Simulator noise and the neighbours

Whether a simulator bothers people next door depends on how your building passes sound along, how the neighbours live, and when you play. Some of that you can check before you buy.

How it reaches them

Sound leaves a room in two ways. It goes through the air, and it goes through solid parts of the building. One source says the bigger share goes the mechanical way, as vibration through brick, wood and other solid parts¹. That's why a person upstairs or beside a shared wall may feel a swing more than they hear it.

Soundproofing is "any means of impeding sound propagation", and the first method that source lists is "increasing the distance between the source and receiver"¹. For a buyer, that's a plain question to ask of your own layout. Which wall is shared? Which room sits directly below? Where could the hitting area go so it's farthest from them?

The page on mats and floor thud covers the vibration path in more detail.

Check the rules first

Rules differ by place. What follows is about the United States. One source says "many cities throughout the U.S. also have noise ordinances, which specifies the allowable sound level that can cross property lines"². It adds that thousands of U.S. cities have noise ordinances that give officers "the power to investigate noise complaints"².

That doesn't tell you what your city says. Look up the rules for your own address. In the UK, Australia and elsewhere, the arrangements are different, so ask your local council or authority. Renters should also read their lease, and anyone in a shared building should check any building rules.

Simple habits

None of these cost money.

• Pick your hours. Late evening and early morning are the likeliest to annoy.
• Tell the neighbours before you start, and ask them to say if it bothers them.
• Ask them to listen once while you hit, then adjust.
• Stop for the evening if someone says it's too much.
• Keep hitting to a handful of shots at a time when you're testing something new, and see how it carries.

Set-up choices that matter

Think about where noise is made and which path it takes. For the screen strike, see impact screens and nets. Echo inside your room is a separate matter, and treating it won't stop sound leaving¹.

Building work to isolate a room from the structure is not a DIY job. Ask a qualified builder or an acoustic consultant. New power points or circuits for lights, projectors or heaters are licensed electrical work. Fixing screens, frames or projectors to walls and ceilings should follow the maker's instructions, with a qualified tradesperson for anything structural.

Measure from next door

A phone can help here. A study found that "if the correct app is used, an iPhone represents a relatively reliable means of measuring noise exposure levels" when a calibrated meter isn't handy³. Take readings in the neighbour's space only if they say yes. Otherwise measure on your side of the wall. Measuring simulator noise has the steps.

One caution on numbers. A reading taken in your room tells you little about what the next room hears. Field measurements pick up flanking transmission. That's sound sneaking round the main wall or floor by other routes. They also capture "other on-site conditions that are absent in the laboratory"⁴. So a lab rating on a product label isn't what your house will do.

Visitors shouldn't wait in the hitting area during a test. Cover any hard surface near it as the maker's guide says, and don't hit toward a bare wall or window.

Some people will still hear it. That's fine to admit. What counts is knowing it before they tell you.