Building A Professional Recording Studio - Part 7 (HVAC baffle box build & setup)

[@supareelsmusic9415]

You have unbelievable patience, whilst I have seen so many 'build it' vids this, your work, is absolutely unique and should be used as a training video. So well done!! (roll on No 8)

[@TrueSoundTV]

Spak SupaReels Music thank you!!!

[@SK-or9bo]

In the next month, I'm going to use your baffle box designs for the intake and exhaust of a generator shed and see how much it tames the noise from it

[@theinfamousches1258]

This video series is so cool! Can't wait to see the next one!

[@ariesclark3272]

Instablaster

[@RichMatt1]

Weezna, thank you for sharing your experiences with us. I, in particular, am learning a lot from your videos. You, besides being skillful, are well didactic. From the images, we can already see that your studio will be very good. It makes me want to see "in loco" how the studio will be when ready. I hope that, after all this saga, you can, as soon as possible, get back to producing high quality music. Greetings.

[@TrueSoundTV]

Richard Mattos thank you for that, I truly appreciate the support! Yes, I haven’t created, produced, mixed or mastered any tracks in almost a year now and I’m itching to get back to it. Thanks again!

[@jason01095]

Very nice. Definitely looking forward to hearing/seeing those test results. Excellent series. 👍

[@bentyreman5769]

look forward to your next update, this series has been very helpful thanks.

[@Davidskaos13]

Thanks so much for taking your time to create these excellent videos!

[@ahmoib]

From KSA and I really Larned a lot from your videos I have been waiting for them 👍

[@TrueSoundTV]

ahmad moerfi thank you thank you

[@Azzy_Mazzy]

زبط معاك؟

[@shanefiddle]

Great videos, wow. I would love to hear a one-year-later review of how this revolutionary baffle box design has worked out for you!

[@lcoiro]

I wondered about this too as all this system is doing is recycling air within the rooms

[@Nilsje]

So this handles heating / cooling, but what about actual fresh air? Love your videos btw, awesome stuff!

[@GregoryGuay]

HVAC unit will pump fresh air into the room, right? Are you referring to his 'Return'?

[@Flippy2good]

These are amazing. About ready to hire the architect and get permits going.

[@McAndriu]

Great job! Thank you for sharing, very helpful :) I still have one doubt… How do you enter fresh air into the studio?

[@978Benzo]

Should have spaced those collars out a little as 22:19 and the dovetail fins go inside the plenum

[@moderntribez4753]

nice videos man !

[@TrueSoundTV]

modern tribez thank you!

[@4evafreshstudios381]

Wow that’s pretty good! I wouldn’t even know where to start I’m actually setting up my studio in the garage but it doesn’t have a window is there any other alternatives.?? I was thinking a portable ac but you still need to run the hose out a window..

[@TrueSoundTV]

There's no window in this studio, everything is done with HVAC ducts and vents from outside to get fresh air

[@michaelangell9535]

Hey, I was wonder about placement of baffle boxes. Can I put ventilation baffles inside the wall cavities? Like in-between a double wall system? I will end up with a 3 foot space between ceiling and roof and I want to use this space for air transfer while isolating sound as much as possible. Bad idea?

[@aaronarakawa6398]

Couple questions on the HVAC episodes: what heat exchanger are you using and does it provide variable fan speed? Your meter looked like the HVAC was adding 10 dB to the noise floor which is a lot of for recording studios. Putting bends in the duct is definitely a major factor in a silent room but it sounds like the unit either wasn't configured when you made the videos or doesn't have the capacity control it's sound output

[@GregoryGuay]

I have two 6” flex ducts feeding my baffle boxes, do you know how I’ll calculate the relief vent size? This third baffle box will vent/relieve my studio space to the foyer which has the main return.

[@LegitFilms]

Don’t know if you see new comments, but what solutions do you recomemend where hvac isn’t an option but still be able to get ventilation

[@JohnLee-db9zt]

Dense cellulose insulation would work better than fiberglass insulation.

[@realdanafields]

Love this!

[@new_aether]

do you cover rock woll or glass woll in foil when you make acoustic panels?

