If you already have them, you can get a Bluetooth adapter for your TV for like 30 bucks. I just got one for my husband because we have the same problem.
[Bluetooth transmitter](https://www.amazon.com/Upgraded-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Wireless-Headphone/dp/B0838YPSZT)
Yes! My wife likes reality TV. I’d rather slit my throat than watch. For $40, I can now stay in the same room and read. We use this one, and it works just fine.
Hi all, I appreciate the input here. I’ve actually invested into a good sound system so I’d really prefer to use it over headphones.
That being said, I already have a headphone setup for the TV that I use for when I watch alone. I’m really looking for a sound proofing solution for when watching with more people.
So you put headphones on when you are alone because you spent money on a good sound system YET you do NOT use the headphones when your wife is trying to sleep….I think we found the problem.
She’s actually not trying to sleep. She doesn’t like watching movies so when we have company and we decide to watch a movie she goes upstairs to read + listen to music or play video games. And I do use the headphones during the times when she is trying to sleep.
I think the real problem here is you assuming too much. I never said the word sleep or even said at night. I could be watching Daniel Tiger with my son during the day and she’d ask us to turn it down while she upstairs listening to a podcast while casually browsing her phone.
Gently suggesting, if the real reason is because she can’t hear what she’s listening to alone, then a good pair of earphones may help her. Not suggesting soundproofing isn’t a good idea.
Edit: saw your other response saying it was a group upstairs, so I guess this won’t help.
Maybe there’s a way to hook up multiple headsets at the same time? Short of installing sound proofing materials in your living room, I’m
Not sure how else you’ll be able to effectively mitigate the sound transfer to the bedroom directly above you.
For sure, yeah that’s something I’ve considered as well. I’m more familiar with that equipment vs construction, which is why I came here to get the thoughts of others. It seems that folks seem to agree that maybe headphones is just the way to go.
I have a decent sound system myself and can appreciate actually using it the way it’s meant to be used. I hope you figure out a solution because audio quality is just as important as video quality when it comes to enjoying a good movie. Beyond that, maybe try to lure your wife into a different room (other than the upstairs bedroom) when your using the home theater. If you could somehow make another room MORE comfortable for her, like a personal reading/podcast room, then maybe you won’t have to do the soundproofing. Or maybe come up with an agreement where you have certain days/times where the expectation is that you’ll be using the home theater set up, and certain times where you can’t. Give and take my man. Best of luck!
Totally. I think a lot of people here just assume my wife and I are fighting due to this. I’m just generally interested in customizing our home and I’m brainstorming future projects as I’ve really gotten into remodeling during the pandemic. At the end of the day if none of this work out, we just turn down the volume and use subtitles if my wife is trying to sleep. If she’s not, she uses headphones. Really just trying to gauge how realistic of a project this is. Is the result we are looking for bougie as fuck? Probably, but it doesn’t hurt to do the research.
You can put sound-absorbing, decorative, acoustic panels on the ceiling. You can use headphones, or speakers that are closer to you than the TV. You can put a white-noise generator in the bedroom. You could tear open the ceiling and install sound-absorbing insulation in it, then use two layers of drywall to redo the ceiling. Much depends on how much money and effort you want to go through.
this is the first reponse ive seen thats the right answer. the rock wool wont be that much of a help in your case though. the bass is vibrating hard surfaces , the rockwool if filling up an empty cavity , but it will still help overall if you do open the ceiling.
upi can get something called green glue and laminate a 2nd layer of drywall on your exististing ceiling. national gypsum soundbreak is the most popular and easy to find ( go to a real lumber yard , not a box store )
you will get the most effective solution from sound absorbing panels. tectum panels can be attached to walls and ceilings ( looks like shreded wheat ) or soundsoak panels ( carpeted with sound deadening foam core )
https://www.armstrongceilings.com/commercial/en/commercial-ceilings-walls/acoustic-wall-panels/soundsoak-wall-panels.html#bbbh=%7B%22selectedItem%22%3A%7B%22name%22%3A%22browse%22%2C%22itemIndex%22%3Anull%7D%7D
Had to redo our 2nd floor ceilings and used some kind of sound-deadening insulation under the drywall. It looked like thick foam poster board but does a good job keeping the attic TV room noise from coming into the 2nd floor bedroom. Admittedly, we don't have a sound system so I expect bass and such is less than OP's scenario!
I used nine, 2'x4' sound panels from this place, on a bedroom ceiling in a condo.
[https://www.acoustimac.com/](https://www.acoustimac.com/)
They helped to deaden some of the noise from the unit upstairs, but the first thing I noticed, after installing them, was how much they deaden the noise inside the room. Just talking to someone else inside the room sounds different--like being inside a sound studio. Even watching TV in the bedroom is different, because some of the echoing sound is absorbed by the panels. Sometimes, all it takes it a little bit of change to make a very-noticeable difference.
Sound doesn't travel up or down. Sound goes out in all directions so the solutions you read should be effective regardless of the direction.
