Would a memory foam topper be a sufficient sound and vibration baffle for Dance Dance Revolution?

For the past several months, my roommates and I have taken to enjoying varying builds of Dance Dance Revolution in the evenings, inclusive of X, MAX 2, and Supernova 2. I personally have gotten reasonably good at it, taking my game up to 7 and 8 difficulty in the earlier builds and as high as 11 in DDR X, barless (that is, without a safety bar).

Unfortunately, despite the fact that we live in a three story townhome with no neighbors above or below us, our neighbors on either side have complained about the noise during hours of play. Because we share walls with both sets of neighbors and our only practical locations are closer to one or the other, we can't minimize noise by setting the system up equidistant from both shared walls. And, as the shared walls have strong sound insulation, the noise being put out is relevant but not significant. The real problem is the vibration, which is an exceedingly common complaint about home installations.

After researching the issue, it came to my attention that foam inserts are a very common strategy to reduce vibration and audible noise. It is also possible that we can schedule our routine with either set of neighbors, but we'd like to be more courteous during normal waking hours if possible.

We currently own two Konami dance pads that we've modified with plastic chairmats and carpet tape to prevent slippage. I'm considering picking up a cheap memory foam topper from Amazon to place under the chairmats for single, versus, and doubles play, under the assumption that the high density of the material and low slippage should be sufficient for extended play at high difficulty.

Is this the best solution to the problem? What other methods of vibration baffling are available that I've not considered?

Solution 1:

I wouldn't think that memory foam mattress topper would be a good choice in this case. It tends to compress quickly, especially in response to body heat, and once compressed it is going to offer less vibration resistance than other materials. The "cheap" kind of mattress pad tends to wear relatively quickly as well. Other types of higher density urethane foam might be appropriate, but the kind rated for sleeping on is unlikely to be useful.

Have you considered using carpet pad instead? It's specifically designed to absorb impact in order to increase the life of carpet installed above it. I would think that would make it useful for your purposes. You need such a small amount of it, I'd think that a home improvement warehouse or carpet showroom/warehouse would sell you a remnant for next to nothing. With the cost being so low, you could probably get a few different types and test them all to see what works best for you.