Noise complaint

A noise complaint at 6:00pm is not reasonable, IMO.

 

Tim's up-graded a few times since those photo's.
A garage is actually a great place to have friends over after work (in work close). And his garage,yes i've been there many times,is great,a nice big space with a very nice sound system,a bar and it's own deck with a grand view.
Wish I were there right now drinking some of his whiskey.

 

Depends. If there's zero exaggeration by the neighbor and it really is bassy in his house every day because of this, then it's warranted. Otherwise, I agree it's unreasonable.

 

If I would get an unwanted bass thumping every evening (or even a few evenings a week) in my house, I would go crazy and might go thumping on something else! That's why I live in the middle of nowhere !

 

Maybe. On the other hand, one could argue that if the neighbor is sensitive to daytime noises, it should be his burden to sound proof his home.

 

There is a big difference between daytime noise and some regular muffled bass thumping going on for hours!

 

I don't care what time of day it is, if I hear noise that is persistent, I would not like it. Maybe they were eating dinner?

 

Or maybe the neighbor was being considerate and wanted to come over at a decent hour vs. 11 PM.

 

Did you explain to him “if the
Music is too loud he is too old”-lol

 

That's a very good point.

 

It all goes back to common courtesy. It's not cool to annoy the neighbors, regardless of the time of day.

 

It's really simple, if someone come over to complain, you're in the wrong and need to turn it down. You don't have the right to annoy your neighbors.

 

I actually disagree with this. I live in an apartment above my parents and adding corner bass traps made a significant difference. They used to occasionally complain about hearing the bass, but now I get texts asking if I'm even home when I'm listening at decent volumes upstairs. If bass is what the neighbor is complaining about, I think trapping that energy is very effective. Making everything airtight might prevent mids and highs from bleeding out, but bass will go right through a solid door. Best to absorb that energy as quickly as possible, in my opinion.

 

tmsorosk, you may need to engage his help, empathetically, with the best of diplomatic intentions. Invite him over for some "help" listening. He's heard your stereo from over at his house...has he heard it at yours?

"Yes, I really do respect your wishes, and it's obvious I like my music louder than most, so I don't want to make that a problem for us, or anybody in the neighborhood; I love it here, and I'm sure you do as well."
"Maybe you could help me find a comfortable, reasonable volume for those times when you don't deserve my intrusion on your privacy. You know, it's not just a simple thing like, 'turning it down', come over and let me show you..."

Pull a few "pleasant" and universally-liked recordings out, and ask him to sit in your sweet spot, wine/beer/brandy at the ready. Show him your stereo at it's best, not its' most intrusive. Tell him why you chose your speakers, and what it brings out of your amp, and what to listen for in the best recordings. Gradually, get him comfortable hearing non-pounding, non-agressive music at higher decibel levels.

At one point, ask him to sit there and enjoy that; you'd like to go over his way, and hear what he hears. If he doesn't mind, you'd like to step inside for a second, if that's all right...? Again, you don't doubt him at all, you just want to know what the sound is like for him over there...and when you come back, agree with him empathetically. "Yep - it's just like you say; and if I'm playing something that's not in your ballpark, I can certainly understand you not wanting that."

Okay, you've romanced him, you've entertained him, you've expressed your sincere empathy with his position. NOW it's time to make offers of concession that will benefit him, and let him know you're serious about keeping the peace, despite your hobby.
- if at any time you feel this is excessive, don't be shy, come on over and let me know.
- if you DO like what's playing, don't hesitate to come over and listen, I love sharing my hobby; people deserve good music in their lives.
- maybe there are some modifications I can make in here that would lessen your exposure to this when I'm in the zone over here. "NOW...now that you know how I love my listening, what do you think would be a reasonable volume...?"
- give him a few seconds to start way low, and notch it up for several seconds, give him a moment to fully hear the differences; you appreciate him giving you guidelines.
- "Now; I'm willing to put up insulation for sound control, here...here...and here..."
- "And, I can seal the door better, you'd be surprised at how the sound dampens when I do this...""this will cut down on the 'thump-thump-thump'...""...and I can turn the speakers this way - here, come around here and see the difference..."
- "At the very least, are there times in the day when you could allow me a little more latitude with the volume level? Such as when I have friends over?"
- -at which point you promise not to make it worse after sundown (and I know that's gotta be a big concession, as Canada is about to be dark for a majority of the day this time of year), and work back up from that.

