Soundproofing a build?

Hello all, i was thinking about building a cage for some ackies, but living in a 1 bedroom apartment space is very limited. I want them to be a showpiece in the living room, so i was thinking why not swap the table under the TV for a well built cage ? The only problem i see with that is when i want to watch tv it might be too loud for the lizards, and even if its not a damaging amount of noise, it would still be annoying right? Like whos the dick that keeps playing the Beastie Boyz at 2am in the apartment above me kinda thing. I had the idea to use the dynamat sound deadener they use for cars, but i figured i would ask here before i jumped into a new build. If anyone has done something like this or something else that has proven useful please let me know how/what you used and what kind of results you came out with

Ackies love to burrow, and a well built large cage would allow them to do that. The substrate itself should act as a sound barrier. I think building a plain wood riser to set on top of the cage so the TV sounds are even a bit further away would be good and might look better as well.
You might even want to mount the TV on the wall, as some enclosures open from the top for cleaning.

I don't follow ? You're saying to build a riser to make the tv sit on top of the cage but a little further up, and that the substrate acts as a sound barrier ? I see how moving the tv away would help but the substrate wouldn't be between the tv and animal so it won't absorb anything until its already went thru the cage living area ... If i put the cage above the tv in an entertainment area style set up i see that working but I'm not going for something that large

Originally Posted by dhenderson0524

but the substrate wouldn't be between the tv and animal

I don't know if you have ackies, but they burrow, so there would be substrate between the animal and the TV. A wall mount TV would help prevent some sound vibration into the cage.

Ackies burrow but they do not live underground 24/7. The question was about how to sound proof an enclosure to be used as a tv table. I will be building this myself and have no intention of cleaning it from the top, or mounting my tv elsewhere. Dynamat is made for the body of vehicles so that your stereo system and subwoofers won't rattle or let sound pass though. Its heat resistant aswell, so a nice clean wrap around the outside is what i had in mind.

Sound transmission through solids can be abated by varying the thickness and density values of several layers.

One solid piece of material, or composite of similar materials, of any type can abate sound transmission by attenuation. This is what Lucille is talking about when she mentions the substrate and sound absorption.

While a generous depth of absorptive material will help in the bottom of the enclosure, by using several material barriers of varying thickness and differing materials between the TV and enclosure, we can attenuate sound more effectively by removing resonance at the top.

The enclosure's top, for example, will resonate at a given frequency and pass this frequency, by virtue of its material characteristics and thickness. It also provides a certain amount of resistance to the frequencies outside of its resonance area. If we add a second layer of the same material, but at a different thickness, we provide a new resonant frequency. The double layered barrier no longer passes the first layer's resonant frequency easily. What gets through Layer #1 is not as easily passed through Layer #2, and vice versa.

If we take additional layers of varying thickness and materials, we further reduce the certain frequencies that will pass any given layer and it shows increasing resistance to sound by further restricting frequencies that are outside its resonance area.

By applying various thickness, we can actually form a 'filter' to eliminate some sound frequencies while passing others. When we vary materials AND thickness, we set up resonant barriers that become more and more selective, finally resisting almost all sound transmission.

We do this often in construction when we build home theater systems, and we once built a house at the end of a runway for the small airport's owner. As you might imagine, we learned a lot about acoustic resonance.

We will insulate the wall with a layer of foam, then a layer of batt insulation. This combination of barriers is more effective that twice as much as either one. We then apply 5/8" drywall, then a layer of furring strips to form an air gap, then a layer of 1/2" drywall. Again, the two layers of differing thickness drywall transmit different frequencies, so even if it "rings" through the 5/8", the same frequency cannot ring through 1/2". Frequencies that might pass both layers of drywall are unlikely to pass the air gap. In the theater system, we then apply acoustic wall coverings to the interior walls that are designed to attenuate and deaden sound.

In the case of the OP's ackie enclosure, a thin layer of padding, like bubble wrap, a thin carpet or shelf liner, then a layer of dissimilar material like a piece of 1/4" plywood, then another layer, such as an air gap produced by sitting everything on a couple spacer strips of wood or plastic, will provide much better attenuation than the same thickness of just one layer of anything.

Thank you for explaining how sound travels through objects that really helped me understand what i am trying to achieve. So basically i could build a normal style cage, then add the sound deadening foam, a layer of carpet, then another plywood to the top? Screw 2x2s under the perimeter of the outer plywood then into the main plywood holding the foam and carpet in between the two pieces but with a little air space? And that would be better than just the single layer of dynamat around the whole?

Originally Posted by dhenderson0524

Thank you for explaining how sound travels through objects that really helped me understand what i am trying to achieve.

You're welcome.

So basically i could build a normal style cage, then add the sound deadening foam, a layer of carpet, then another plywood to the top?

Yes, your most effective approach is to have a few layers of various materials that both attenuate sound and conduct what's left at different rates.

Screw 2x2s under the perimeter of the outer plywood then into the main plywood holding the foam and carpet in between the two pieces but with a little air space?

You don't want to screw 2x2s to your plywood, because you then conduct sound straight through the wood (two similar materials with similar acoustic qualities) and bypass the other isolation material in between. Think "sandwich" with each layer supporting the one above it, that provides an acoustic break.

And that would be better than just the single layer of dynamat around the whole?

Typically, yes. Materials designed to abate sound can be very effective because their structure can incorporate some of the principles above. The mat can provide various sized air cavities and varying substrate densities that serve to block a wider frequency range. Any dissimilar second and third layers will further reduce transmission.

Then how would i secure it ? I had the same thought about the screws giving the sound a path to travel , but i really don't like the idea of carpet/foam/wood layers just sitting there then putting my tv on top, doesn't sound stable. Any way around that ?

Gravity is your friend...well, at least when you're young. Gravity will hold everything in place just fine unless your area is seismically challenged.

If you put a layer of shelf liner down for example, then three 1x2s (one running front to back on each edge and the last one diagonally between the two, like the letter "N", a layer of thin carpet, dynamat or other resilient material, and then your plywood, it really can't go anywhere. I'd stand on top of that on top of a scaffold...

2x2s can roll, 1 x 2s cannot and would provide the air gap you'd want, but even 2x2s are unlikely to move with any less force than it would take to knock over the TV by itself if arranged as I have suggested above.

The biggest thing to remember is to find a way to separate similar materials for best isolation.