Hello all,
Today I want to give you a few acoustic tips to follow when either designing a space or remodeling a space.
1) Use a professional: Not every professional is a professional... Ask for credentials...past jobs, education... this can tell you a lot about a persons qualifications. Also, regardless of what a website says, there are NO 'one size fits all' acoustic packages. There is actually a great deal of math and physics that goes into an acoustic design. Of course, there is a great deal of art involved. Acoustics if often described as the perfect blend of art and science. Without using a professional (with real credentials), you could end up spending thousands of dollars on an acoustic package that leaves your room still sounding terrible.
2) Dimensions matter: Room modes are the resonances that exist in a room when the room is excited by an acoustic source such as a loudspeaker. Each room has a modal distribution and dimensions directly relate to this distribution. It is ideal to have a distribution where all modes are no closer than 5Hz and no further than 20Hz to each other. Even moving a wall or a ceiling just a foot can change this distribution.
3) Absorption coefficients: Each product has a number that is associated to a frequency. This is usually the absorption coefficient in Sabines. When the number is 1, it means perfect absorption... When it is 0 it means perfect reflection. If you see a product with a number that is much greater than 1, such at 1.8 or so, this usually means that the numbers are bogus. Usually I tolerate, but take with a grain of salt, numbers that are as high as 1.2. My reason for this is a little more in depth than this post allows...
4) Rerverberation: A great deal of items fall under this idea of reverberation. A big one however is intelligibility. To much reverb will cause words to blur together and become indistinguishable from each other. To little reverberation and it will seem dry and lifeless. Reverberation is based on the properties of the room such as materials on the walls, floor, and ceiling.
These are just a few tips when considering a new space. Consider acoustics, and consult a professional!
Tom
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