Subwoofers even though are great, can be a source of worry for especially those who are in shared spaces or apartments with shared walls and in situations where your floor is someone’s ceiling. The fact that you're asking this first before you just start bumping the bass is fantastic, because it means you have a chance to be proactive about it. Either put it on a dense foam square cut to size (like memory foam, something a few inches thick even when the woofer's sitting on it) to decouple the subwoofer's cabinet vibrations from the floor, or mount a sturdy square shelf of the right size to wall studs a few inches from the ground with heavy duty brackets to achieve the same goal (and screw the brackets to the shelf to keep them from … 7.8” (200mm) Wide x 10” (254mm) Depth 3.5” (90mm) Height and weighs about 75 Ibs. If you own a condo or duplex and can do some construction, consider looking into how to soundproof a room. This is great if you're mixing music, versus just watching a movie. Jared. Your email address will not be published. For the life of me, I can't find a picture of decoupling pegs to show you. If you're looking this up prior to even buying a subwoofer, you're awesome for being a considerate person. Bear in mind that not only the floor, but also the walls, will transmit sound downwards to your neighbours. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Audio separation, especially at low frequencies, can only be achieved by mass & air-gapping. Guitar Amp Mic Post-Processing During Mixing? We have platforms on our site where you can look into do that. A subwoofer decoupler can come in many shapes, but the goal is always the same, which is to decouple the subwoofer from the floor. The entire idea is to absorb vibrations while minimizing any path they have to the ground. As you can guess, I've been waiting for over 10 years and don't want to wait any longer. He has released 4 independent albums and merchandise to global sales. No Spam. When isolating a sub from the floor, the material of the floor, the type of sub and enclosure, and the firing direction of the sub, etc all need to be considered. Last modified July 11, 2020, Your email address will not be published. Place your isolation pad on top or vice versa and you'll have made a lot of progress. It also provides a more focused low-end in your listening with a tighter stereo field reproduction. The lower the volume, the less vibrations you'll be emanating out through your walls, ceiling, and floor. So we use diaphragmatic absorption as the platform itself which minimizes the transmission of noise, decouples the subwoofer from the floor but more importantly, adds a huge amount of absorption right at the source. They're similar to isolation pads except you place them on your walls and in the corners of the room to absorb stray bass waves. The vibrations that might … By the way, you'll see a lot of nonsense advice out there like using 4D "buttkickers" under your sofa to pretend you can feel the bass, wearing headphones that can't even pump out low frequencies, and using tactile transducers. Bass traps are a huge discussion that we can't go all out on. Also, make sure that the subwoofer is not placed in any corner of the room which will cause the bass to sound boomy. They achieve the same effect as the speaker stands with rubber material as seen below: As you can see in the image above, this particular option minimizes contact not only with the ground but the subwoofer as well and places vibration-absorbing rubber between them. We've established that the vibrations are the main issue, so what you need to do next is achieve is bass isolation. The same principle applies to the floor in your home. Place your isolation pad on top or vice versa and you'll have made a lot of progress. This is done with an isolation pad. Hi, Ron. Happy listening, bass fiends. This also means that under no circumstances should you be using a down-firing subwoofer, which literally points the sound waves at the floor. You could generate a bit of an air-gap by getting the sub off the floor. Dimension of18” L x 22” W x 1.75” H, this isolation platform can support a subwoofer with up to 200 pounds. I've been living in apartments since I started college. There are all manner of isolation pads out there, and you can even make one yourself, but the quickest and cheapest is to scoop up one of these Auralex Gramma pads: What these do is separate your subwoofer from the floor with a spongey or rubbery material full of air gaps. He has also mixed, mastered, & recorded for countless independent artists. Hi, LedgerNote. Here's the real deal: The first and easiest tactic to employ is moving your subwoofer closer to you so you can turn it down in volume. Surround Speakers vs Bookshelf: Which one Should You Choose? A subwoofer decoupler can come in many shapes, but the goal is always the same, which is to decouple the subwoofer from the floor. These may come in the shape of short speaker stands, tiny metal decoupling pegs, or rubber feet. They don't deal with vibrations, but the sound waves that can hit the wall and create more vibrations. If you use these four methods in conjunction (or leave out the bass traps if you must), you'll be able to enjoy a louder bass experience while listening to your favorite records or watching movies, all without getting evicted for being the ridiculous neighbor. The floor is like a giant resonator for bass, so isolation is a must to avoid angry neighbors. How Should I Use This Alternative Acoustic Treatment Insulation? Obviously, $80 (US or AU) is just silly for rubber feet, but that doesn't mean the idea is bad. They absorb them through allowing the fibers in insulation or rigid fiberglass to vibrate and convert the kinetic energy into heat. Remember when choosing an audio interface was confusing before you read this? In-Wall vs Bookshelf Speakers:Which is Better for You? To minimize sub vibrations on the floor, elevate it from the floor with a subwoofer isolation stand or platform that is specifically designed to reduce the vibrations from getting to the floor. What you get is an equally loud experience at a lower volume where you can still feel the sub-bass without having neighbors banging on your door. The material of the floor, the type of sub and enclosure, and firing direction of the sub, etc., all need to be considered. Enjoy your subwoofer in your apartment, complaint free. This is a great solution, especially if you can combine it with the isolation pad method. 9” W x 12” D x 2” H and load capacity of 33 LB, its a great sound sub isolation foam for your home. Let us help show you the best studio subwoofers in all price ranges so you can get the max enjoyment and productivity out of your hard-earned money. What you can safely and definitely do is decouple the subwoofer from the floor by using vibration dampers or a box filled with sand as described in the article. Acoustic treatment is the answer but it takes a lot of bass traps to really solve the issue. They also reduce the reflections of the sounds which bounce around and make your bass sound like crap. Combine this with the sound isolation tips below and you'll get most of the way to bass freedom. Whether you rest it on egg boxes or hang it from the ceiling is only a matter of scale. Think of it like floating your subwoofer in the air. I'm going to go ahead and say that anyone with a subwoofer should be using an isolation pad as well as the decoupling method below if they want to get the most out of their sub. Subwoofer vs Speaker: What’s the Difference? The best location can be found using the crawl and hear method. Is it possible to have a sub, not live on the ground level of an apartment building, and not make your neighbors mad and receive noise complaints? They'll help but not like the miracle cures above. Let's explore how to achieve that, in the most obvious and easy steps to the more obscure ones for the dedicated. The first thing is to understand what the actual problem is. Jared has surpassed his 20th year in the music industry. Required fields are marked *. Your goal is to reduce the vibrations. These will be the main contributors to making your subwoofer sound great but do the least about noise complaints. Even a few can help, though. This means that you want to increase the distance a bit and provide less material for vibrations to be carried through physically.