"I just ordered a window for my place at Home Depot. It's a Windowmaster brand W/soundcontrol option. Might be the brand you put in.."
I actually ended up building a custom window myself, I was thinking about getting a pre-made window but after several recommendations from people here on this group, I decided not to. I couldn't be more happier with the way it looks and the sound isolation. It turned out way better than I expected.
STC of 40 may be good enough depending on your wall construction, just make sure your window provides you same or better STC rating than your walls.
2 weeks of wait isn't bad, I am still waiting for my control room entrance door from Lowes, I ordered it two weeks ago, I called yesterday they told me another two to three weeks!!
OK guys, I hooked up one of my synths to the monitors in the room today and played some drums and bass LOUD. The room sounds awesome!! no rattles at all. The wall treatments also seem to be working out great.
Now for isolation, it far exceeded my expectations!! I played some loud music (well, noise for the most part ...) I could'nt hear a thing right outside the basement window. Inside the house, I do hear very little sound, my family didn't even notice the sound until I told them about it. Most of the sound is low end which I was expecting anyway since I didn't do anything special like the RC etc on the ceiling ...
I am very happy with the sound I am getting so far. Hopefully, I can get some good mixes out of the room.
Wow, that's an incredible bit of work you did there Shaz! I think Arthur brings up a valid point about sliding doors though. He's experiencing trouble I think either because the wheels are loose or out of adjustment. Arthur, if you check the top and bottom of those doors where they meet the other one in the center and flex those doors you might find the noisy culprit at the top wheel assembly.
I do have a question about sliding doors though... Down here in Florida, most SGD's are of relatively cheap construction. Flexing those doors as you do (and as sound also does to an extent) seems to me to be an invitation for air to escape an otherwise airtight room. I only say this because my first lame attempt at building a rehearsal space included a pair of SGD's. Invariably sound would escape from the top corners, bottom tracks, and most importantly, where the doors meet at the bottom. There are adjustment screws on the bottom of both sides of the doors to raise and lower the wheel assembly according to your needs. There's only about 3/8" of adjustment available overall though.
I'm just beginning construction on my new place, and I'd like your feedback on the SGD's when you put them through the test. Also, let me know what brand they are... Maybe the ones I have are just crap?
Ceiling panels ... finally installed, the sound has improved further, I am still getting some ringing sound when I clap in the room, I think it is coming from the ceiling, I might need more ceiling treatment.