Soundproofing with Eggcartons, miracle or myth?

chrispizzy · #1 10-24-2010, 02:02 PM

My buddy and I have a lot of egg cartons and have been planning on putting them up as a means of soundproofing his room. We were thinking of starting this long project today and trying to figure out if it is really worth it, and if it actually works. IF anyone has any stories pictures ideas and tips on how to go about doing it please let me know

Handyman · #2 10-24-2010, 02:03 PM

No idea if they work, but it sounds like a great way to turn a room into a death trap in the event of a fire.

bongomania · #3 10-24-2010, 02:06 PM

Total myth. Does not work AT ALL. The best result you can get with egg cartons is to make the room sound darker, with less reflection off the walls.

The myth is because acoustic panels inside studios used to have an egg-crate pattern to them; but egg crates are not acoustic panels, and acoustic panels are not soundproofing!

Phendyr_Loon · #4 10-24-2010, 02:12 PM

Working under the idea that dead air space between objects (in this case the space between the walls of your room and the protruding egg crate corrugation) will help to dampen the sound, then yes it could work in theory.
Although I don't think the cardboard material used in the eggcrate is sufficient in density to be optimal.

chrispizzy · #5 10-24-2010, 03:04 PM

what if there is cardboard on the wall then egg cartons on top of it?

synaesthesia · #6 10-24-2010, 03:14 PM

Pointless. To have sound proofing, you need to reduce sound transmission. Sound is propagated as waves through air as medium in the dominant case, and secondarily through more substantial physical entities such as water, brick walls, timber construction and sp forth. The transmission through a timber wall construction with about 75mm of insulation might give you 10dB of sound reduction. You will have to reconstruct your doors to have an air lock, like in most studios. Double glazing helps, and single glazing is pointless. Ultimately , you want a room within a room for SOUND proofing.

There are several sources that you can consult, and these days any public library should have some kind of book about construction of a sound studio.

Egg crates only deflect standing waves, if at all. They do nothing to sound -proof, which is to prevent sound from coming in and sound from getting out.

Egg crates on a wall for soundproffing are like tin foil on your head preventing mind control by space aliens.

if you are planing on using egg crates as insulation within the wall construction, they don't have much value in decibel reduction.

Jim Nazium · #7 10-24-2010, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by synaesthesia

Egg crates on a wall for soundproofing are like tin foil on your head preventing mind control by space aliens.

That's what the aliens want you to think.

Gizmot · #8 10-24-2010, 03:23 PM

Everything Synathesia said is correct. The wavelengths of low frequencies are very long and a little reflection or diffraction won't do much to dampen them. You have to start with acoustical decoupling (a floating room) and still work on wall thickness and acoustic damping to get close to soundproofing

rickdog · #9 10-24-2010, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Handyman

No idea if they work, but it sounds like a great way to turn a room into a death trap in the event of a fire.

+1. (Or should that be +451?)

I light the fire in my wood stove with egg cartons. 'Nuff said.

LaklandBass · #10 10-24-2010, 03:41 PM

I think the common confusion is between "soundproofing" reducing sound reflections.
I was in a band before that had every inch of walls covered in egg cartons. This will do nothing at all to stop your sound from going through the walls into other rooms and it wont stop outside sounds from entering your room.
What it will do is stop the sounds inside the room from reflecting all over the place.
The better solution?
Get either carpet/throw rugs or foam shipping pads. Foam as in the type used by auralex for room treatment... not styrofoam.

You dont need to cover all areas of walls/ceiling but some large squares or rectangles placed properly can make rehearsal sound a ton better.

Queg · #11 10-24-2010, 04:01 PM

To effectively sound proof, build a room within the room ("floating"). I've done the double wall sheet rock method (floating the inner layer) but even that couldnt block the low end.

Egg crates can be used as "skyline" style diffusers to dissipate higher freq slap back on ceilings and walls, but it's not worth the danger of a Great White style flammable deathtrap.

ggunn · #12 10-24-2010, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrispizzy

what if there is cardboard on the wall then egg cartons on top of it?

Is it really soundproofing you want, or is it acoustic treatment for conditions inside the room? No amount of cardboard is going to make a difference to your neighbors when you are playing or keep outside sounds from coming in through the walls and ceiling. (i.e.soundproofing). You can get limited high frequency reflection kill from egg/vegetable cardboard crating, but that's about it..

spaz21387 · #13 10-24-2010, 06:51 PM

Your best bet for cheap sound proofing will be carpet then those egg crate foam shaped bed liner pads. We used the egg crate foam pads to attempt to quiet the garage we practiced in. It helped but didnt make it silent when we practiced.

**nutdog** · #14 10-24-2010, 06:57 PM

It works.

Stick_Player · #15 10-24-2010, 07:11 PM

Soundproof? Maybe in outer space.

What you are probably trying to do is called 'sound control'. As stated above by synaesthesia, you want/need to control the transmission of waves. The low frequencies are the most difficult - ever heard/felt a large truck drive by?

Egg cartons are a total waste of effort - as is hanging carpet, unless you want to reduce higher frequencies within the room. But that is NOT soundproofing and will not reduce low frequencies from bothering your neighbors.

This pretty much goes for the useless foam rubber products sold to 'fix' rampant sound transmissions.

But if you have nothing else to do - go ahead and nail up as many egg cartons as you can.

You'd be better served learning about studio construction and what works in those environments.

mongo2 · #16 10-25-2010, 06:17 AM

One idea is a room within a room...

room-within-a-room

kraigo · #17 10-25-2010, 06:35 AM

Piling on.

It takes mass and dead air space to seriously stop sound. Given not a lot of space, staggered stud construction, Z-channel and isolating instruments from coupling with the floor will help, but if you're rocking at 3AM the neighbors will still probably complain. This is always a good place to start: http://www.acoustics101.com/

KO

P.S. Staggered stud, Z-channel and two different thicknesses of plasterboard each side...

Paul M · #18 10-25-2010, 06:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mongo2

One idea is a room within a room...

room-within-a-room

This is an interesting article but the diagram shows a perfectly square room, which is another thing you would want to avoid if you were to build a room from the ground up. Reflections and standing waves are made worse with parallel walls. Many studios are oddly shaped so that no two walls are parallel to each other and the ceiling is angled so that it's not parallel to the floor.

Hoover · #19 10-25-2010, 07:02 AM

They myth that egg cartons on the walls do anything remotely desireable in terms of acoustic performance was unequivocally debunked back in 1988:

http://www.acousticsfirst.com/docs/egg.pdf

wkbryan · #20 10-25-2010, 07:10 AM

As a former fireman I'll re-iterate what Hanydman said, this would be an accident waiting to happen from a fire safety standpoint, especially if you're talking about foam egg crates instead of the cardboard/fibre kind. Doubts? Take several out to the driveway (or other safe area) and fact check us on the flammability issue.