[@MrDeekaph]

So, what I don't get is if the air (and therefor the sound) is passing through the ducting, what is the purpose of all the extra insulation? I can see a bit of it, to deaden sound from entering into the ducting from outside but honestly are sound waves not going to just bounce off the reflective surfaces inside the tubing?

[@lukehuang4225]

It is going to bounce if it’s a metal pipe work. Not so much with these Flexi stuff.

[@brendanwoithe4863]

Yeah unfortunately these boxes are not designed well at all. There is a tonne more to the design to get them to work properly. These will not isolate nearly as well as the effort they take.

[@GregoryGuay]

More insulation/mass helps absorb lower frequencies..

[@chriscarr1791]

Song @15:00 is awesome!

[@TrueSoundTV]

Chris Carr thanks man, yeah that’s a track I wrote like 6 years ago and never finished

[@jaypeepenson9866]

This is amazing video, anyone can tell me how to know the STC of this set up? or how to calculate the STC. Thank you in advance

[@radar_raps]

Did you set up an exhaust for the air to exit for airflow? I’m trying to implement a similar thing in my vocal booth in my basement but I’m not sure if I need an exit.

[@GregoryGuay]

I’m not doing a ‘room within a room’, how do I mechanically isolate a baffle box if it’s sitting on my ceiling joists? (Attic studio).

[@shaneryan2902]

Keep pushing, it's probably driving you crazy not being capable to do music right now.

[@TrueSoundTV]

Shane Ryan thank you, and yes I can’t wait to start working in the studio again!!!!! Fact - It’s making me crazy ha

[@jorgezevallos4025]

Thanks master!!!

[@chrismeanie]

About how much do one of these weigh?

[@georgekefalas1703]

When is the studio going to be finished?

[@GAWFOFFICIAL]

does the baffle box HAVE to be directly over the room that its running to?? or could it be further down the duct work??

[@GregoryGuay]

Well, in my case, I need it directly over the room vent to block sound from escaping my room into adjacent spaces. Did you construct it yet?

[@Tcott]

Wow awesome b-....are you wearing crocs?

[@sayblacc1596]

If you had to move, what would you have to do to that room?

[@TrueSoundTV]

Say Blacc So we are definitely not planning on moving out anytime soon but if we were we were just call it a home theater because that’s technically what It could be used for. The last house we moved out of had the studio in the entire garage and the person who bought our house was actually really excited to have it.

[@sayblacc1596]

TrueSoundStudios that’s good to hear

[@TheWrenad]

Why not just line the box with acoustic insulation

[@tabadamark8461]

how about the decibels of outer air flow to the room? did you measure it sir?

[@TrueSoundTV]

It will be in an upcoming video!

[@squirrel4207]

@@TrueSoundTV did you happen to get this yet?

[@9w2hrz]

i would like to know. if there is standard acceptable 'db' noise come in for a standard recording studio?

[@youowemeapony]

30-35dba is usually considered the standard

[@arnahopgood9456]

What about a fresh Air mixer??

[@TrueSoundTV]

Arna Hopgood I’ll be installing a ventilator for that but not til I need to install doors. It’s coming in a later video

[@chrisjordan9259]

Just a quick tip: it*s all quite interresting, but you should do the talking more when you do things, because all the dry explanation notes without seeing what's happpening are kinda boring. you couls easily reduce the videos to a third of the actual size, by doing this. Keep up the good work!!

[@TrueSoundTV]

Chris Jordan so your saying you want to see the drilling, screwing, and cutting?

[@chrisjordan9259]

@@TrueSoundTV not necessarily LOL! I just find the long monologues without "action" a bit boring. No intention to offend you!

