exactly what you have suggested but I don't know how to make it an affordable option.  I have to prioritise my kids' needs first and it seems greedy to use money on my own inability to cope. Good luck with your music-making! And thank you.

Pardon for what is possibly an unhelpful post, but from a purely practical pov, in terms of blocking low frequency soundwaves it's mass rather than material that does it - from a studio perspective building a room that keeps the sounds isolated within is quite a challenge...

It's usually built as a room within a room with a high density material surrounding the inner structure... Best way to imagine it is thinking of a larger box with a smaller box inside, with a reasonably thick layer of sand (or similar) in between the two boxes. 

There are things like high density rock wool that can absorb some of the vibrations through walls, but you'd still get it through the floors etc, and you'd lose a good foot from your room... all the way around if you wanted to block everything. 

I feel your pain - there's not a lot worse than having someone else's noise forced upon you, which is the main reason I use headphones to make/listen to music. 

Why was the brand and model of headphones removed? I've seen them mentioned in a different thread and not sure why it violates rule 6?

I have owned the headphones mentioned in the past although an older model. I switched to the major competitor, which I have found to have better noise cancelling and audio quality. Active noise cancelling headphones are very good though. However, I can't sleep in over ears. I'm a side sleeper.

Reminder Rule 6 - no medical or legal advice

lostmyway Thank you for your very grounding perspectives x

If brown noise or ANC's too much for a quiet night with him, try this: dim the lights, curl up close, put on something soft - like rain on a roof from your phone speaker, barely audible. Let it blend with the room. No isolation, no headphones - just you two, breathing together.

The bass will still hum, but it'll feel smaller when you're tangled up in him.

You're not burdening him. You're letting him in. That's love.

Have you found anything other than masking with brown noise or using ANC headphones that works lostmyway ? Both of those tools are not good for a quiet evening with my partner but I need to do something as it's not fair that he bears the burden of my insanity as well. What works without preventing a 'normal' relationship within a household?  I don't want to be segregated from my partner - just the neighbourhood. Thanks

Yeah... four years is a long haul. I hear how draining it is - when the noise isn't just sound, but a constant reminder you're powerless. You're spot-on: panels, coatings, even those fancy pods? They promise the world but do zilch for low-frequency vibes - they're built for echoes, not bass through bricks.

Earmuffs and plugs are the real most valuable players - simple, cheap, no false hope. And flipping the script to daytime? Smart. Waking early, burning energy (walk, chores, whatever), getting sunlight... it resets your clock so nights hurt less. Nature especially fresh air, birds, wind - it's like a reset button for the nervous system.

Reporting rule-breakers without drama? That's power. Keeps you from being the "complainer," lets the system do the work. If they keep at it, council logs build up—eventually it bites them, not you.

You're not helpless. You're adapting. That's stronger than any wall. If the earmuffs ever need upgrading (like Bose over-ear with ANC), or you want a brown-noise playlist link, say the word. You're doing what works - keep it.

I hear how brutal it was: neighbours turning it up just to spite you, the house becoming a warzone, selling at a loss - that's not just noise, that's violation. And yeah, the meltdown part? Makes total sense - when control's stripped away, everything explodes inwards.

But what you're saying about therapy... it clicks. The bass wasn't the enemy; it was the helplessness. Now you grab what you can - dishes, garage, order - and it works because it's yours. Sensory shut-out while you scrub? That's a superpower, honestly.

You're right, though - it's a double-edged thing. Too much tidying can turn into compulsion, like you're punishing yourself for not being "fixed." But you see it. That's the win.

Oh, Alice-nice-Alice , I so totally agree and recognise myself in what you are saying. I am so glad that you are finding life a bit easier now and have learned to cope with intrusive noise.  I will see if I can find a way to do something distracting whilst the noise is infiltrating my life to see if I can also reprogram myself as you have managed to do. The trouble is that the music is in the evenings when I want to relax with my partner and be at peace in my own space with my own family. I don't always want to have to be rushing around or playing my own music to block out other people's. I need some quiet time to empty my head and stop fighting the world. Thank you for your kind thoughts and I wish you all the best as well.  It is so helpful to not be told I am over-reacting about things. K x

Thanks for your kind reply D . I don't understand why they cannot make materials and houses that dampen bass noise and I am sure there are lots of others out there suffering every day. I don't really want to waste my GP's time or end up with sleeping or anti-anxiety tablets for noise. When there is no noise, I can sleep. But I struggle to not focus on any noise I can hear when I am trying to get to sleep.  I am going to persevere with white/brown noise masking to see if I can find a sweet spot between distraction and a headache from too much noise in total (white noise + bass is sometimes worse for me). I appreciate your help.  K