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Home Soundproofing 101 Understanding STC

Understanding STC
When discussing the reduction of sound vibration as it travels from one side of a wall to the other, we need to quantify
and measure this loss. Do all construction techniques or soundproofing materials work equally well? Exactly how much
sound is being reduced, and perhaps more importantly, what frequencies of sound are being affected?
In short, STC gives you a rough idea how much sound a wall, for example, might stop. STC, Sound Transmission
Class, is the most common sound reduction measurement in use. As common as this measurement is, it is quite limited
and should not be totally relied upon for real world soundproofing expectations.

Letsfirstcoverafewconcepts.
Decibels: Written as dB in literature, dB is simply a measurement of how loud a noise is. 50dB is quiet, while 140 dB
is so loud that is can immediately injure your ears. Think of dB as the volume knob on your receiver.
Transmission Loss is a measurement of the dB (volume) difference on either side of a wall. Lets say we have a 100dB
tone on one side of a wall. Pretty loud. We measure this same tone on the other side of the wall and find we have 75
dB. So we would say that at this tone or pitch, we have 25 dB Transmission Loss. 25 dB less sound energy made it
through the wall to the other side.
Interestingly, a test tone with a different pitch sent through that same wall might only see a 4 dB Transmission loss. The
performance of a wall will vary a great deal depending on the tone (frequency) of the sound.

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Frequency: Written as Hertz or Hz., this is the measurement of the tone or musical note of the sound. Is it a really high
pitch like a Flute might make (2000 Hz) or a low pitch from a Tuba (as low as 29 Hz)? Most humans are born with
the ability to hear frequencies from about 20 Hz (low) up to 20,000 Hz (high) but that range shrinks as we get older.

WhatisSTC?
Now that we have an understanding of a few basic terms we can describe what STC is. Way back in 1961, STC was
introduced as the method for comparing various wall, ceiling, floor, door, and window assemblies. STC is calculated
by taking the Transmission Loss (TL) values tested at 16 standard frequencies over the range of 125 Hz to 4000 Hz
and plotted on a graph. Your curve (what you actually measured) is compared to standard STC reference curves (see
appendix). If your wall graph is closest to a standard STC 35 curve, your wall is said to have an STC of 35.

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The MAGENTA line in that graph is the standard reference STC contour. The BLUE line is the performance of the wall.
To calculate TL and STC, the performance data should be obtained from a certified laboratory.
Higher STC is generally better, though not always, as we will see below.
Caution: The largest problem with relying on an STC number alone is that STC only considers frequencies down to
125 Hz. This can be very misleading due to the fact that most sound isolation complaints are from noise sources that
are below 125 Hz.
Here are a few examples of noise sources that are below 125 Hz
Mostofthesoundenergygeneratedbytheaveragehometheater
Trafficnoisefromairplanes,trucksandheavyequipmentoperation
Guitar,bass,drums
IndustrialEquipment,especiallypumpsystems.

The example above demonstrates the problem with not considering data below 125 Hz. Frankly, neither of these walls
stop much sound. Both are mediocre, with a low frequency problem near 125 Hz. However one wall is STC 32, the
other is STC 42!
This is because with the blue wall, the big problem occurs at 125 Hz, and is therefore measured by STC. The black
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wall has essentially the same problem; however it occurs just below 125 Hz, and is therefore not calculated.
Heres another example of how relying on STC alone is a bad idea when low frequency noise sources are present.

We see two walls, one has a STC 47, the other a STC 48. Note that in the low frequency range important for music,
theaters, traffic, aircraft, and most other real-world noise sources the lower STC wall is literally 30 decibels better,
yet lower STC
The actual 1961 standard which explains how to calculate STC (ASTM E413) describes the limitations of its use:
These single-number (STC) ratings correlate in a general way with subjective impressions of sound transmission for
speech, radio, television, and similar sources of noise in offices and buildings. This classification method is not
appropriate for sound sources with spectra significantly different from those sources listed above. Such sources include
machinery, industrial processes, bowling allies, power transformers, musical instruments, many music systems and
transportation noises such as motor vehicles, aircraft and trains. For these sources, accurate assessment of sound
transmission requires a detailed analysis in frequency bands.
Caution: STC is not a measure of how many decibels of
sound a wall can stop. If you have an STC 45 wall, this
does not mean the wall stops 45 dB of sound.
Caution: You cannot add STC ratings. They are logarithmic
values and cannot simply be added. If you have an STC 33
wall and decide to add another sheet of drywall with an
STC of 20 you do not get a finished wall with an STC of
53. You might get something around STC 35.

