DIY Sound panels have been massively popular over the last year since people
have been setting up music studios at home. I’ve received a lot of comments asking me
what sound insulation material is the best and how I built my panels. So, in this video we’re going
to test and compare 4 types of sound insulation: rockwool, fiberglass, acoustic foam and denim.
Before we jump into the tests, it’s very important to make the distinction between
sound like music and voice and noise. Acoustical engineering is an advanced branch of engineering
that analyzes how sound behaves in a space and how sound waves bounce off walls, floors and ceilings.
Sound or acoustic treatment is an art, whether in a music studio, concert hall or cinema,
remember those? There are scientific principles behind the placement of panels and their shape or
thickness. These DIY panels that we build are noise dampeners, not sound panels.
They are primarily insulating materials for buildings, their noise dampening properties
are secondary characteristics. They smother the middle and high frequencies and harmonics
for music and voice with over absorption. To test the insulation materials, I bought
this Vlike digital sound level meter off Amazon for $56. I’ll link it in the description below.
For consistency, I’m going to test 3 inches of insulation, then the noise emitter,
and then another 3 inches of insulation. Apologies in advance for the annoying high
pitched noise that we’re using to test the insulation. It measures around 77.3 db.
The first product we’re going to test is denim or cotton insulation. This is a very
dense product and it’s actually used to make sound panels. It costs $1.14 per sq ft at Home Depot.
2 layers or 3 inches of denim brought the noise down to 75.5 db.
Another 3 inches brought it down to 72 db. That’s a 5.3 db drop.
Rockwool Safe n Sound is out of stock at my local Home Depot and Lowe’s, so I bought
some Thermafiber slag wool insulation which has very similar acoustic properties to Rockwool.
It costs $0.94 per sq ft. Sandwiched between 3 inches of rockwool, the noise level dropped
down to 69db. That’s an 8.3db difference. Before we test fiberglass, I need to tell
you that this is my first sponsored video. This portion is brought to you by Insulation4US.com.
Insulation4US.com is the largest US online retailer for insulation products. They ship
nationwide across the US with over 800 locations to ship from via their vast distribution network.
They are cheaper than big-box retailers and they offer a $60 flat shipping fee
on 80% of all products. The next product we’re going
to test are these 12”x12” acoustic foam panels that I bought off Amazon. They arrive vacuum
sealed and slowly expand over a couple of days. They cost $1.5 per sq ft. While they are very
easy to install, they brought the noise level down to only 73.3db, a 4 db difference.
Lastly, fiberglass, the biggest surprise. I bought this roll for 2x4 walls at Home Depot for $0.5 per
sq ft. Sandwiched between just 2 layers, the sound level dropped to 65 db, a 12.3db difference.
Fiberglass was by far, the winner. It was the cheapest and had the best
sound dampening qualities. This test was really surprising to me,
because everyone talks about the performance of rockwool sound panels,
which is why I built my panels out of them. But, I could have cut their cost in half by using
fiberglass. There are obvious risks with both materials. I always use eye protection, a mask
and long sleeves because I get angry red bumps if it touches my skin. But once it’s
wrapped up in felt, the risks are minimized. I built my 31 inch by 48.5” inch panels out of
1x4 pine studs, back when they were reasonably priced. I cut the studs down to 2 47” pieces and
2 31” pieces. The middle brace is 29.5” long. And the 4 angled corner braces are 8” long. I
used glue and a nail gun to assemble the frame and then smoothened it with an orbital sander.
Two pieces of Rockwool insulation friction fit into the frame pretty easily.
I bought some felt fabric at Joanns and attached it to the studs with a crown stapler.
Hope you found this video useful, both for the material you can use and the method of building
panels. This was obviously a very unscientific way of testing performance, but it was effective.
I’ll provide a link to Insulation4US.com as well as my Patreon page in the description.
Don’t forget to hit the like button and subscribe to my channel. Thanks for watching. See ya.