My shop is in the basement of our relatively new house. The HVAC guys were going to put a return in the basement which, in my view, would put too much dust into our system. I told them to give me two vents for the basement and no return. Instead, I had the general contractor make a 20"x25" opening into our stairwell with a nice grate over it on the stairwell side. We made it a nice tight fit for a 20x25 air filter. As I fitted out the shop, I took steps to seal any openings into the basement other than that filter. I sealed the door, around the hvac vents, around the plumbing and any electrical openings. The idea was to put air into the basement from those two vents and force it through that filter.
The plan worked pretty well. I find very little dust on that vent cover. I've had no complaints about dust elsewhere in the house. Neither of us have allergies so that isn't an issue. A further indication of success is how often I have to take the filter outside and blow it out.
My wife has never complained but the machines in the basement do make quite a bit of noise and it comes up that stairwell. I wonder if some sort of simple baffle might help. I'm thinking sort of a u-shaped thing open at the top and bottom with maybe some foam on the inside?