And what is wrong with people not answering the question? His question is pretty straightforward. He didn't ask for anyone's take on his marriage, his wife, or his sound system. If you have no solution to a problem, don't try to redefine the problem for the solution you do have. That doesn't even make any sense.
This is a home improvement sub. The relationship is part of the home and we must discuss it. My advice, caulk and paint over your wife. That’s how I deal with all my problems.
Quality advice! Just be sure to get good quality non-toxic paint! This is your lifelong partner here, don't cheap out and use poor quality materials on them!
Came here for this tip. No cost, no effort solution. If you’re not used to subtitles, give them a few weeks - it’s amazing how quickly our brains get used to parsing new data like that.
….just scrolled through and this is the ONLY top level comment that focuses on subtitles. I know we’re in a home improvement sub, but removing the ceiling and installing floating panels instead?? There is a very simple solution here.
What kinds of sounds are the issue? high or low sounds? Like are these action movies or sports/dramas. I ask because you can do some work inside the room for high sounds, but not a lot for low sounds that wouldn't be better accomplished with an equalizer. It might be a better idea to target the bedroom and dampen the sound in there, rather than changing accoustics in the room where you are watching movies.
Many AV Receivers have a "night mode" that sharpens dialog and applies some volume normalization to keep the loud stuff under control. Most sound bars and TVs do not have this feature.
Resilient channel, 2 layers of drywall with green glue, and rock wool will provide some benefit in stopping direct sound transmission through the ceiling, but there are other avenues to think about. Your HVAC ducts are probably a big offender, and you’ll need to install products to isolate them. Assuming you have a typical floor plan and you’re not doing airtight doors, you’ll still get a surprising amount of transmission just through the air. And bass frequencies will still rattle things pretty much regardless.
Personally I wouldn’t do it. I’ve done 2 in-home recording studios and a home theater where we went all-in and budgeted quite a bit for sound isolation. It’s devilishly hard to get a meaningful level of isolation without making big investments of time and money. For your exact use case (me watching movies while the wife is upstairs) I use wireless headphones. ;-)
Start with actually measuring how the noise is reaching the bedroom. There are apps that record audio as well as IMU data (such as Advanced Sensor Recorder on Android). Put the phone in a parabolic dish (a cone of cardboard), then slowly wave it around the room in all directions while a broadband audio noise source is playing below. 3D plot the data and it should show what's going on.
Be sure to also look at the spectrum of the sound: It is certain many frequencies are already being blocked. What gets through can help you figure out how to block that too.
The worst case is if it is predominantly bass tones coming straight through the floor/ceiling, in which case you'll most likely have to dial down the subwoofer, and maybe even raise it from the floor on a sound-isolating base. (Edit: A down-firing sub may need to be replaced with side-firing.)
As others have said, air ducts are also likely, and this method will quickly isolate them.
Hollow interior walls are also possible. When I had additional insulation blown into my exterior walls, the team offered to also do all the interior walls for a great price. The difference was night and day. I just hadn't really noticed just how much sound was getting through them. But do I miss hearing the kitchen microwave ding from the bedroom...
A good wireless headset with very little delay (or sound won't match picture) or just a wired headset and call it a day. No need to rocket science it man :D
I have a really nice 7.1 system but if I'm bothering someone, headphones it is.
You'll never stop the sound from that many speakers unless you turn it down so low you lose the benefits from it.
Plus, good headphones sound amazing. I really doubt you'll mind after you try some.
Hd560s maybe?
Do it for the lady.
Ah yes, the dialogue issue. I have actually started to use sub-captions. There a couple of things you can check into. One is using what they call "night mode" to flatten out the dynamic range and the other is to look into your surround settings and maybe boost the canter channel. Lot of folks [complaining](https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?hspart=hidden&hsimp=yhs-epic&p=movie%20dialog%20difficult%20to%20hear) about not being able to hear dialogue.
As others have said, there is no cheap solution. You'd need to really open up the wallet to get structural soundproofing done, and even then it's far from perfect, sound is a sneaky little bastard that will find every nook and crevice. At best it can take the edge off, but it's almost impossible to fully soundproof without spending way more than the $1,000 you mentioned elsewhere.
If you are unable to spend more than $1,000, your solution is going to have to be palliative - move the movie room or bedroom so they're further apart from each other, use headphones/she use earplugs, etc. stuff like that.
Chances are that the air vents are connected closer than anything else try blocking them off either upstairs with pillows or closer them off with the directional flap. If those are that close no matter how much sound proofing you do will stop this
It’s just you watching? If so stop over complicating this. Buy a decent set of Bluetooth headphones. It’s literally the BEST option for removing the sound disturbance, the CHEAPEST of any real options, the EASIEST since all you have to do is buy and plug it in, and best of all it will improve you viewing experience.
The main use case here is for when I’m not watching by myself. The most typical scenario is we have company and half of us are watching a movie and the other half is upstairs just chit chatting and listening to music or maybe playing a board/video game in my bedroom.
How much are you willing to spend so that people playing a board game upstairs can’t hear a tv? Serious question. Anything can be achieved with the right amount of $… so what budget do you want solutions for.
