I haven't read the entire 35 pages of this thread, and i'm new here, but I can say that growing is my second hobby, recording music is my first. I have a little experience and have done a lot of research in acoustic isolation. Thought I might be able to contribute a concise chunk of theory behind isolation of sound.
Basically there are 3 concepts that contribute to isolation of sound- decoupling, mass, and an airtight seal. Each has its hurdles and benefits.
Lets talk about decoupling first. This is the most practical in most grow environments. In theory, if a fan is not touching anything, nothing will resonate with it when it vibrates. This is impossible, so we use something to improve decoupling, such as rubber pads, or bungee cord suspension. Interestingly enough- one of rockwool's primary uses is in recording studios to absorb sound (different from isolation, but it CAN be useful). This could prove useful in our various situations in the grow room. Say for example, if the air pump is vibrating on the shelf you have it sitting on- try throwing a spare rockwool cube under it, this could be all the decoupling you need. For really intense vibration, bungee cord suspension is a great idea.
Next up is mass- imagine the ideal situation as a cement room with a solid steel door. This helps most with low frequencies, and would be the only thing that will ever get rid of the low rumble of some equipment such as generators or some large water/air pumps. A practical example is the plywood box around the fan, the heavy duty wall structure helps contain the sound that is airbound. Thickness helps, but MASS helps even more, so in theory a thin steel box would help just as much if not more than a thick plywood box. Think DENSE. Obviously a paper box won't do anything.
Typically mass and decoupling are the most practical ways of helping with escaping sound. But for extreme cases, an airtight seal may be necessary- practical implementations of this would be caulking the joints of the grow box (if possible, get an acoustic caulk such as the sealant made by the green glue company), or weather stripping (or shoving a towel) around the door to the grow room. A question that arises is regarding ventilation. Proper air flow contradicts an air tight seal. While this is a complicated subject, one principle can help with this hurdle- air can change directions easily- sound cannot, especially in an acoustically non-reflective environment. Think about making a box that would represent an acoustic carbon filter, with plywood and some spare rockwool cubes. make the box's inside height the same as the rockwool. Make it to where the air has to change directions and bounce off the rockwool to get through. Put one of these boxes on each ventilation hole in your grow box/room.
To help figure out what to pursue the most- heres a list with what each principle helps most with:
Decoupling- wall/floor/shelf bound vibrations.
Mass- any air bound sound, mostly beneficial with LOW frequencies
Airtight seal- air bound sound, mostly beneficial with high frequencies only.
If your only reason for sound being an issue is because you can't sleep at night because of your grow room, and money is no issue, I highly recommend green glue. Basically you start with your drywall walls, and add another layer of drywall, with green glue sandwiched between the two layers. On top of this you would caulk under each wall, around the door jamb, and between each sheet of drywall, and have heavy duty weather stripping around the door itself. This is probably not practical for any of us, but its an ideal situation.