There are many soundproofing products designed and marketed specifically for soundproofing. One of them is Sonopan by MSL. This article compares wall assemblies with Sonopan to generic wall assemblies and assemblies with SilentFX and Soundbreak.
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Comparing soundproofing assemblies
When selecting a specialized soundproofing product for your application, it is important to understand what performance benefits it offers and at what cost. Almost any material added to an assembly that increases its mass or thickness will improve sound attenuation. Judging a benefit of a product requires comparison to similar or alternative product assemblies with equivalent or better performance.
In this article I will compare STC (Sound Transmission Class) values published for Sonopan, to STC values published for alternative soundproofing product assemblies. I will omit cost comparison, because costing depends on pricing available to contractors from their respective suppliers. Each contractor must do his own price analysis, also including his cost of labour.
One must take data produced by product manufacturers with a grain of salt. Information supplied by manufacturers is selected to portray the product in the best possible light, often omitting information that is less favourable to the product’s use.
Wood frame soundproofing assemblies
Assemblies rated STC 51:
Sonopan rated STC 51
Data from reference [1]
Certain Teed SilentFX rated STC 51
Data from reference [2]
National Building Code 2015, Wall assembly W4a rated STC 51
Assemblies rated STC 53
Sonopan rated STC 53
Data from reference [1]
National Gypsum Soundbeak XP rated STC 53
Data from reference [3]
National Building Code 2015, Wall Number W4d, rated STC 53
Assemblies rated STC 56
Sonopan rated STC 56
Data from reference [1]
Certain Teed Silent FX on wood studs with resilient channels rated STC 56
Data from reference [2]
Steel stud assemblies
Assemblies rated STC 56
Sonopan assembly rated STC 56
Data from reference [1]
National Gypsum Soundbeak XP rated STC 56
Data from reference [3]
National Building Code 2015, Wall Number S14b, rated STC 57
Wood and steel stud assemblies
Sonopan double wall assembly rated STC 68
Data from reference [1]
Notional Gypsum Double wall steel studs assembly rated STC 67
Data from reference [3]
Certain Teed Silent FX double wall on wood studs rated STC 63
Data from reference [2]
National Building Code 2015, double wall, Wall Number W15a, rated STC 66
Summary - comparing Sonopan, SilentFX, SoundBreak XP and generic assemblies
I have compared some soundproofing assemblies by these brands: Sonopan, SilentFX, SoundBreak XP and generic assemblies listed in the National Building Code of Canada 2015.
When comparing soundproofing product assemblies, one must pay attention to all details. For example, steel studs usually provide better acoustical performance than wood studs. 24” stud spacing usually performs better than 16” stud spacing, sometimes by a large margin, as outlined in this article. Wider studs (2” x 6”) provide better performance than narrower studs (2” x 4”).
STC value is a good indicator to quickly compare assemblies. However, in critical applications, it is important to look also at detailed test data for each comparable assembly. Often there are differences in some frequency bands for assemblies with the same or similar STC values. Some manufactures publish the detailed test reports online, but others do not. You need to ask the manufacturer specifically for it. If you need help with detailed comparison of assemblies, contact the author of this article.
References for soundproofing assemblies
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