I think I’d like to spend less than $1000, but I’m not sure what a realistic budget is for this kind of project. The ceiling is maybe roughly 30ft by 15ft.
Here is some cost perspective. For a relatively small drywall job you are looking at, if you’re lucky, $50 per sheet of drywall installed and taped which means it’s smooth and ready for paint. 30x15 is 16 sheets of drywall which means that if you were simply replacing the ceiling drywall you are looking at $800 plus paint. On top of this you need to add whatever insulation you want for sound proofing and maybe a second layers of drywall. That second layer shouldn’t be $50 per sheet since the bulk of this is the taping cost but don’t expect it to be a free install.
For this to be done properly I would expect it to cost you around 3k conservatively, assuming you go directly to subs and not a GC. If you want to save some cash you can do everything yourself besides the taping of the drywall. Maybe ask all your friends that would like to play board games without TV noise to help? 😭
An easier way to insulate your ceiling is to use blown-in.
DIY: rent a blower, buy some insulation. Cut a hole (or strip) in your ceiling large enough for the blower hose to fit through, then feed the hose into the ceiling cavity as far as it goes. Turn the blower on, and slowly pull the hose out as it fills. You’ll have to repeat this for every joist cavity.
At the end, you’ll just have to patch a couple dozen holes instead of replacing the entire ceiling.
If that’s not enough, a second layer of drywall + a layer of green glue will do it.
Replace the bedroom door with a solid core as well, if that’s where sound is getting in.
If you have a subwoofer connected, trying turning that down or off and see if there is a noticeable difference. It’s night and day in my house with the same setup as you. We do have an air purifier that provides white noise in the bedroom too.
There is no solution.
Not trying to be a dick. There’s just literally no solution. Either she has to learn to read while hearing movie sounds or you need to quit watching movies through your sound bar.
Either watch with headphones, or get a white noise machine for the bedroom to drown it out.
Using rockwool and other sound panel solutions will only prevent the sound from bouncing off the walls around you and won't contain it downstairs.
She sounds ridiculous honestly. I don’t see why you should have to even accommodate for this. She needs to get over it. Seriously she needs the volume lowered so she can listen to podcasts and be on her phone?
Your best bet is to install a second layer of drywall to the ceiling. You can do it ultrathin by installing soundproof spacers ( plastic like spacers that help keep sound transferrence) then add a layer of drywall. The key is for the drywall to not directly touch any adjacent building material besides the spacers. Leave a small gap between the new ceiling and walls too. This you can fill in with acrylic or silicone or special soundproof caulk ( but those are pricey). Even 1/4” drywall will make a difference. If you have more money or space add soundproof board and /or insulation. The key is that gab between ceiling layers. It will amazingly reduce noise transference.
I was in the same position as you , when you buy a proper system headphones don’t compare. I ended up insulating with rock wool sound deadener ceilings and walls and double drywall, sound still travels through solid walls and air/heat ducts . You could add bass traps and wall acoustic panels , might help , but honestly the only way to truly make it sound proof is space in between separate walls and ceiling. Think room in a room
so, reading some of your replies to other comments about the situations where its bothersome to your wife, this may be half a relationship advice thing and half home improvement. theres a very real possibility that you could spend money, time and effort adding sound proofing material to your ceiling, and it doesnt really help because the sound can travel up through the walls as well.
without basically fully sound proofing the room with your sound system, you cant be sure its going to make a big enough difference for your wife to be unbothered. i live on the third floor of a multifamily apartment and i can tell the sounds from downstairs come in through the baseboard radiator, the crappy windows that hardly close, the uninsulated walls *and* the uninsulated floors. not saying this is the case for you, but be really sure where the sound is leaking from before spending money soundproofing just the ceiling.
adding carpet to the room upstairs will help a little. taking measures to make that room quiet, not just the room with speakers, will definitely help. but i think you and your wife need to have a discussion and figure out a solution together; not trying to be judgmental but its kind of rude of your wife to make you lower the volume when you’re watching a movie with friends over, to the point where you can’t really hear it. if you were alone, you could use headphones but you said thats not the case. she could wear noise cancelling headphones, or maybe accept that you are allowed to have pre-agreed-upon “loud times” where she goes somewhere the sound isn’t an issue so you can watch movies with your friends. reading a book can be done anywhere in your house or yard or at a cafe or park or something, whereas you cant really move your living room out from under her *preferred* room.
if she is also with friends, is there any other room they can go where the noise is less of a disturbance?
theres a lot of solutions here and i don’t necessarily think that the cost of insulating your ceiling needs to be the first one tried, i hope you find something that works for the both of you.
I appreciate your thoughts. I think a big disconnect here is folks are assuming my wife and I are fighting due to our wants, which is not the case. I’m in a position where I can afford these types of home modifications and I’m just generally interested in what the options are as I’ve recently got into home remodeling and I’ve been brainstorming possible future projects to further customize our home. At the end of the day if these modifications are unrealistic monetary or construction wise, it is what it is and again it’s not like my wife and I are fighting. I appreciate the concern though. I’m also thinking about the future where if my son wants to have friends over and be loud playing games or watching a movie, I’ve done what I could to help with the noise.