[@TrueSoundTV]

Haha Gotcha, yeah it’s tough balance between showing the process and informing on how to do something

[@terrylovin7405]

I'm sorry, but in my opinion, this design makes absolutely no sense to me from an airflow "noise reduction" standpoint. What you've done is isolated what little noise is generated from the airflow in the ducts from being able to reach the outside of your boxes in your attic, but generally, that's not the noise you're hearing within your studio (if it is, you have other noise isolation problems). That noise, the annoying whistle coming from the ducts in the studio, is the airflow coming out of the duct itself. You mentioned that in your previous studio, the airflow coming from the ducts was slow; that was the point. The baffled box slowed down the flow of air, which in turn, along with the insulation, decreased its volume. And while the S shapes of the flexible ducts will also slow down the air flow a bit, due to the smooth nature of the inside of the flex ducts, it won’t have nearly the same effect as the hard edges and insulation of your previous design. Again, my opinion, but I think you did a lot of work for minimal airflow noise reduction.

[@TrueSoundTV]

Terry Lovin So I thought I was being extremely clear but this is not to isolate the noise from the HVAC unit. This is to stop noise/sound from inside the studio from leaving through the 6 or 8 inch hole from where the duct comes through the soundproofed space. My particular HVAC unit is already extremely quiet and it was not even a consideration when building these baffle boxes. If you think about it, if you soundproofed a space extremely well and then put a 8 inch hole anywhere in that space that is where the sound will escape from and extremely cut down on the effectiveness of the soundproofing. In the following video I show how effective these boxes truly are and I think it will really change your opinion on this

[@AndrewEade]

I’m inclined to agree with Terry here. The previous design should be more effective in killing sound in both directions - especially in the direction that is more important to you - sound escaping from your rooms. The reason that your previous ones started to get smelly from the damp may well have been caused by using acoustical foam rather than Duct Liner, which has a microbial treatment added specifically to ensure there is no growth of mold etc. I know it’s a lot of work lifting them into place and they’re all sealed, but before you close off your ceiling I would seriously consider having a chat with one of the pros like Rod Gervais, John Sayers, or some of the online forum experts. Wishing you all the best with your continued efforts - I’m watching closely as I’m involved in a very similar project here in Virginia. Cheers! Andy.

[@terrylovin7405]

Weezna, you said, "I want to put a speaker at one end of the duct and a mic on the other to see who much noise they truly reduce" and "I can use a decibel meter to see how loud the HVAC unit is after it runs through the ductwork" and "I'm hoping that it's just going to be silent coming out of the duct", in your closing; that was "extremely clear". That's where my response came from.

[@TrueSoundTV]

Yes and those were two separate statements relating to two separate things. I first said “ I will test how much sound they will absorb, then I say “additionally I will test them to see how loud the HVAC air turbulence is.

[@franswessels810]

@@TrueSoundTV @ Terry and Andrew. It looks like we have some misunderstanding going on here. THIS box is NOT intended to reduce noise coming IN the studio from outside and vice-versa. It is intended to facilitate air passing through the HVAC unit and cool down or heat up the air WITHIN both rooms. Circulate within both rooms. Terry DOES have a point, air coming IN the studio and going OUT the studio needs to be slowed down to eliminate the effect of the hole in the wall allowing noise from outside entering the studio and the music going out into your house. You made all the effort of reducing SPL from inside out and vice versa and, because we need fresh air, make a hole in it where air ( = noise) passing through. THAT's where air needs to be slowed-down as much as possible. I don't know the real data, but there is a formula that tells you how much air needs to be refreshed for each room. A simple variable speed fan, sucking air OUT of the studio will facilitate the same amount of air coming in the studio. This will only work if the studio is air tight, which looks like to be the case in your studio, assuming doors and windows are air-tight. So I assume you will ALSO build some boxes to get in fresh air from outside to prevent you from ending up dead in this (yet to be) finished new studio. That would be an unwanted result, would it . ;-) Keep up the good spirit.

[@paulbishop2161]

From what I can tell, all that heating and cooling exchanger does is recirculate and then heat or cool the existing air in your rooms? Where are you getting your FRESH air from? As it stands, you have ZERO ventilation...

[@TrueSoundTV]

Paul Bishop correct that is for heating and cooling and the ventilator hooks up to this system to get the fresh air into the studio. Unfortunately the ventilator didn’t arrive before this video was finished so I didn’t include that yet.

[@seanmurray3068]

So does the exchanger actually heat and condition the air, or just just distribute warmer air from one room to the other? Can you briefly describe how the ventilator WILL be integrated into the system?

