Building A Silent HVAC System For My Music Studio

[@peatmos]

You're my hero! Absolutely love the video and needed a video just like this!

[@simonbaxtermusic]

Glad it’s helpful!

[@Barflew1]

1st video of your build I've watched.Liked & subbed.I'm in a small basement home studio.Built it 25 years ago already.Still eliminates outside noise well.Have a glass block window so I can get some sunlight down here.So airtight I had to add a 4in pvc pipe with a muffin fan attached.I'm going to add a run from the furnace.Looking at how people have been doing their heating & cooling to their home studios.I made a baffle box for the fresh air pipe.Still can hear the fan though.I had everything sealed the way you did.Except the electrical putty.All this time later,it's still isolates sound great.I'll check the rest of your build. Best Regards..

[@simonbaxtermusic]

I always like hearing how other’s studios hold up over the long term. Gives me confidence the sound isolation will hold up for my studio also.

[@lllecky1974]

Great video. I'm also in Canada. I've done some of the HVAC methods you did. Haven't been able to fully test the results as my studio is not done yet. But your video gives me hope my methods will work.

[@simonbaxtermusic]

Glad the video is helpful! It’s hard to be sure ahead of time with this stuff since there’s not a lot of information about small home studios available. Good luck with your build.

[@Polentaccio]

The video I needed! You promised this a few days back, and you delivered. I'm also in Canada.. the air exchanger is such a beast and a PITA to work with. I'm going to be doing something very similar and you actually gave me a few more ideas. I noticed at the end your use of a simple light for your studio space. I've also come to the conclusion that a bunch of potlights probably look great, but what is the point of decoupling the ceiling, using double 5/8 drywall if you then punch numerous holes in it? I'm thinking lamps as needed and only two junction boxes in through ceiling for track lighting. Sealed obviously and probably caulked around edges.

[@simonbaxtermusic]

Glad it was helpful! The single light is temporary, because I'm going to have 6 pot lights in ceiling clouds, and I'll have a single box that they're all connected to. For exactly the reason you mention! I used a 1/2" thick electrical box and that way only one layer of drywall has a large hole through it. Electrical is my next video - hopefully coming out in a week or two. It'll be easier to make than the HVAC video.

[@Polentaccio]

@@simonbaxtermusic Awesome. Yes I'm thinking of a cloud with lights as well because if you go lights first, then half are blocked by your cloud. These vids could not have come at a better time and I appreciate you covering a lot of the details that so many other videos seem to gloss over or just not include.

[@simonbaxtermusic]

Completely agree. It’s easy for KZbin to feel saturated, but that’s only true of certain topics. And sometimes there’s an oversupply of misinformation. It’s why i felt like doing this series.

[@jpb7146]

Great video! Just started researching on the subject since we're renovating our house and I'll be building a soundproof home studio in it and was in the process of going through HVAC quoting as well for the whole house and realized that the soundproof studio and central HVAC might not be friends. I'm curious in your mind, what is the most important thing if my main concern is having the sound travel to the other rooms through the conducts? Appreciate your help! Cheers!

[@simonbaxtermusic]

Glad the video is helpful! At a minimum you need to have independent runs from the furnace to the studio, with the kind of flexible duct I connected to my furnace. The Total Baffle Box I described is a lot of work, and I wouldn't recommend that approach unless you're doing it yourself. If your HVAC contractor is on board, you could add to your independent runs with 2 baffle boxes that you build yourself and have the contractor do the rest. One thing to keep in mind is that it's very difficult to manage the climate in a soundproof studio vs the rest of the house. It was pretty cold in mine this past winter: usually 16-17 degrees C (~61 F), as low as 15C/59F on some days. Humidity was rock solid (`45%) with a central humidifier on the furnace, but now that it's summer the humidity is 60-70%. I'm now looking into a central dehumidifier. The lower temperature is nice during hot days. I'll be doing more trial and error to get it right over the next summer and winter, and I'm hoping to do some proper sound comparisons of a baffle box vs other methods. Though I probably won't get around to that until after my studio is finished. Good luck with your build!

[@jpb7146]

@@simonbaxtermusic That's awesome! Thanks a lot for the info! Will definitely circle back if I have more questions!