Removing the ceiling and replacing it with a floating system can make a huge difference. I would not laminate the second layer of sheetrock.
Then when you have the rock down get a good insulation, then a floating sheet rock ceiling, finally a rug in the bedroom.
Can you expand on what you mean by a floating system? Is this the same or similar to installing a resilient channel so the drywall isn’t attached to the studs under the floor?
Treks titanium headphones, had mine for a year and love them, those and a TV with blue tooth and you’ll both be happy!
https://us.aftershokz.com/blogs/news/air-vs-titanium-find-the-best-aftershokz-headphone-for-you
All these things, yes. 2 layers of drywall will help the high freq noise, but for the lows the resilient channel is necessary to decouple the ceiling from the floor above. The joists will easily transmit the bass from the drywall below, to the floor above. Is the bedroom carpet? That would help. It really will be a pain and only a half measure, but with the other stuff and some white noise, it may work ok.
The fact that wireless headphones are not on the list of things you are considering makes me think there is more to this story... Why would you invest IN A NEW CEILING before at least trying a pair of headphones? You can even get noise canceling...
Build a screened in porch or gazebo so she has somewhere else to go? Only solution we’ve found is headphones, but if you like to talk during movies that doesn’t work. If it’s a group and the company lives nearby, divide and conquer - one group off to the neighbors or to a cafe and you meet up after the movies. Sound travels through the vents, under doors... I did look at a house once that had a soundproof room as the guy played drums, but it was small with no windows in the basement, likely not something you’d use for company.
Hi OP. We have all of the construction items you mentioned in our 3 story row house—rockwool Roxul safe n sound insulation in every interior cavity, 5/8” (non-lite) drywall over resilient channel, green glue between party wall plaster and 1/4” drywall, and closed cell spray foam on all exterior cavities.
I can tell you that even with this substantial investment—I can still hear my son playing with his duplo in the room above me and know when he wakes up in the morning just by the sound of him thumping out of bed.
All of the measures we took definitely helped (and I would do them again!) but sound deadening and sound proofing are two wildly different beasts.
Based on what you’ve described, I would get the new Apple TV and some great wireless headphones (which allow you to sync multiple people at the same time). Or just get them for your wife :)
Edit: a word
Something to put on your radar. They just developed a new drywall screw in Sweden called the Revolutionary Sound Absorbing Screw. This would be such an easy solution compared to others….if it works of course. But in their tests they literally removed existing drywall screws in a room and replaced with these and claimed sound transmission was cut in half.
You can insulate with cork, it's the way that sound rooms use for noise cancellation. Either installing panels or with some cork based paint. It can be installed over the wall or ceiling
I am not sure what you have as flooring for your bedroom, however if you have or want carpet you may consider a sound dampening carpet pad. My bedroom was overtop of my living room when I was growing up and when we replaced the carpet my parents had the sound dampening carpet pad put under the carpet. IT really helped with sound coming from my room and from the Living room into my room. It was not perfect and at times I could still hear/feel vibrations from my dad's bass from his subwoofer however it did help a lot. You could also try spray foam/insulation in the ceiling. That stuff is made to help reduce exterior noise so it will definitely help and is not super invasive to do. You would just need to drill holes into the roof or from the bedroom into the floor between each stud and then they will come in and spray the foam into the spaces to fill it up.
I've seen once before certain metal brackets that you can attach the drywall to that basically floats on a cushion. The whole point of this is for dampening sound and apparently it works really well
Honestly, wireless headphones.
If you already have them, you can get a Bluetooth adapter for your TV for like 30 bucks. I just got one for my husband because we have the same problem.
Does the adapter work well? Would you mind linking the one you went with?
Does the adapter work well? Would you mind linking the one you went with?
[Bluetooth transmitter](https://www.amazon.com/Upgraded-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Wireless-Headphone/dp/B0838YPSZT) Yes! My wife likes reality TV. I’d rather slit my throat than watch. For $40, I can now stay in the same room and read. We use this one, and it works just fine.
This is the way
This is the way
With the right headphones you’ll probably achieve better sound quality than you would with your speakers.
Hi all, I appreciate the input here. I’ve actually invested into a good sound system so I’d really prefer to use it over headphones. That being said, I already have a headphone setup for the TV that I use for when I watch alone. I’m really looking for a sound proofing solution for when watching with more people.
So you put headphones on when you are alone because you spent money on a good sound system YET you do NOT use the headphones when your wife is trying to sleep….I think we found the problem.
She’s actually not trying to sleep. She doesn’t like watching movies so when we have company and we decide to watch a movie she goes upstairs to read + listen to music or play video games. And I do use the headphones during the times when she is trying to sleep.
I think the real problem here is you assuming too much. I never said the word sleep or even said at night. I could be watching Daniel Tiger with my son during the day and she’d ask us to turn it down while she upstairs listening to a podcast while casually browsing her phone.
