[Zodduska]

I live in an apartment and the neighbor on the other side of my bedroom wall must have bought a new stereo system about a month ago because I am treated to at least 5 hours per night of video game bass permeating my apartment every night since.  It sounds like idiot has the sub firing on the shared wall or something with the amount of bass coming through.. I'm not sure he realizes how loud it is but I have taken to occasionally hitting or knocking on the wall several times out of frustration when I am trying to go to bed which usually results in him turning it down or ceasing all together - so he knows it is disturbing me.
 
My apartment complex has a noise clause in the lease which states that you are not to disturb neighbors with any sounds generated in your apartment and QUIET TIME is between 10pm and 8am.  Violations can be reported to the office and after hours to 9-1-1.
 
Tonight I knocked on the wall and the bass is still going on for over an hour since, I have decided to escalate.  
 
Should I go over to his apartment and explain my problem directly to him tomorrow?  He could either be understanding (which I kinda doubt since he is a 17 year old hispanic male who dresses and speaks like snoop dog) or he could be a jag and then he knows its me for sure should I choose to go another route. Or should I just report it to the Apartment complex offices?  I don't really want to call the cops at this point.

 

[Kirosia]

I'd talk to him first as a sign of courtesy. (Though take precautions, some people tend to be insane) If he doesn't stop, report him. 

 

[Landis]

Teach him the way of Head-Fi and tell him if he wants some bass, get a pair of DT770/80s.
 
If he seems like an immature nancy, then just report him and be done.

 

[Jubei]

Same problem here.
 
I live in Hong Kong, so apartments are small and tightly packed together. A few months ago, a new tenant moved in the apartment below me and he obviously bought a new home cinema system. Late at night (and I mean late as in starting 11:00 pm) he likes to play action movies and his sub is turned way up. I can't really hear the dialogue or the soundtrack, BUT the sub really vibrates bad and I get this booming thump. My floor also shakes. It is very annoying because it is NOT IN SYNC with the music I play (at low levels). The worst case scenario was vibrating floors at 2:00 am. I complained to the management and it continued for a while despite my complaining. I complained every time he did this and even the management people sympathized with me. He plays so loud, when the management staff rang his apartment bell, he couldn't hear it at all.
 
My situation was bad in several ways. I am not renting - it is owned property and I have no $$ to move. Seems the tenant below is also the owner of the apartment and since he is new in the building, he is unlikely to move. I can't really say he is noisy - it isn't noise - it is the vibrations of the sub. I feel like a live on top of a disco / club. The property management can only ask him to turn it down - if he doesn't, there really isn't much the management can do apart from calling the cops. Of course by the time the cops arrive, there will be no more noise.
 
I also called the government department regarding noise pollution and they said they need scientific proof of noise - i.e. decibel measurements, before they can issue a warning. They can of course only come during office hours (sigh) to do any measurements. I am also not sure the vibrations will be reflected in the audio / db measurements anyway.
 
Lucky for me, the guy downstairs seemed to have grown out of his new toy, so recently I have not had to deal with it. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[kobeclix]

I also in a kind of similar situation. I have these little brat neighbors about 5 (ages 10-16, mexican) of them that use my basketball court that I put on the street. They shattered my neighbor's backboard and now they are using mine. I told them if they want to use it don't stand on the court's base because it's more than 10 years old and might fall, don't throw stupid one-handed 30 foot shots because they are going to shatter my backboard, and don't shake the court because it might tip over.
 
1st time I told them, they went home and put marshmallows in my mail box. I confronted the parents in a polite manner, they did nothing. I pointed the trail of marshmallows from their driveway to my box, still didn't believe me.
 
2nd time I told them, they listened for one day. The next time I catch them doing something stupid to my court, I taking it up my driveway.
 
On a separate occasion, my neighbors who are also mexican confronted the parents about a situation where the brats were going around the neighborhood ringing everyone's bell. Parents did nothing. My neighbors solution was to move which they did 3 months later.
 
Point is, I tried to go the nice route, but sometimes it just doesn't work. What I would do in your situation is report it to the apartment office because if you confront him and he chooses not to listen and then you report him, he may do something in retaliation like put marshmallows in your mailbox(highly unlikely) or key your car.

 

[Ypoknons]

Quote:

My situation was bad in several ways. I am not renting - it is owned property and I have no $$ to move. Seems the tenant below is also the owner of the apartment and since he is new in the building, he is unlikely to move. I can't really say he is noisy - it isn't noise - it is the vibrations of the sub. I feel like a live on top of a disco / club. The property management can only ask him to turn it down - if he doesn't, there really isn't much the management can do apart from calling the cops. Of course by the time the cops arrive, there will be no more noise.
 
