acoustic ducts - school me

[joninc]

i am setting up a new studio and trying to source some ducts for ventilation.

I have been advised that acoustic ducts are necessary. they are stupid expensive.


they are probably 10x more effective in isolating sound - right? i mean, that's why you spend WAY more cash on them, right, RIGHT??

school me.

any brand/alternatives that you can recommend?

THANKS!

[JWL]

Rod Gervais talks about this at length in his book, I highly recommend checking it out.

The main thing about air ducts being silent is to make sure they are large enough, duct noise comes about when you are trying to move too much air through too small a duct. Think big. If you need to you can line the inside of the duct with insulation to absorb noise.

There are other techniques in Rod's book.

[digitaldrummer]

I put the Mitsubishi "Mr Slim" ductless HVAC in my studio. It uses a DC motor for the fan and it's quiet enough that I can track guitars or drums w/o having to turn it off. If I'm using ribbon mics or tracking vocals, then I might turn it off (to avoid the air movement) depending on where the mic is positioned.

If you consider the cost of putting in ducts and all that and a new HVAC unit, the ductless can be around the same or even lower cost than traditional duct work. For me it was less $$.

Mike

[JWL]

Mini split systems like that are great. The one caveat with them is that they do not bring in fresh air, they will only heat/cool the air that is already there.

You don't want people passing out from lack of oxygen in a tight, well-insulated room expending lots of energy during a tracking session....

[digitaldrummer]

I was concerned with that too, but it has not happened yet...

the bigger problem I have had (and may be due to the Texas heat and the well-insulated space) is that in the summer I have to watch the humidity and run a separate dehumidifier - the Mr Slim will dehumidify and any AC will do the same, but it cannot always keep up.

You don't want people passing out from lack of oxygen in a tight, well-insulated room expending lots of energy during a tracking session....

[losthighway]

I'm going to be building a new studio in a few months and I've been thinking about these issues.

Don't some mini-split systems have an intake from outside that feeds the wall units?

Also, isn't there some reason to be concerned about not the noise of the actual hvac, but the system carrying music-making sounds outside?

I understand flexible tube ducting is quieter all around than the rigid metal stuff.