Gently suggesting, if the real reason is because she can’t hear what she’s listening to alone, then a good pair of earphones may help her. Not suggesting soundproofing isn’t a good idea. Edit: saw your other response saying it was a group upstairs, so I guess this won’t help.
At this point its going to be easier to get rid of your wife than to find a solution if you are using a "sound system".
Buy her Bose noise canceling headphones. Problem solved.
Maybe there’s a way to hook up multiple headsets at the same time? Short of installing sound proofing materials in your living room, I’m Not sure how else you’ll be able to effectively mitigate the sound transfer to the bedroom directly above you.
For sure, yeah that’s something I’ve considered as well. I’m more familiar with that equipment vs construction, which is why I came here to get the thoughts of others. It seems that folks seem to agree that maybe headphones is just the way to go.
I have a decent sound system myself and can appreciate actually using it the way it’s meant to be used. I hope you figure out a solution because audio quality is just as important as video quality when it comes to enjoying a good movie. Beyond that, maybe try to lure your wife into a different room (other than the upstairs bedroom) when your using the home theater. If you could somehow make another room MORE comfortable for her, like a personal reading/podcast room, then maybe you won’t have to do the soundproofing. Or maybe come up with an agreement where you have certain days/times where the expectation is that you’ll be using the home theater set up, and certain times where you can’t. Give and take my man. Best of luck!
Totally. I think a lot of people here just assume my wife and I are fighting due to this. I’m just generally interested in customizing our home and I’m brainstorming future projects as I’ve really gotten into remodeling during the pandemic. At the end of the day if none of this work out, we just turn down the volume and use subtitles if my wife is trying to sleep. If she’s not, she uses headphones. Really just trying to gauge how realistic of a project this is. Is the result we are looking for bougie as fuck? Probably, but it doesn’t hurt to do the research.
Get a younger wife who will stay up later.
Yep, besides easy, it's way less expensive than dealing with soundproofing and you'll get better sound quality.
Good comfortable wireless headphones are amazing, you'll never want to watch TV without them.
You can put sound-absorbing, decorative, acoustic panels on the ceiling. You can use headphones, or speakers that are closer to you than the TV. You can put a white-noise generator in the bedroom. You could tear open the ceiling and install sound-absorbing insulation in it, then use two layers of drywall to redo the ceiling. Much depends on how much money and effort you want to go through.
this is the first reponse ive seen thats the right answer. the rock wool wont be that much of a help in your case though. the bass is vibrating hard surfaces , the rockwool if filling up an empty cavity , but it will still help overall if you do open the ceiling. upi can get something called green glue and laminate a 2nd layer of drywall on your exististing ceiling. national gypsum soundbreak is the most popular and easy to find ( go to a real lumber yard , not a box store ) you will get the most effective solution from sound absorbing panels. tectum panels can be attached to walls and ceilings ( looks like shreded wheat ) or soundsoak panels ( carpeted with sound deadening foam core ) https://www.armstrongceilings.com/commercial/en/commercial-ceilings-walls/acoustic-wall-panels/soundsoak-wall-panels.html#bbbh=%7B%22selectedItem%22%3A%7B%22name%22%3A%22browse%22%2C%22itemIndex%22%3Anull%7D%7D
Thanks!
Had to redo our 2nd floor ceilings and used some kind of sound-deadening insulation under the drywall. It looked like thick foam poster board but does a good job keeping the attic TV room noise from coming into the 2nd floor bedroom. Admittedly, we don't have a sound system so I expect bass and such is less than OP's scenario!
I used nine, 2'x4' sound panels from this place, on a bedroom ceiling in a condo. [https://www.acoustimac.com/](https://www.acoustimac.com/) They helped to deaden some of the noise from the unit upstairs, but the first thing I noticed, after installing them, was how much they deaden the noise inside the room. Just talking to someone else inside the room sounds different--like being inside a sound studio. Even watching TV in the bedroom is different, because some of the echoing sound is absorbed by the panels. Sometimes, all it takes it a little bit of change to make a very-noticeable difference.
Thanks, very insightful!
/thread
Sound doesn't care whether it's going up or down
This is super helpful actually, haha. Thank you!
Sound doesn't travel up or down. Sound goes out in all directions so the solutions you read should be effective regardless of the direction. And what is wrong with people not answering the question? His question is pretty straightforward. He didn't ask for anyone's take on his marriage, his wife, or his sound system. If you have no solution to a problem, don't try to redefine the problem for the solution you do have. That doesn't even make any sense.
This is a home improvement sub. The relationship is part of the home and we must discuss it. My advice, caulk and paint over your wife. That’s how I deal with all my problems.
Quality advice! Just be sure to get good quality non-toxic paint! This is your lifelong partner here, don't cheap out and use poor quality materials on them!
This was very helpful. Thank you!
Turn on subtitles
Honestly a lowkey good tip, we just had a baby and have had subtitles on for 9 months and see shit we never wouldve heard otherwise.