Time to re-state your offers and agreements, shake on that, thank him for his help and understanding.

And then blare AC/DC on his way out the door (just kidding!)

 

Yep - and don't blast music from a garage. You shouldn't have to be told.

 

Do what ever you must but be careful. When i was young i lived in a nice detached house. Often when friends were round and i was listening to music at a fairly loud level some neighbours would complain about my bass. My system was not bassy and i never understood their complaints. One night the Police arrived and said a few neighbours had phoned complaining about the bass of my system. The Police officer was a cool guy and accepted i was not being unreasonable. He stayed around to listen to a couple of tracks and then said he will be back in ten minutes and told me to keep playing. When he came back he concluded (rightly) that my neighbours were picking up the bass from my rig due to the fact that the complainents were on the same drainage system to me!! The sound was travelling via the drains. Crazy but true. I had to keep to low volumes until i moved.

 

As long as it ends each night with an encore of Freebird - it should be OK.

 

I know, it's one thing if you're 14, another if you're an older adult blasting music in a garage!?!

 

A noise complaint at any hour of the day is reasonable, if the noise level is excessive. At least that's the position taken by local councils here.

I live in a block of flats, have a couple of times been asked by neighbours to turn down volume - this has happened perhaps twice in 20+ years which is not bad. I have also been in the position of having to knock on someone else's door to complain about their noise. This is something that most people would do only with great reluctance after waiting for quite some time in the hope that the noise would decrease or cease. They know that they are asking you to stop doing something you enjoy, and they may also feel trepidation about possible over-reaction from the other party - there are a few nuts out there. He may have had to choose between taking that risk, or putting up night after night with something he finds unpleasant.

If you're on speaking terms with the guy, perhaps you could negotiate a time at which you will curtail your listening, or perhaps nominate a couple of evenings a week where you have freer rein. If you are both prepared to give a little bit, you might find an acceptable arrangement. Otherwise, you'll just need to find a solution, which may mean better insulation, moving your sound system somewhere else, or simply switching it off earlier.

 

Or maybe the neighbour was listening to music as well, at a somewhat lower volume than yours, and the noises from next door ruined his enjoyment.

 

That's *quite* high! My guess is your hearing is not as sensitive as it used to be.

So in essence, it's not your neighbor that is being unreasonable but rather that you need to crank the volume much higher to reach the same level of power felt by you, the listener. If I'm cranking the volume to 85db and that's a certain level of relative volume, you might need to go for 95db to reach the same level.

 

Several people have said your first step is to get with your neighbor and let him know you want to address the problem. I totally agree this is the best way to start. I feel sure there's a solution here you can both live with.

 

I bow to your skills sir (see what I did there?)
Geez 6PM is pretty early in the evening. I think the advice to let DeWayne know you're working on the issue is good. If his complaint is that it's "every night" would you compromise a few nights a week with headphone listening until you can find a solution? I assume you've been doing your listening for a long time, is DeWayne new to the neighborhood?

 

As others have mentioned, garages are horribly poorly insulated. Maybe check if there are any obvious sound leaks (connecting mains, etc) and try moving stuff in the garage around. Consider adding some sound insulation and or bass absorbers (depending on frequencies your neighbor is getting).

Good relationships with neighbors are important though - so the only other options I can think of are to play your music at higher volumes only when you know the neighbor is not at home. Or maybe get a very nice pair of headphones and switch to that over speakers? Looks like you already have a nice system inside, so at least there is that!

I live in a small apartment and most of my listening is done later at night. So headphones is usually how I have to enjoy my music.

 

MOVE T ..... I am just kidding!

Neighbours can be a challenge sometimes....but it sounds like you already have a good report with this gent so as suggested here often, engage with him....work with him and I'm quite certain you both can find common ground.

Good luck my friend!