Your battle station is ready. Your friends are online and your new game is downloaded. Tonight is the first night since your magnum opus, the gaming room you sit in, has been finished and you have everything you’ve ever dreamed of right there in front of you. You sit down in your ergonomic chair, set your Nanoleaf lights, put your headset on, and get comfortable for a night of gaming.
Until you’re interrupted ten minutes later because the noise has woken your whole house up.
The PC’s fans are blasting, your own voice is raised to combat the sounds of the games and the screams of your friends.
You see the problem.
The solution is not to sit in silence, never truly enjoying yourself. Soundproofing a room is actually a very simple process and, with the rise of streaming and at-home voice recording, the materials to perform soundproofing have only become more accessible to all.
If you want to find out the best way how to soundproof a gaming room, keep reading!
What Can Cause A Gaming Room’s Noise?
Sound is caused by energy vibrating the air, creating a sound wave, which then bounces as much as it can before the energy runs out. The harder a surface is, the more the sound bounced around before the energy dissipates. A carpeted room has less average sound than an uncarpeted one, and a smaller room is quieter than a large one.
Turning down the volume also means turning down the fun. While most gaming systems are now able to have their audio sent through a headset, with no TV noise, if there’s more than one gamer, the decibels will inevitably rise.
While some have access to basements or attics, with insulation already installed which dampens the noise, for others their gaming space is also a bedroom or shared area in a home. Worry not, for some very simple options are available to improve the sound levels to the desired din.
How To Soundproof Gaming Walls and Rooms
Install Carpet
If your gaming room is currently uncarpeted, open, and has no fluffy cushions or blankets to speak of, the sound is going to propagate in and out of the room. Installing heavy-duty carpet and padding to the walls will not only absorb sound, but also block noise and reduce reverberation.
Add Fibreglass Insulation
Adding fiberglass insulation is one of the most cost-effective methods of soundproofing. Fitting it between your wall studs or joints will also help keep the temperature at an optimal level. The fiberglass material helps to trap sound waves, making the air denser and preventing transmission from outside the gaming room.
Place Heavy Furniture In The Room
Filling your gaming room with heavy furniture will also help reduce sound levels. Heavy desks, bookcases and cupboards can all be used to absorb noise before it reaches outside the room.
Soundproof Your Windows
Windows are the largest source of noise pollution in any gaming room, as sounds from the outside can easily come in and drown out your gaming audio. Installing curtains or window shades will help reduce external noise by absorbing it before it ever enters your space. You can also use soundproof foam which can be placed behind the curtains for extra dampening.
Get A Soundproof Door
Doors are another major source of sound transmission, so if you’re able to afford it, a soundproof door is definitely worth considering. This type of door will have acoustic seals around the edges and often comes with padding on both sides for more effective soundproofing.
Think of Positioning
The positioning of your systems is also important. If your TV or PC monitor is against a shared wall and can be moved away, that is one very cost-effective way of cutting the noise for others. Sound travels through solids better than the open air, so avoiding your bass rumbling their walls will help.
The Best Soundproofing Possible For A Gaming Room
Sometimes, the simple isn’t enough. Whether you have a professional reason to need crisp sounds or just want to further dampen the noises coming from your gaming room, there are more than a few options.
The absolute best choice is expensive and hard work. Installing extra insulation into a house is not a choice to make lightly, especially if you’re not the homeowner. If you aren’t able to make sweeping changes to your home, there are simpler options available. One of the easier choices is soundproof padding. Coming in many designs, levels of quality and price ranges, it can be difficult to know which is the right choice for your space.
Best Soundproof Panels for Gaming
When it comes to sound-canceling panels, there is a myriad of options. You get different types of panels made from foam, rubber, or even fabric. Each of these offers different levels of sound absorption depending on the thickness and density of the material.
Soundproof panels may all look similar but not all are made equal. Sound-dampening materials are rated on the Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) scale. From 0, meaning no reduction, to 1, meaning complete reduction. Logically, the closer you can get to an NRC of 1, the happier people around your noise will be.
The absolute best choice here would be ATS Acoustic Panels. Managing to be many stylish colors while most products are a fluffy black, all while holding an NRC rating of 1, meaning ATS Acoustic Panels completely block the noise from in front or behind. With enough panels, properly installed, your sound issues will be a thing of the past.
Bear in mind that panels don’t completely eliminate noise. They can be used to decrease the amount of echo that comes out of a room, but it will not completely block out the noise coming from your gaming room.
More about the ins and outs of soundproofing panels below.
Other Options For Soundproofing A Gaming Room
If the design of ATS panels isn’t for you, or you simply want to cover a larger space for less cost, Amazon and other online marketplaces have many options for smaller price ranges. A standard size for an acoustic panel of this type is 12inch x 12inch, so measuring out the area you need to cover (with a little extra just in case) should be simple.
Acoustic foam doesn’t lose much of its efficacy when ripped, so if you have an awkward corner that you want to fill, don’t be scared to cut a panel in half to fit it into the space.
The Installation Of Soundproof Padding
Almost more important than the padding themselves is your capability to get them onto your walls. A very healthy amount of double-sided tape is recommended so that your panels stay where you place them.
Another option many opt for is to have moveable (or permanent) boards or platforms to hang their soundproofing materials from. This can bring the benefit of soundproofing without the risk of damaging your walls. If you want something more permanent, you can install the foam panels using small pins.
Choices Besides Soundproofing
For many, soundproofing a wall or changing their space’s layout simply isn’t possible. For anyone in this situation, the best choice is to look for the openings between your space and outside, and close them up as much as possible.
A blanket mostly covering a door, closed to the top, can block out more noise than you think.
Good luck in your soundproofing endeavors, whether you’re a gamer or not.