Soundproof windows - too good to be true?

hothamwater

Hi,
When researching secondary glazing (for the purpose of reducing nearby road noise) I found this company: hugocarter dot co dot uk blog-and-news/acoustic/soundproof-windows-vs-secondary-glazing (sorry link is written like this, as a new user I can't include links).
Who seem to be claiming that their "soundproof" windows are better at cutting down noise than secondary glazing. Generally speaking this seems to contradict what I have read. In that secondary glazing is considerably more effective at reducing sound than double or triple glazing.
Does anyone have any direct experience or insight into how soundproof windows can be so much better?

Thanks

Furts

General building principles are sound travels via the air, and it also travels via structural elements like walls and floors. To deaden sound one has to kill echo, boom and also spread the sound. Hence sound proof mats and the egg shell type details and perforations you would see in a recording studio. Windows are not going to be much good at any of this.

The structural element is helped by increasing mass - hence concrete block walls are vastly better than aircrete walls. Again windows are not good because there is little mass. Equally going double glazed, or triple glazed greatly increases the percentage increase in glass but does not do much to increase the physical mass.

Windows can be OK but frequently overlooked is the standard of fitting - sound travels through the smallest of holes and countless window fitters could not care about this. So get your windows meticulously sealed on both the inner and outer faces and paying meticulous attention to the sealing and integrity of the structural openings.

Obviously trickle vents become a no go for sound coming through them.

Imho secondary glazing is old fashioned and there is little need for it. What is does is act as a back up, or Plan B, for bad window window fitting. Here the real course is meticulous attention to doing things properly first time round.