When I started playing racing, I bought a Driving Force GT wheel, and soon after a wheelstand pro for a stable solution in front of my TV. I live in an apartment on the second floor, and after some weeks my neighbour from below came asking if I had a racing game: she had been suffering from deep motor noises, that at first she suspected to come from the neighbourhood, but it turned out that the wheelstand pro was very efficient in transferring the low frequencies to the floor and the whole building. I solved this problem by mounting my steering wheel on a desk board mounted to the wall. The desk board did damp the vibrations, and the wall is solid enough not to transfer the remaining noise, so my neighbour has been happy since. I still use the wheelstand pro lower part for a solid mount of the DFGT pedals. Now I am pondering upgrading my rig. I am especially thinking about buying better pedals, like the Fanatec Clubsport V3. But they will have vibration force feedback, so this could be a potential new source of neighbour harassment. I am thinking off putting some thick padded mat (a yoga mat or something?) under a new rig construction, but I am curious about other people experience with solutions to this problem.
As I read your thread I thought "foam pad on floor" same as you mention. It maybe would help to give her a signal, so she might tolerate more. Like "hey pound on the roof if it's bothering you so I can turn down". If people feel like they have some control, they may be willing to put up with more, or just not get so angry about it. My experience comes from years ago having a 2nd floor apartment, every time I had a lady friend over the neighbors would get PISSED. I had no solution for that except buy a better bed, but when I was younger (hell even now) the last thing I wanted to spend money on was a bed!
Some people use granite cutting boards for speaker isolation, or sand-filled boxes (or both combined). I know these: http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/equipment-supports/625-deflex-audio-superpods.html work wonders with big audio equipment, no idea if that would be a workable alternative for a racing rig tho, maybe stability issues? Plus it's not really a cheap sollution. But maybe @Anthony Monteil has some useful tips in that department?
I use spikes on stone slabs for my audio speakers, and that works great: I can play my music pretty loud - or watch TV that also uses the speakers - without the bass going into the floor. But I use headphones for racing so the audio is not a problem. I don't want to rely on the tolerance of my neighbour, because I know she doesn't want to bother me until it all becomes too much for her. And sometimes I want to race late at night, and she is an early sleeper. I am prepared to spend some money on this problem, but only when it really works. First of all the rig itself shouldn't resonate, so a wood construction is maybe better that steel or aluminium, as it will damp more vibrations on its own, before it is transferred to the basis. This stuff (polypress) is used for sound isolation (and it is cheap). maybe put the whole rig on a thick layer of this stuff? http://www.zilenz.nl/absorptiemater...n-geluidsoverdracht/polypress-geluidsisolatie
I had the same problem with my family. I live in an older home, so the the whole house would rattle. I race in the early mornings 5am-ish. And was getting busted for waking up the whole family. A 1/2 inch thick yoga mat did the trick for me.
That is very good to hear. So maybe I should build a FoFoFuOne (*) and put it on a layer of polypress This model rests on a large flat MDF plate, so that fits nice and stable on a sheet of foam. (*) that model was designed by Heusinkveld, producer of professional racing rigs, controls and software, so I trust that it is a good design.