How to Compare Acoustic Wall Panel Types Most people picture the standard 2’x4′ fabric-wrapped rectangle. That is one of thirteen types in common use, and they are not interchangeable — some are built to absorb sound, and some are built mostly to look like they do. Most guides sort panels by material. Acousticians sort them…
What Makes a Soundproofing Material Actually Eco-Friendly Most lists of eco-friendly soundproofing materials have the same problem: wool, cork and denim show up with a line about being “natural” and no word on how well they actually work. Half of them absorb echo and do almost nothing to stop sound getting through a wall. Buy…
Why Most Outdoor Soundproofing Doesn’t Work Outdoor soundproofing has one advantage over indoor work: there is nothing for sound to bounce off. It travels in a straight line from the source to your ear, so the only thing that helps is putting something heavy and solid in the way, tall enough to break that line.…
Soundproofing vs Acoustic Treatment for a Music Room Most people start soundproofing a music room by covering the walls in foam or acoustic panels. The room then sounds better from the inside, and the neighbors hear almost exactly what they heard before. That is because there are two different jobs here. Soundproofing stops sound getting…
Soundproofing vs Acoustic Treatment in a Radio Studio A microphone hears everything in the room: the truck outside, the HVAC, the phone call in the next office, and the host’s own voice coming back off the walls. Fixing that takes two different jobs, and most radio studio problems come from mixing them up. Soundproofing (isolation)…
Soundproofing a Church: Echo or Outside Noise? Most churches that ask about soundproofing have one of two problems. Either the sermon turns to mush in the back rows because the room echoes, or noise from outside (traffic, the nursery, the youth room with a drum kit) is getting into the service. Some church buildings have…
Why Conversations Carry Between Exam Rooms In most medical offices the noise problem is not loud noise. It is quiet conversations carrying. A patient in exam room 2 can hear the diagnosis in exam room 1, the front desk can be heard reading insurance details, and the waiting room hears the phone calls. Patients notice,…
Why Auditoriums Echo and What Soundproofing Fixes Most auditoriums have the same problem: speech that sounds clear on stage turns to mush by the middle rows. High ceilings, block walls and hard floors keep sound bouncing long after the words are spoken. Turning up the sound system makes it worse, because it feeds more sound…
Why Noise Costs Airbnb Hosts Bookings For an Airbnb or VRBO host, a good night’s sleep is the product. A guest who hears footsteps overhead at 6 a.m. or the host’s TV through the wall doesn’t complain to you. They mention it in the review, and the next guest reads it. The biggest noise problem…
Are Study Rooms Soundproof? Usually not. Most study rooms, whether a spare bedroom at home, a dorm room or a bookable room in a library, are built like any other room: a hollow door with a gap under it, light walls that often stop at the ceiling tiles, and sometimes a whole wall of glass.…