Cheap way to sound proof.

I lined out a 6x4 garden shed out with 3 cm foam and put an old square type ac in it. Initialy it was to be just used as an office but now the kit lives in it. The foam in no way cuts it for sound proofing and i have to play the kit with mute pads. What is the best and cheapest way to sound proof? Is it true that egg cartons may work. Its just a garden shed so the roof is pitched and only just hi enough to swing some stix. I am also concerned that what ever i attempt noise will still find the way out via my wall mounted Air con. Any tips would be great.

I'm no expert on this, but from what I've looked into; generally to sound proof you need mass, or even better, mass/air-gap/mass, and any air inlets need to minimise sound travel by making the air "go around corners". When I was looking at building a room within a room, staggered stud walls seemed to be the cheapest and easiest option.

Staggered stud walls work by minimising vibration transmission through studs from one side of the wall to the other by using a separate staggered set of studs for each side.

To be honest I think soundproofing a garden shed is going to be tricky unless you build walls around it... Room within a room as far as I can tell is always the best way. Think about it - when there's something loud going on in a room, you can always hear it a bit in the next room, but then not at all (or hardly at all) in the room next to that because the second wall only has to stop that much lower volume sound.

In the end I gave and used the small spair room in the corner of the house and did my best just to reduce the sound rather than soundproof it completely (it would of ended up too small). I insulated the window, built a frame round it and covered it with dry wall, and sealed it air tight - so the drums aren't loud in the street at all now, though they are still fairly loud in the house!

Anyway here are some websites and forum discussions I found on the subject:

http://www.taylorsgardenbuildings.co.uk/support/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=13&nav=0,5

http://www.drummingireland.com/viewthread.php?tid=7128

http://www.soundproofingcompany.com/soundproofing-articles/staggered-stud-wall-construction/

http://www.diy-home-theater-design.com/staggered-stud-wall.html

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1217417

Hope that helps a bit..

Cheap??? Not gonna happen. Sorry.

MarkS hit it on the head. You might have incidentally done a little bit of thermal insulation with your foam, but you did nothing for sound insulation. Only mass or isolation will cause true soundproofing, and it is not cheap - it will be the cost of constructing another whole shed inside your shed. There really are no shortcuts to this - not eggcrate, not mattresses, not nothing. Do a search here on the forum for "soundproofing" and you will see a dozen threads similar to yours.

If I hear anything about egg boxes ever again I'm going to scream. You'll be able to hear me scream, too.

CHEAP...Sorry, just not gonna happen. Of course, I didn't find this out until I too asked questions and did research.

What is the garden shed constructed of?

Usually room within a room is a good strategy. Using at least 5/8 drywall...

I like Mark_S thorough explanation. Especially the mass/air-gap/mass. It's not an easy or cheap task, but if you have full freedom to the garden shed, you have a good chance at decent sound reduction. I imagine you would also have to construct a ceiling as well...

It can get pretty deep after you understand how sound travels through walls, switches, outlets and studs...egg crates are perfect for..........................well..........................eggs...

MarkS hit the nail on the head. For more info you can read this info from Auralex who specializes in sound control. I'd highly recommed reading all the chapters

http://www.acoustics101.com/

Like others have mentioned, egg crates do nothing for sound loss, neither to blankets, acoustic foam. Those products are used to control reflected sound in the room, reverb if you will, not contain sound to stop it passing through the walls.