ASC’s IsoWall Damped Construction System
ASC is honored to have received the TAS Acoustic Product of the Year for our IsoWall system. But what is the IsoWall?
You start with a typical framed wall or ceiling. First, you add RC Pads at prescribed locations. Second, you add damped resilient channel, screwed to the studs or joists through the pads. Third, you lay down wall bearing felt onto the floor. Fourth, you apply perimeter gasket around the top, bottom, and sides of the wall & ceiling, plus around openings like doors and windows. Now you are ready for drywalling. Install the first layer with seams aligned to the channel. Now apply WallDamp Strips around the outer perimeter and on the drywall seams. Add WallDamp Squares throughout the drywall on 12″ centers. Seal the edges and around outlets & switches with acoustic sealant. Add another layer of drywall. Seal the edges one more time with acoustic sealant. You’re done, ready for tape, mud, paint, and musical bliss!
Play around with our Materials Estimator to get a feel for the cost of adding this system to your room’s construction.
“(ASC IsoWall)…is a building method that achieves excellent isolation of the listening room (sound proofing), nearly eliminates wall shudder, and absorbs excess bass. It’s remarkable that IsoWall addresses these three major problems with a single construction technique.”- Robert Harley of The Absolute Sound
Read the full article: Building a Listening Room
“I recommended that Randy’s room be built using the IsoWall technique, developed by Art Noxon of Acoustic Sciences Corporation (ASC)…I also built my room with IsoWall. After three and a half years of using my room for critical listening in equipment reviews, as well as listening for pleasure on a near-daily basis, I am beyond thrilled by my room’s performance.” – Robert Harley of The Absolute Sound
Read the full article: Is Building A Listening Room From Scratch Worth The Effort?
When sound quality in your room is of the utmost importance…
…ASC’s IsoWall construction system simply cannot be beat. Other assemblies may offer greater sound isolation using massive poured concrete walls or 4-layer drywall. But guess what? All that sound bounces around inside the room where you’ve trapped it, and your listening experience is terrible. Yet other assemblies may avoid the buildup of bass by using paper-thin walls and windows everywhere, letting the bass waves expand away from your room without bounds. But guess what? The deep bass is lost, your system lacks punch, and your neighbors are constantly complaining. If you want to keep the peace while enjoying the best sound quality, IsoWall is what you need.
Our Iso-Wall system has beens meticulously engineered for optimal musical acoustic quality. Utilizing the tried-and-true soundproofing technique of building a floating wall with double thickness, the ASC Iso-Wall system takes performance a step further. By including viscoelastic damping at key joints of the assembly and prescribing construction methods to best utilize the damping properties, the Iso-Wall system provides deep bass absorption along with improved sound isolation–and a totally inert assembly that will not ring, quiver, or shudder.
Typical construction methods are simply not adequate for handling the high sound pressure levels delivered by today’s top-of-the-line loudspeakers, subwoofers, and full-range studio monitors. The IsoWall system was designed from the onset with high-level musical playback in mind. Users of Wilson loudspeakers, JL Audio Subwoofers, and any other sound reproduction system capable of 100+ dB in the ~20 Hz range absolutely need structural damping to enjoy the full capabilities of their system. The ASC Iso-Wall is one of the few construction systems to adequately deliver.
IsoWall System Diagrams
Wall/Corner Detail
Wall/Corner Detail- 2 to 3″ insulation blanket
- WallDamp RC Pad
- Damped Resilient Channel (dRC-1)
- 1-1/2″ x 1/4″ Wall Bearing Felt
- 2″ x 1/2″ Perimeter Gasket
- First layer wallboard screw to dRC-1
- 4″ x 4″ WallDamp Squares between wallboards
- 1″ WallDamp Strip around wall perimeter
- 1″ WallDamp Strip over wallboard joint
- Second layer wallboard screw to dRC-1 through first layer wallboard
Wall/Ceiling Detail
- Damped resilient channel (dRC-2) screw to joist (with RC Pad in between)
- Perimeter Gasket on ceiling
- Acoustical Sealant
- WallDamp strip around wall perimeter
- Perimeter Gasket on top plate
- WallDamp square between wallboards
- Damped resilient channel (dRC-1) screw to stud (with RC Pad in between)
- WallDamp strip on face of joist
- WallDamp strip around wall perimeter
- WallDamp square between wallboards
- WallDamp strip on face of stud
- 3″ insulation blanket
Wall/Floor Detail
- 3″ insulation blanket
- Damped resilient channel (dRC-1) screw to stud (with RC Pad in between)
- WallDamp square between wallboards
- Perimeter gasket on sole plate
- WallDamp strip around wall perimeter
- Wall bearing felt
- Acoustical sealant
- WallDamp square between wallboards
- WallDamp strip on face of joist
- WallDamp strip around wall perimeter
