For projects in Melbourne
Recording studio acoustics and soundproofing in Melbourne
Two jobs that must not be confused: keeping the building out, and making the room honest inside. The first is mass and decoupling and has to be built first. The second is absorption and diffusion and can be tuned later. Home and project studios go into garages and converted rooms in detached housing, where the neighbour distance helps but the room does not.
- Isolation
- A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought.
- Low frequency
- Corner and boundary absorption with real depth, not surface foam.
- Early reflections
- Controlled at the mix position, and only there.
- Quote
- From a plan and a section, within 48 hours
01 / The material
What this is, and what it changes in a Melbourne room
Two jobs that must not be confused: keeping the building out, and making the room honest inside. The first is mass and decoupling and has to be built first. The second is absorption and diffusion and can be tuned later.
Home and project studios go into garages and converted rooms in detached housing, where the neighbour distance helps but the room does not.
Work reaching us from Melbourne is mostly live music venues, Victorian terraces, apartments, offices, schools, studios, clinics.
- Victorian terraces Single skin brick party walls and timber floors. Speech and footfall move between houses easily and mass is the only reliable answer.
- Venues that were there first Live rooms in old warehouses with new apartments built alongside. Containment of low frequency is what keeps them operating.
- The port is in the city Direct sea into Melbourne keeps the road leg short, though the sea leg itself is long and we quote it fully.
- Isolation A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for studio soundproofing are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in Melbourne.
02 / The build-up
The build-up, layer by layer
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Layer 1
Acoustic foam and BassBloc
Open cell foam shapes for high frequency control, and BassBloc, a high density absorber built for the low mid range where ordinary foam does nothing. In Melbourne, ducted systems and split units, with outdoor units close to boundaries where neighbour noise limits apply.
Corner loading. Low frequency energy collects in corners, so absorber in the corners does more than the same area spread across a wall.
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Layer 2
SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl
A limp, high density sheet that adds mass to a partition, floor or duct without adding depth. In Melbourne, school halls, community centres and church buildings carry assembly, performance and sport in one hard volume.
Duct and plant wrap. Membrane wrapped over the duct with a decoupling layer beneath, sealed at every lap.
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Layer 3
Soundproofing materials
The blocking side of the range taken together: mass loaded vinyl, resilient layers, cavity absorption and the build-ups they belong in. In Melbourne, school buildings run hard floors and high ceilings, and open plan learning areas make speech intelligibility the central problem rather than echo.
Floating floor. Resilient layer and deck, to break impact energy before it reaches the structure.
If you are specifying for a Melbourne project, we can give you a section, a BOQ and the honest limits of each layer. See how we support architects.
03 / Local conditions
What decides the build-up in Melbourne
- Victorian terraces
Single skin brick party walls and timber floors. Speech and footfall move between houses easily and mass is the only reliable answer.
- Venues that were there first
Live rooms in old warehouses with new apartments built alongside. Containment of low frequency is what keeps them operating.
- The port is in the city
Direct sea into Melbourne keeps the road leg short, though the sea leg itself is long and we quote it fully.
- Variable climate, sealed rooms
Heating and cooling run hard across the year, so rooms stay closed and sound accumulates inside.
- The housing stock
Timber frame in detached housing, concrete in apartments. Apartment party walls and slabs are the source of most complaints, and impact noise needs a resilient layer.
- The studio and content scene
Home and project studios go into garages and converted rooms in detached housing, where the neighbour distance helps but the room does not.
04 / Room by room
Room by room, on a typical Melbourne job
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Isolation
A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought. Single skin brick party walls and timber floors. Speech and footfall move between houses easily and mass is the only reliable answer.
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 1800 x 900 mm
- Soundproofing materials, 1800 x 900 x 20 mm, 100 kg per cubic metre, NRC 0.85
- Soundproof curtains, 5.5 kg per sq m
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Low frequency
Corner and boundary absorption with real depth, not surface foam. Live rooms in old warehouses with new apartments built alongside. Containment of low frequency is what keeps them operating.
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 20 mm
- Soundproofing materials, Mass, then decoupling, then cavity absorption, then sealing
- Soundproof curtains, Up to 30 dB
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Early reflections
Controlled at the mix position, and only there. Direct sea into Melbourne keeps the road leg short, though the sea leg itself is long and we quote it fully.
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 100 kg per cubic metre
- Soundproofing materials, ASTM E90 for the barrier, ASTM C423 for the absorber
- Soundproof curtains, 30
For a Melbourne interior where the finish leads, we will say plainly what each option costs you acoustically. See how we work with interior designers.
04 / Climate
Durability in Melbourne, before acoustics is discussed
Melbourne is hot summers, mild winters and a distinct wet season, and that narrows the material list before acoustics is discussed.
PET felt handles the wet months without absorbing moisture or feeding mould. Timber and wood wool want a ventilated cavity and a stable indoor RH.
The failure we design against here is wet-season humidity behind linings.
If a consultant has set the target, we will quote against their figures rather than ours, and stay out of the scope they own. More on working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Read this first
The six errors that cost the most
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Buying foam to solve an isolation problem
It sounds like a small detail until the room is finished and the complaint arrives.
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Treating the room before the shell is isolated
It sounds like a small detail until the room is finished and the complaint arrives.
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Killing the room completely and calling it controlled
We would rather calculate the area and sell you less of it than line every surface and call it thorough.
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Treating it as a generic Melbourne job
Single skin brick party walls and timber floors. Speech and footfall move between houses easily and mass is the only reliable answer.
05 / Getting it there
Supply into Melbourne, start to site
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Port of Melbourne, then a short road run to site |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Port of Melbourne |
| Support | Drawings, build-ups, BOQ and material that arrives complete |
Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. The sea leg from India is long, so plan the full door to door window into the programme. We give real dates, not optimistic ones.
Sea freight into the Port of Melbourne, then a short road run to site. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Melbourne projects
What makes recording studio acoustics and soundproofing different in Melbourne?
Home and project studios go into garages and converted rooms in detached housing, where the neighbour distance helps but the room does not. Live rooms in old warehouses with new apartments built alongside. Containment of low frequency is what keeps them operating.
Where should the budget go first on a Melbourne project?
Isolation. A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought. Low frequency. Corner and boundary absorption with real depth, not surface foam.
Do you have an office or installation team in Melbourne?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Melbourne. We give you drawings, build-ups, a BOQ and material that arrives complete, and we will tell you plainly when a job needs a local contractor we cannot be.
How does material get to a Melbourne site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Port of Melbourne, then a short road run to site, dispatch: 4 to 7 working days. Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. The sea leg from India is long, so plan the full door to door window into the programme. We give real dates, not optimistic ones.
What goes wrong most often on this kind of project?
Buying foam to solve an isolation problem. Treating the room before the shell is isolated.
What do you need from us to quote?
A plan, a section through the critical partition or ceiling, and what the room is for. From that we can give a build-up and a BOQ rather than a price per square foot.
Next step
Tell us the room, we will tell you the build-up
A plan and a section is enough. We will come back with a build-up, a BOQ and a delivered date, and we will say so if what you are asking for will not work.