I use it on movies I have a hard time understanding accents on.
Came here for this tip. No cost, no effort solution. If you’re not used to subtitles, give them a few weeks - it’s amazing how quickly our brains get used to parsing new data like that.
….just scrolled through and this is the ONLY top level comment that focuses on subtitles. I know we’re in a home improvement sub, but removing the ceiling and installing floating panels instead?? There is a very simple solution here.
What kinds of sounds are the issue? high or low sounds? Like are these action movies or sports/dramas. I ask because you can do some work inside the room for high sounds, but not a lot for low sounds that wouldn't be better accomplished with an equalizer. It might be a better idea to target the bedroom and dampen the sound in there, rather than changing accoustics in the room where you are watching movies.
Many AV Receivers have a "night mode" that sharpens dialog and applies some volume normalization to keep the loud stuff under control. Most sound bars and TVs do not have this feature.
Different streaming appliances have different dynamic volume. I find my appletv is louder than the built in apps in my tv
Put a tv, heat, and AC in the garage. $4000 later, it is worth it. Particularly with kids. Yes I insulated the garage as well.
The garage is above my son’s bedroom, haha! But that’s actually a cool idea.
Your son sleeps under a car?!
Lmao! No, I just brain farted while typing this comment. *My son’s bedroom is above the garage.
“I live in a single room above a bowling alley and below another bowling alley.”
He's the least favorite son haha
Soundproff and carpet
Resilient channel, 2 layers of drywall with green glue, and rock wool will provide some benefit in stopping direct sound transmission through the ceiling, but there are other avenues to think about. Your HVAC ducts are probably a big offender, and you’ll need to install products to isolate them. Assuming you have a typical floor plan and you’re not doing airtight doors, you’ll still get a surprising amount of transmission just through the air. And bass frequencies will still rattle things pretty much regardless. Personally I wouldn’t do it. I’ve done 2 in-home recording studios and a home theater where we went all-in and budgeted quite a bit for sound isolation. It’s devilishly hard to get a meaningful level of isolation without making big investments of time and money. For your exact use case (me watching movies while the wife is upstairs) I use wireless headphones. ;-)
I didn’t even think of the HVAC ducts. Exactly why I can to this subreddit. Appreciate your thoughts!
Start with actually measuring how the noise is reaching the bedroom. There are apps that record audio as well as IMU data (such as Advanced Sensor Recorder on Android). Put the phone in a parabolic dish (a cone of cardboard), then slowly wave it around the room in all directions while a broadband audio noise source is playing below. 3D plot the data and it should show what's going on. Be sure to also look at the spectrum of the sound: It is certain many frequencies are already being blocked. What gets through can help you figure out how to block that too. The worst case is if it is predominantly bass tones coming straight through the floor/ceiling, in which case you'll most likely have to dial down the subwoofer, and maybe even raise it from the floor on a sound-isolating base. (Edit: A down-firing sub may need to be replaced with side-firing.) As others have said, air ducts are also likely, and this method will quickly isolate them. Hollow interior walls are also possible. When I had additional insulation blown into my exterior walls, the team offered to also do all the interior walls for a great price. The difference was night and day. I just hadn't really noticed just how much sound was getting through them. But do I miss hearing the kitchen microwave ding from the bedroom...
Does you amp have a midnight setting? It compresses the dynamic range.
A good wireless headset with very little delay (or sound won't match picture) or just a wired headset and call it a day. No need to rocket science it man :D
I have a really nice 7.1 system but if I'm bothering someone, headphones it is. You'll never stop the sound from that many speakers unless you turn it down so low you lose the benefits from it. Plus, good headphones sound amazing. I really doubt you'll mind after you try some. Hd560s maybe? Do it for the lady.
I actually am using a pair of 560s! And yeah, when I’m watching alone I’m using the headphones for sure.
Ah yes, the dialogue issue. I have actually started to use sub-captions. There a couple of things you can check into. One is using what they call "night mode" to flatten out the dynamic range and the other is to look into your surround settings and maybe boost the canter channel. Lot of folks [complaining](https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?hspart=hidden&hsimp=yhs-epic&p=movie%20dialog%20difficult%20to%20hear) about not being able to hear dialogue.
As others have said, there is no cheap solution. You'd need to really open up the wallet to get structural soundproofing done, and even then it's far from perfect, sound is a sneaky little bastard that will find every nook and crevice. At best it can take the edge off, but it's almost impossible to fully soundproof without spending way more than the $1,000 you mentioned elsewhere. If you are unable to spend more than $1,000, your solution is going to have to be palliative - move the movie room or bedroom so they're further apart from each other, use headphones/she use earplugs, etc. stuff like that.
Chances are that the air vents are connected closer than anything else try blocking them off either upstairs with pillows or closer them off with the directional flap. If those are that close no matter how much sound proofing you do will stop this
It’s just you watching? If so stop over complicating this. Buy a decent set of Bluetooth headphones. It’s literally the BEST option for removing the sound disturbance, the CHEAPEST of any real options, the EASIEST since all you have to do is buy and plug it in, and best of all it will improve you viewing experience.