I also called the government department regarding noise pollution and they said they need scientific proof of noise - i.e. decibel measurements, before they can issue a warning. They can of course only come during office hours (sigh) to do any measurements. I am also not sure the vibrations will be reflected in the audio / db measurements anyway.

No one realistically has the money to move anywhere these days with the property prices. The problem is, with all the construction sites that pounding palpable noises (faint vibrations) and the like, I'm not sure they'll be all that sympathetic. Ick.
 
My only advice for the OP is, if you want to talk to him, bring a friend. Don't do it alone. Preferably a strong (and smart) one. (edit) It's not just backup in case of physical violence, but having a friend along makes you look more 'chill' or 'respectable' and he might help you talk the offender into some sense. 

 

[mark2410]

be nice onme about it, if they are nice about it then continue to be nice.  once i got a couple complaints from a neighbour about noise and i really had no idea that it was comming through loud. v v v embarrassed about which is why since i just never turn on the sub.
 
anyway, get a sound meter and a camcorder

 

[Jubei]

Agree - the noise pollution in Hong Kong is bad. There is always some construction, road works, renovation going on. It just never ends.
 
Quote:

No one realistically has the money to move anywhere these days with the property prices. The problem is, with all the construction sites that pounding palpable noises (faint vibrations) and the like, I'm not sure they'll be all that sympathetic. Ick.
 
My only advice for the OP is, if you want to talk to him, bring a friend. Don't do it alone. Preferably a strong (and smart) one. (edit) It's not just backup in case of physical violence, but having a friend along makes you look more 'chill' or 'respectable' and he might help you talk the offender into some sense. 

 

[redshifter]

I have had very bad noisy neighbors in the past, and my advice would be do not talk to the offender personally. If the noise is incredibly loud or after a certain time of night (check your local laws), call the landlord or apt manager, tell them you are calling the cops, then call the cops' non emergency number. When the cops show up take their names and badge numbers after they deal with your neighbor. Note the time and day. Keep a record. Be nice, maybe offer the officers some soda or coffee, maybe donuts. Do this every time there is a noise disturbance. Cops don't mind it is part of their job description to keep the peace.

 

[Graphicism]

Give him a pair of headphones.

 

[Region2]

To be honest, I am usually the noisy neighbor.  I work long hours and so I tend to enjoy my entertainment center late at night.  But before I had any complaints, I soon changed all my settings to lower the sub (sometimes I leave it unplugged) and I haven't had any problems.  Though almost no one cares because we live above a subway and this neighborhood is rather loud (that's New York for you).
 
When I was younger, my roommates and I used to throw parties all the time.  The one time the neighbors had called the cops there was no party, the only thing we were doing was moving some furniture but the sound must have been the last straw.  The cops came in and saw us sitting around with the TV and one of us on a computer and they looked perplexed and just told us to leave the windows closed since they didn't see a problem.  Ever since then no matter how loud the party became no police officers ever came again because of that one bad call.
 
We might have stopped (can't speak for the others so I can't say with certainty) but the lack of communication was insulting to me.  Though there is a chance of retaliation some people do listen.  So that's my 2 cents in on this problem.
 
On a side note, I once combated a very noisy neighbor by putting my speakers and sub against the adjoining wall and kept blasting it with bass heavy music for hours until they stopped playing their music so loudly 

 

[Zodduska]

Thanks for the responses guys.  I ended up reporting it to the apartment management and it sounds like they deal with these things regularly, hopefully they will resolve it if not they said to call back.  I decided not to confront the neighbor directly because I figure there is no chance he is unaware of the problem, after several incidents of me knocking on the wall to get him to cut it out he persists every night.. clearly he is just inconsiderate and is not deserving of any from my end.

 

[necropimp]

Quote:

 
1st time I told them, they went home and put marshmallows in my mail box. I confronted the parents in a polite manner, they did nothing. I pointed the trail of marshmallows from their driveway to my box, still didn't believe me.
 

 
i pretty sure messing with someone's mailbox (including something immature and relatively harmless as placing marshmallows in it) is a pretty big no-no
 
as far as the OP's problem... as others have suggested try recommending some good headphones for him to use at night
 
if it wasn't an apartment and he kept it up i would have suggested my own personal methods for noisy neighbors... noise war
 
example... neighbor who constantly partied and made excessive noise all night and slept through the afternoon my personal knowledge of where in that house he slept and the fact that he kept his windows open led me to call up some friends for an impromptu death metal jam session in my back yard

 

[Zodduska]

I'm delighted to report that I've been thoroughly enjoying my first peaceful night since the arrival of the unwelcome second hand bass over a month ago.. it's almost too quiet!

 

[Fido2]

 
Quote:

 
... led me to call up some friends for an impromptu death metal jam session in my back yard

LOL! Sweet! I wish you woulda called me...