Hey, everyone. Would heavy velour curtains with high NRC and Sound Absorption co-efficients do "anything" to REDUCE (not totally block) sound if hung at 100% fullness (2X width of opening and pleated)?
RoseBrand has a number of different heavy velour products with lab-tested NRC and Absorption charts available including a 22 oz Synthetic Velour they call Encore. (I'm aware of the 32 oz Magic they have with slightly better absorption but it's a 12+ week wait for material at this point). Neither material seems to do much for low bass (.17 absorption at 100 Hz for Encore), but start to absorb decently at 160 Hz and beyond.
We have a HVAC problem in our new theater room (can't easily add anything without major, very expensive construction and inadequate existing supplies and returns) so won't be able to do a rear wall since the room would then be way too stuffy during use. Instead, we're thinking heavy velour curtains to reduce the sound that would otherwise escape through a wall of windows and doorwall outside of the theater that runs perpendicular to where the rear wall would be. Unlike a physical wall, we could slightly open the curtains if needed, letting more airflow in. I do realize that would create a hole in the absorption area, but am hoping that the non-opened part of the curtains would continue to absorb "some" sound.
We've also considered just putting these same curtains over the windows and doorwall and closing them when the theater is in use, leaving the rear "wall" of the theater itself totally open. But then, sound will directly hit the side wall of our house opposite the stage (roughly 50 feet away) at full blast. So still looking at what would be better.
Window plugs are likely not an option. The windows are quite large and the doorwall is 8+ feet wide. Plugs would be very heavy and a lot of work to constantly move back and forth. Plus no good place to store something that would effectively block that big wall of glass..
I checked what we can hear outside without anything blocking sound today (no wall, curtains, panels, etc), and at the edge of our property audio is slightly audible at 65 DB. Becomes more audible to a point I'd be concerned about annoying my neighbors at 70+ DB. Oddly enough, the bass isn't the main problem - it seems to be the higher frequencies, which this material from RoseBrand seems to absorb at least to a degree.
Saw a pretty old post from Ethan Winer saying curtains will do "nothing" for soundproofing. But as I'm not looking to soundproof, but soundREDUCE, is this a viable option?
Realize that sound ABSORPTION is not the same as sound BLOCKING. But I'm unclear on what "absorption" really does in terms of sound moving through a fabric. It would seem if sound is being absorbed that it is not then going through the material, right? And if "some" / less sound is not going through the material, that would reduce the sound that would otherwise hit the doorwall and windows, which in theory should solve our problem..or so it seems?
Would appreciate any and all help.
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RoseBrand has a number of different heavy velour products with lab-tested NRC and Absorption charts available including a 22 oz Synthetic Velour they call Encore. (I'm aware of the 32 oz Magic they have with slightly better absorption but it's a 12+ week wait for material at this point). Neither material seems to do much for low bass (.17 absorption at 100 Hz for Encore), but start to absorb decently at 160 Hz and beyond.
We have a HVAC problem in our new theater room (can't easily add anything without major, very expensive construction and inadequate existing supplies and returns) so won't be able to do a rear wall since the room would then be way too stuffy during use. Instead, we're thinking heavy velour curtains to reduce the sound that would otherwise escape through a wall of windows and doorwall outside of the theater that runs perpendicular to where the rear wall would be. Unlike a physical wall, we could slightly open the curtains if needed, letting more airflow in. I do realize that would create a hole in the absorption area, but am hoping that the non-opened part of the curtains would continue to absorb "some" sound.
We've also considered just putting these same curtains over the windows and doorwall and closing them when the theater is in use, leaving the rear "wall" of the theater itself totally open. But then, sound will directly hit the side wall of our house opposite the stage (roughly 50 feet away) at full blast. So still looking at what would be better.
Window plugs are likely not an option. The windows are quite large and the doorwall is 8+ feet wide. Plugs would be very heavy and a lot of work to constantly move back and forth. Plus no good place to store something that would effectively block that big wall of glass..
I checked what we can hear outside without anything blocking sound today (no wall, curtains, panels, etc), and at the edge of our property audio is slightly audible at 65 DB. Becomes more audible to a point I'd be concerned about annoying my neighbors at 70+ DB. Oddly enough, the bass isn't the main problem - it seems to be the higher frequencies, which this material from RoseBrand seems to absorb at least to a degree.
Saw a pretty old post from Ethan Winer saying curtains will do "nothing" for soundproofing. But as I'm not looking to soundproof, but soundREDUCE, is this a viable option?
Realize that sound ABSORPTION is not the same as sound BLOCKING. But I'm unclear on what "absorption" really does in terms of sound moving through a fabric. It would seem if sound is being absorbed that it is not then going through the material, right? And if "some" / less sound is not going through the material, that would reduce the sound that would otherwise hit the doorwall and windows, which in theory should solve our problem..or so it seems?
Would appreciate any and all help.
