Soundproofing One Wall, Soundproofing Options

[sethjacquay]

I am going to be moving into a new apartment next month and
my new landlords warned me about a dude in the building next door
who might complain about sound.

I am interested in soundproofing the wall that the neighbor and I share
probably about 10' by 8' in size.

Obviously, headphones would work, but when I am singing and playing
acoustic guitar I will feel better about letting loose with some sort
of sound barrier on that wall.

Any suggestions?
Does anyone else have some sort of setup they use?

I was thinking about those foam absorbers, but I read that they actually
don't block the sound and might actually cause him to hear more noise.

I am considering a vinyl barrier that would hang from the wall. It won't block everything
but should add another layer to help reduce the sound transmission directly through the wall.

[nulldevice]

It needn't be too expensive - the Auralex kits are nice but a a bit overpriced IMO.

What you need is a barrier. I've ordered a few sheets of weighted vinyl from http://www.soundprooffoam.com. You can install that, haniging about a half inch from your wall, and it'll absorb a lot of sound. It can cut 14db of low frequency out of a signal, which is pretty good. It won't be perfect, of course, as you probably also share a floor with your neighbors too...but every bit helps. And it's not too terribly expensive, and can be rolled up and put away if you decide you need to do such a thing (or if you move).

Also, rigid fiberglass insulation has a dual benefit of working as a bass trap and as an absorber - of course you don't want to breathe fiberglass so I've wrapped mine in some cloth. You can buy the famous Owens Corning 703 2" thick stuff for around USD 100 for 6 4x2 sheets - which ends up being quite a bit.

I've just had to go through a lot of this in my studio - I don't share a wall with anybody, but I'd hate to distrub my neighbors during a mixdown session at 2am. So far, nobody's complained.

Good luck!