What is "room in a room" studio construction?

[ericwisgikl]

Great answer. Thank you.

[PenderD]

Thanks for the detailed explanation, Stuart! I’ve always wondered about MSM and the room-in-a-room concept. Your “shoe on a rubber band” analogy really helps. For those building a home studio, how critical is the ceiling compared to the walls when it comes to overall isolation?

[Soundman2020]

Source of the post ...how critical is the ceiling compared to the walls when it comes to overall isolation?

It's all one system: just as a chain is only as good as the weakest link, so to isolation is only as good as the worst part.
If the ceiling has the least isolation, then that's basically all the isolation you will get. In most home studios, it's usually the doors and windows that are "weakest", but all parts of the studio should be built to get the same level of isolation. If all four walls get (for example) 45 dB of isolation, but the ceiling only gets 40, and the door barely makes 35, then the overall isolation will be far closer to 35 than 45. If you then beef up the door and it's seals to get 45, but your ceiling is still at 40, then the overall level will now be closer to 40 than 45. It's always the part with the lowest isolation that drags the total down.

- Stuart -