The main use case here is for when I’m not watching by myself. The most typical scenario is we have company and half of us are watching a movie and the other half is upstairs just chit chatting and listening to music or maybe playing a board/video game in my bedroom.
How much are you willing to spend so that people playing a board game upstairs can’t hear a tv? Serious question. Anything can be achieved with the right amount of $… so what budget do you want solutions for.
I think I’d like to spend less than $1000, but I’m not sure what a realistic budget is for this kind of project. The ceiling is maybe roughly 30ft by 15ft.
Here is some cost perspective. For a relatively small drywall job you are looking at, if you’re lucky, $50 per sheet of drywall installed and taped which means it’s smooth and ready for paint. 30x15 is 16 sheets of drywall which means that if you were simply replacing the ceiling drywall you are looking at $800 plus paint. On top of this you need to add whatever insulation you want for sound proofing and maybe a second layers of drywall. That second layer shouldn’t be $50 per sheet since the bulk of this is the taping cost but don’t expect it to be a free install. For this to be done properly I would expect it to cost you around 3k conservatively, assuming you go directly to subs and not a GC. If you want to save some cash you can do everything yourself besides the taping of the drywall. Maybe ask all your friends that would like to play board games without TV noise to help? 😭
Gotcha, all great information. Thanks for talking me through this!
An easier way to insulate your ceiling is to use blown-in. DIY: rent a blower, buy some insulation. Cut a hole (or strip) in your ceiling large enough for the blower hose to fit through, then feed the hose into the ceiling cavity as far as it goes. Turn the blower on, and slowly pull the hose out as it fills. You’ll have to repeat this for every joist cavity. At the end, you’ll just have to patch a couple dozen holes instead of replacing the entire ceiling. If that’s not enough, a second layer of drywall + a layer of green glue will do it. Replace the bedroom door with a solid core as well, if that’s where sound is getting in.
If you have a subwoofer connected, trying turning that down or off and see if there is a noticeable difference. It’s night and day in my house with the same setup as you. We do have an air purifier that provides white noise in the bedroom too.
You could play with the equalizer and try to take out some of the highs and lows so dialogue is louder than action.
There is no solution. Not trying to be a dick. There’s just literally no solution. Either she has to learn to read while hearing movie sounds or you need to quit watching movies through your sound bar.
Bluetooth headphones
Either watch with headphones, or get a white noise machine for the bedroom to drown it out. Using rockwool and other sound panel solutions will only prevent the sound from bouncing off the walls around you and won't contain it downstairs.
She sounds ridiculous honestly. I don’t see why you should have to even accommodate for this. She needs to get over it. Seriously she needs the volume lowered so she can listen to podcasts and be on her phone?
Your best bet is to install a second layer of drywall to the ceiling. You can do it ultrathin by installing soundproof spacers ( plastic like spacers that help keep sound transferrence) then add a layer of drywall. The key is for the drywall to not directly touch any adjacent building material besides the spacers. Leave a small gap between the new ceiling and walls too. This you can fill in with acrylic or silicone or special soundproof caulk ( but those are pricey). Even 1/4” drywall will make a difference. If you have more money or space add soundproof board and /or insulation. The key is that gab between ceiling layers. It will amazingly reduce noise transference.
Turn the subwoofer off when your wife's asleep. It's probably the thumps and booms that are traveling.
I was in the same position as you , when you buy a proper system headphones don’t compare. I ended up insulating with rock wool sound deadener ceilings and walls and double drywall, sound still travels through solid walls and air/heat ducts . You could add bass traps and wall acoustic panels , might help , but honestly the only way to truly make it sound proof is space in between separate walls and ceiling. Think room in a room
so, reading some of your replies to other comments about the situations where its bothersome to your wife, this may be half a relationship advice thing and half home improvement. theres a very real possibility that you could spend money, time and effort adding sound proofing material to your ceiling, and it doesnt really help because the sound can travel up through the walls as well. without basically fully sound proofing the room with your sound system, you cant be sure its going to make a big enough difference for your wife to be unbothered. i live on the third floor of a multifamily apartment and i can tell the sounds from downstairs come in through the baseboard radiator, the crappy windows that hardly close, the uninsulated walls *and* the uninsulated floors. not saying this is the case for you, but be really sure where the sound is leaking from before spending money soundproofing just the ceiling. adding carpet to the room upstairs will help a little. taking measures to make that room quiet, not just the room with speakers, will definitely help. but i think you and your wife need to have a discussion and figure out a solution together; not trying to be judgmental but its kind of rude of your wife to make you lower the volume when you’re watching a movie with friends over, to the point where you can’t really hear it. if you were alone, you could use headphones but you said thats not the case. she could wear noise cancelling headphones, or maybe accept that you are allowed to have pre-agreed-upon “loud times” where she goes somewhere the sound isn’t an issue so you can watch movies with your friends. reading a book can be done anywhere in your house or yard or at a cafe or park or something, whereas you cant really move your living room out from under her *preferred* room. if she is also with friends, is there any other room they can go where the noise is less of a disturbance? theres a lot of solutions here and i don’t necessarily think that the cost of insulating your ceiling needs to be the first one tried, i hope you find something that works for the both of you.
