Soundproofing an Office Wall: A How-To Guide

[Moonbear]

Silly girl--crushed china, of course.

I love it! See, someone here always has the right solution to problems.

 

[hitssquad]

is there anything that can be done accoustically to remedy this situation?

http://www.soundproofing.org/

 

[hitssquad]

Sennheiser HD-280 headphones for office noise reduction

I might have to try ear plugs

Earplugs can start you on a lifelong career of serious chronic ear infections. You should consult an ear-nose-throat specialist before trying earplugs.

I wonder if those noise cancelling headphones would do me any good?

Noise-cancelling headphones are designed to cancel jet noise and to allow human noise to pass through. They also have a reputation of not working very well. In-ear headphones such as etymotic would be excellent for sound isolation, except that - being earplugs - they come with an ear-infection risk. headphones are what I use to isolate. They are professional club-DJ headphones and are designed to fit snugly to keep out sound. They provide about 32dB of noise reduction, which is about the same as the best foam earplugs. When you put some music into them, they work even better at keeping out outside sounds (and a side benefit of their great sound insulation is that someone can be sitting next to you in a quiet room and not hear your music). Being professional headphones, they are also comfortable to wear for hours and are extremely rugged (I have put thousands of hours on mine and they look and perform like brand-new. Usually headphones break after awhile, especially the audio cords, but these headphones so no signs of wearing out.)

Since noise is a common problem in office cubicle nests, white noise generators are often employed to provide a low-level noise mask. To generate white noise, I use a cheap ($16) 20" box fan. (If you don't want a breeze in your office, you can put it against a wall).

A box fan (or other white-noise generator) combined with a pair of Sennheiser HD-280s, should provide a huge amount of noise relief. (BTW, I got mine for $75, but I think they are still worth it for the $100 Amazon is selling them for - link above.)

 

[Danger]

Alright, who invited the practical guy?
Just combine all of the foregoing ideas and let a subsonically farting cricket drill through the guy's neck.

 

[Moonbear]

Of course you could stick with the earplugs idea, get the multiple and/or chronic ear infections, and over time, you'll become deaf enough not to be bothered by any noises coming from his office.

 

[Math Is Hard]

More excellent suggestions, you guys .. er.. well, maybe I'll pass on the deafness solution, Moonbear, but thanks just the same.
Hitsquad, I appreciate the link, and the info you posted. Thanks a bunch. Though I'm a little scared of the white noise generators - I saw that EVP movie, y'know. Whistling is annoying, but demons are just downright disruptive!