[@TrueSoundTV]

So the heat exchanger is just a small heating and cooling unit. It’s also known as a mini split but it just makes heat and also can cool. A ventilator is simply another unit that pulls fresh air from outside and introduces it into the duct system. I’ll have a video on how that all works as well

[@chevelleman88]

I admire your dedication and hard work, but you really should’ve consulted an HVAC design professional. This has violated so many rules of HVAC design. You’ve made the air more turbulent and system vastly more inefficient than it needed to be. Read some articles at Energy Vanguard. A top-of-the-line and properly sized mini-split air handler cassette in a well insulated building is already incredibly silent with zero duct work. Even if the baffle box was a few decibels quieter, it’s coming with a great cost in HVAC performance. A professional design probably would have resulted in a smaller sized unit running low velocities, which would’ve been quieter by nature.

[@ryankramer]

I didn't watch all of the video, but most HVAC installers that I've ran across know very little about making an HVAC system as quiet as possible. (10 db noise floor range or less.) An air cassette handler would be at least 20db in my experience, which would be way too loud for my noise floor expectations. I'd gladly have more static pressure at the cost of a less efficient system if it netted me a few more DB in noise floor, but everyone's priorities are different.

[@chevelleman88]

Ryan Kramer HVAC designers are not the same as HVAC installers.

[@ryankramer]

@@chevelleman88 You know what? Touché. I blew right past that important distinction. Cheers!

[@GregoryGuay]

Technically, The design is based on Rod Gervais and other professional acoustic designers that have indeed worked with HVAC professionals - but there's a lot of ways to screw this up, that's for sure.

[@Anton-du-Fleur]

Dude, just use a minisplit system that is DUCTLESS

[@TrueSoundTV]

Anton du Fleur there’s no way to make it sound proof! The 3 inch hole that’s used to run the copper lines, drain, and power has no way to be sealed good enough to get the soundproofing rating i needed

[@TrueSoundTV]

Anton du Fleur plus, I was required by my town to add ventilation which has to be run through ductwork, no way out of that so I ran the heat and ventilation together

[@Anton-du-Fleur]

With respect, I am a specialist HVAC engineer also. I hear what you are saying and yes, the air movement is very very limited with a baffle box. Let's just say this, I learn from everyone. The this is that you taught me a thing or to also, so we are all good here. Yours was a good videos, I enjoyed it and the questions you asked where good. I was particularly interested the hear that the first bafe box you made started to smell a little. I have an idea for you in that situation, you might look into. Uv system in the duct. Respicaire OXY 4 look it up they kill bacteria in ducts and house

[@jayhawkmba]

So my mini split has a 2 hole that was spray foamed at install. So you wear out your equipment faster pushing air thru the inefficient supply (unstreched flex, bent into an S)?

[@jesseleep8921]

The back ground noise is terrrible

[@FatterTony]

I cant see how this can possibly make any sense, surely lining the highly absorbent maze with a solid surfaced duct just negates the absorption of the baffle. You may as well just put some sharp radius bends in the pipe. It's like people that make acoustic absorption panels and cover them in non acoustically transparent material (Is that acoustically opaque!?) Putting a solid surface in front of an absorption surface just makes it reflective, the energy that is meant to be lost to the acoustic insulation is just sent off elsewhere on it's merry way.

[@1KMPLX]

The lower frequencies still go through the thin walls of the ducting and get partially absorbed by the insulation. You are right as far as the upper frequencies. Those won’t get absorbed by the insulation, but they are a lot weaker than the lower frequencies and I’d think their energy would be taken care of more through the turns and twists. The main problem with ducting is the low frequency rumble of the air conditioning anyway. When I see people make these baffle boxes they never make them long enough, I think. Also, another approach is to have it go from relatively small ducting to larger insulated ducting, before going back down to the smaller size. That causes a lot of the energy to be lost. I think a combination of both approaches would work really well.

[@1KMPLX]

I have material set aside for my own baffle boxes right now (for an isobooth I’m building). We’ll see how things go.