STCExamples

STC Track Application

25

Normalspeechcanbeeasilyheardandunderstood

30

Loudspeechcanbeeasilyheardandunderstood

35

Loudspeechheard,butnotunderstood

40

Loudspeechnowonlyamurmur

45

Loudspeechnotheard,musicsystems/heavytrafficnoisestillapotentialproblem

50

Veryloudsoundssuchasmusicalinstrumentsorastereocanbefaintlyheard

60+

Excellentsoundproofing

STCExamples
STC Partition types: Wall, Floor or Ceiling
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Low Frequency
Performance
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Singlelayerof1/2drywalloneachside,woodstuds,noinsulation

Poor

(typicalinteriorwall)

44

Doublelayerof1/2drywalloneachside,woodstuds,batt
insulationinwall

Poor

Single5/8drywallononeside,double5/8drywallandGreenGlue
52

55

60

62

63

onothersidewoodstuds
Doublelayerof1/2drywalloneachside,onstaggeredwoodstud
wall,battinsulationinwall
Double5/8drywalloneithersideofasteelstudwallwithinsulation
and1loadofGreenGluebothsides.
Double5/8drywalloneithersideofasteelstudwallwithinsulation
and2loadsofGreenGluebothsides.
Doublelayerof1/2drywalloneachside,ondoublewood/metal
studwalls(spaced1apart),doublebattinsulation

Good

Fair

Good

Excellent

Good

STC ratings courtesy of the NRC and Green Glue Company, reprinted with permission.

For new construction, the International Building Code (IBC) requires lab-tested STC 50 for walls, floors and ceilings.
Note that this is a minimal amount of isolation and you will likely be disturbed by neighbors. Better to look at STC 55
to STC 60 for best satisfaction.

ChangesinSTC/ChangesinApparentLoudness
Changes in STC Rating

Changes in Apparent Loudness

+/1STCpoints

Almostimperceptible

+/3STCpoints

Justperceptible

+/5STCpoints

Clearlynoticeable

+/10STCpoints

Twice(orhalf)asloud

AppendixcalculatingSTC.

Noise is generated in one room and the sound pressure

levels in decibels (dB) are measured in both rooms at 16
distinct frequencies between 125 Hz and 4,000 Hz. The
difference in levels is corrected to account for the acoustical
properties of the receiving room.
We are looking for the Transmission Loss at these 16 frequencies (see table below). This is ASTM E90 Standard
Method for Laboratory Measurement of Airborne Sound Transmission Loss of Building Partitions. The Sound
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Transmission Class (STC) is determined in accordance with

ASTM E413, Classification for Rating Sound Insulation.
An excellent description for the STC calculation process is
provided by Brian Ravnaas at Green Glue Company.
Calculating STC involves adding something called
deficiencies and utilizing the STC contour In the table you
supply the Transmission Loss data. Then you add the STC
contour adjustment to attain the adjusted transmission loss.
Then you basically play with numbers in the STC you wish
to test column until one of the 2 limiting conditions listed
below are met. The highest number that satisfies both of
those conditions is the STC.

The two STC Conditions:

1. Nosinglefrequencybandmayhavemorethan8deficiencies
2. Thetotaldeficienciesmaynotexceed32
In the case above, the highest # of deficiencies in any frequency band is 4, and the total deficiencies are 21. So both
condition 1 and condition 2 are passed. The appropriate thing to do in this situation would then be to raise the STC
you are testing to 56. In this case, the wall would pass again at 56, as shown in this table here:

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Now the total deficiencies are 30, and it is clear that if we raised the number we wish to test to 57 that the number of
deficiencies would exceed 32, and thus the wall could not pass at 57.
Therefore, the STC of this wall is 56.
Lastly, it is important to note that to accommodate the fact that the human hearing system is more sensitive to some
frequencies than others, an equal-loudness contour is applied to the frequencies tested. This accommodation is known
as A-weighting. In general, low frequency and high frequency sounds appear to be less loud than mid-frequency
sounds, and the effect is more pronounced at low levels, with a flattening of response at high levels. A-weighted
frequencies are measured in units called phons.

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