My neighbor is complaining about bass (need advice) - Page 2

I'd guess that in the place where the sub was previously, the walls were not concrete and were vibrating from the bass and transmitting the sound up the wall space and through the attic. The concrete walls in the new location would hardly vibrate at all.

Why don't you want to turn the sub down?

How can you say that? Maybe the neighbor is trying to get some sleep or study.

That seems like kind of a silly question. Assuming the sub was calibrated correctly to begin with, turning it down would almost defeat the purpose of having a sub. It would sound weak.

My apologies for not being more specific. I moved because a). I finally had enough money socked away for a home down payment and b). apartment livng is not always condusive for friendly relations. The woman below me was elderly and would swear you were making noise even when you were there. On the other hand, I had some college football players above me that liked to party weekdays at 2AM so I had two extremes going on. It's a balancing act to be sure.

You are correct, it would be a silly question if you assumed the sub was correctly calibrated. However, I assumed that sub was not correctly calibrated within his system and that is why I asked the question.

You missed the pictures I posted on 9/18 (might have been because of the poor quality photography LOL)

Sounds like you're a reasonable and polite neighbor. Glad you found a solution.

Am going to guess the two nearest concrete walls kill the strongest waves from propagating out, and now you are just dealing with the direct waves, narrower if u will, and by the time it reaches the far wall (not concrete?) it's too weak to get out.

Glad the Condo police didn't have to come out.

But just barely....

Install 4-6 Captivators and blast until your house separates from your neighbor. Done deal.

Question whether their meter was even measuring the bass at all. At least in NYC, there are separate measurements for normal frequencies and for bass. From a guide to the NYC noise code:

"Commercial establishments that play music must limit the level of unreasonable or disturbing noise that escapes into the streets or is heard in nearby residences by requiring that sounds levels may not exceed:
42 decibels as measured from inside nearby residences,
AND
7 decibels over the ambient sound level, as measured on a street or public right-of-way 15 feet or more from the source, between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.

Sometimes residents are disturbed by pervasive bass sounds that resonate and can be felt physically by a person.
Bass sounds measurements are weighted in the C scale and may not exceed 6 dB(C) above the ambient sound if the ambient sound is greater than 62 dB(C)."

This appears to apply only to commercial offenders though--not sure what the rules are about residential emitters.

Next time the neighbor comes over to complain, just say, "Listen buddy, you stop complaining about how loud my bass is and I won't mention to your wife the cute young hottie who comes by every time your wife leaves for longer than 8 hours." when he says, "That never happens" just smile and say, "I know" and walk away.

i also have a neighbor that complained a lot. i don't blame them because the bass was jumping the 14ft gap to their house and knocking things off of shelves (i moved to get away from them, and i've used a milder setup since moving back). they'd had the cops come by, who did a walk around my house before knocking on my door. they said it could be heard outside, but was hardly what they'd call "loud." they told me just to be respectful of the time of day.

this led me to talking to one of the sergeants at my local PD about my rights. i confirmed that i'm a dj for a living and often build my own equipment. i was told that i would be fine as long as i observe the time of day and honor any official complaints filed. he likened it to someone moving next to a racetrack or airport and then complaining about noise.

one day i was in my garage, doing some editing and this neighbor went storming across my driveway past my open door to yell at the neighbors on the other side of me about the music. she got at least ten feet past my door before realizing it was coming from me and then came in to yell at me. i pulled out my phone and offered to call the cops for her. that's when her demeanor changed. she told me it wasn't necessary and then began to reason with me.

once she cooled off a bit, i explained to her about room gain and why it's going to sound louder inside her house no matter what level i have it at outside. i explained to her that square rooms make it even worse. i told her that the insulation put on under her siding a couple years prior was worthless and pointed out that her window was open while the air conditioning was on. i reminded her how many times her a/c unit used to keep me awake all the time, even on 50 degree (Fahrenheit) nights when i used to have to get up for work at 4:30am.

she then admitted to not even knowing what direction it was coming from when she got out of the door to yell at somebody because it wasn't even loud outside. she also admitted that the walls are so thin that she can hear people talking from a few driveways over.

anyway, the moral of the story- enjoy the fruits of your labor until there's a ticket to pay. just don't be disrespectful on purpose.