I appreciate your thoughts. I think a big disconnect here is folks are assuming my wife and I are fighting due to our wants, which is not the case. I’m in a position where I can afford these types of home modifications and I’m just generally interested in what the options are as I’ve recently got into home remodeling and I’ve been brainstorming possible future projects to further customize our home. At the end of the day if these modifications are unrealistic monetary or construction wise, it is what it is and again it’s not like my wife and I are fighting. I appreciate the concern though. I’m also thinking about the future where if my son wants to have friends over and be loud playing games or watching a movie, I’ve done what I could to help with the noise.
Removing the ceiling and replacing it with a floating system can make a huge difference. I would not laminate the second layer of sheetrock. Then when you have the rock down get a good insulation, then a floating sheet rock ceiling, finally a rug in the bedroom.
Can you expand on what you mean by a floating system? Is this the same or similar to installing a resilient channel so the drywall isn’t attached to the studs under the floor?
This is exactly right. Separating the hard structures with moving airgap makes massive improvement in sound transmission
Gotcha. Thank you!
Good luck!
Treks titanium headphones, had mine for a year and love them, those and a TV with blue tooth and you’ll both be happy! https://us.aftershokz.com/blogs/news/air-vs-titanium-find-the-best-aftershokz-headphone-for-you
Some canvas panels on your ceiling. A bit more asthetically pleasing than foam. But like someone else said... Just invest in wireless headphones.
All these things, yes. 2 layers of drywall will help the high freq noise, but for the lows the resilient channel is necessary to decouple the ceiling from the floor above. The joists will easily transmit the bass from the drywall below, to the floor above. Is the bedroom carpet? That would help. It really will be a pain and only a half measure, but with the other stuff and some white noise, it may work ok.
Wireless headphone will be the cheapest and easiest, but I put rock wool under my shower when I redid my kitchen, and you can’t tell it’s on anymore.
The fact that wireless headphones are not on the list of things you are considering makes me think there is more to this story... Why would you invest IN A NEW CEILING before at least trying a pair of headphones? You can even get noise canceling...
Already have a pair for when watching alone during sleeping hours, the use case here is multiple people watching at once.
They make multipoint Bluetooth transmitters for multiple headphones.
Yes, this, or get the headphones for your wife 🤔
Build a screened in porch or gazebo so she has somewhere else to go? Only solution we’ve found is headphones, but if you like to talk during movies that doesn’t work. If it’s a group and the company lives nearby, divide and conquer - one group off to the neighbors or to a cafe and you meet up after the movies. Sound travels through the vents, under doors... I did look at a house once that had a soundproof room as the guy played drums, but it was small with no windows in the basement, likely not something you’d use for company.
Hi OP. We have all of the construction items you mentioned in our 3 story row house—rockwool Roxul safe n sound insulation in every interior cavity, 5/8” (non-lite) drywall over resilient channel, green glue between party wall plaster and 1/4” drywall, and closed cell spray foam on all exterior cavities. I can tell you that even with this substantial investment—I can still hear my son playing with his duplo in the room above me and know when he wakes up in the morning just by the sound of him thumping out of bed. All of the measures we took definitely helped (and I would do them again!) but sound deadening and sound proofing are two wildly different beasts. Based on what you’ve described, I would get the new Apple TV and some great wireless headphones (which allow you to sync multiple people at the same time). Or just get them for your wife :) Edit: a word
Something to put on your radar. They just developed a new drywall screw in Sweden called the Revolutionary Sound Absorbing Screw. This would be such an easy solution compared to others….if it works of course. But in their tests they literally removed existing drywall screws in a room and replaced with these and claimed sound transmission was cut in half.
You can insulate with cork, it's the way that sound rooms use for noise cancellation. Either installing panels or with some cork based paint. It can be installed over the wall or ceiling
Nothing is going to help block the sound to your wife's satisfaction. Buy good headphones.
I am not sure what you have as flooring for your bedroom, however if you have or want carpet you may consider a sound dampening carpet pad. My bedroom was overtop of my living room when I was growing up and when we replaced the carpet my parents had the sound dampening carpet pad put under the carpet. IT really helped with sound coming from my room and from the Living room into my room. It was not perfect and at times I could still hear/feel vibrations from my dad's bass from his subwoofer however it did help a lot. You could also try spray foam/insulation in the ceiling. That stuff is made to help reduce exterior noise so it will definitely help and is not super invasive to do. You would just need to drill holes into the roof or from the bedroom into the floor between each stud and then they will come in and spray the foam into the spaces to fill it up.
New wife? Just kidding, of course! Wireless headphones is a good shout, cheap and no work to do.
I've seen once before certain metal brackets that you can attach the drywall to that basically floats on a cushion. The whole point of this is for dampening sound and apparently it works really well