L'attirail

What is acoustic treatment? Why may you need an acoustic treatment service? How is it achieved? What are the benefits of it?

In a nutshell, acoustic treatment is the process of treating a room, so that the room achieves optimum sound quality, that is, the best possible sound quality. Acoustic treatments are performed in sound recording studios, home theaters, karaoke rooms, and other rooms in residential homes where the best sound quality is needed.

Acoustic treatment combines elements of soundproofing, noise reduction, controlling and managing sound sources, acoustic set-ups, trapping or dampening sounds, and reducing the echo and reverberation of noise.

To understand more about getting the maximum sound performance in a room, we must first look at what sound is. Sound moves outwardly as a wave, in all directions, from its original source. These waves travel as vibrating pressure undulations interacting with everything in their path. Depending on the nature of the impedance it encounters, a sound wave can be deflected, reflected or even absorbed. In essence, this is what acoustic treatment is; undertaking procedures using specific materials or electrical devices to minimize unwanted or unnecessary sounds.

The need for acoustically treating a particular area or room can depend on lifestyle, legal issues or environmental factors ranging from a operating a home theatre system, to owning a recording studio or even residing close to a major city highway or airport.  Read more...

An acoustical neuroma, too called a vestibular schwannoma, is a harmless primary intracranial tumor of the myelin-forming cells of the vestibulocochlear heart. The tumor normally grows slowly. As it grows, it presses against the hearing and equilibrium nerves. People with a genetic disease called neurofibromatosis have a high danger of developing acoustical neuromas and can produce tumours on both sides of the chief. Acoustic Neuroma can be overpowering and chilling, not just for the patients, but too for their families. The better word is that these tumors are harmless and can be surgically removed with a reduced pace of recurrence-so there is promise for handling. Radiation therapy now offers non-surgical handling for selected cases. Most patients see blow after being told they have a tumor near the mind that needs to be surgically removed.

Acoustic neuroma occurs in two forms: an intermittent kind and a kind associated with an inherited syndrome called neurofibromatosis character II. An abrupt hearing departure occurs in about 25 percentage of patients with acoustical neuroma. However, because acoustical neuroma is an uncommon circumstance, abrupt hearing departure traceable to an acoustical tumor occurs in simply 1-5 percentage of patients with abrupt hearing departure as there are many much popular causes. Vertigo is more popular with smaller tumors. Unsteadiness is often more rife than dizziness, and roughly 70 percentage of patients with big tumors have this symptom. Cerebellar symptoms are unique. People who produce acoustical neuroma as region of character II neurofibromatosis normally have tumours affecting both sides of the mind. The tumour if left raw, can rise into the auditory canal and all the manner through to the mind.  Read more...

Despite what the salesman at your local A/V shop tells you, sound proofing and sound treatment are not interchangeable terms in acoustics. Sound proofing is the process of creating a space that prevents any form of sound from escaping it, while sound treatment is the manipulation of a room’s response to particular frequencies to create a balanced sound within the room. Although there are similar materials for both procedures, their expected outcomes and processes are nonetheless very different.

Sound proofing a room

If you’re creating a space that will be used to contain a huge amount of sound and noise (like a death metal band’s rehearsal space), the best way to do this would be to build a room within a room. The room itself should have a thick cement floor, walls and ceiling. This forms an outer shell which is the space’s last line of sound proofing, and must be dense enough to absorb even the loudest low frequency sounds.

Within it, another room must be made whose walls, ceiling and floor (ideally) may be made of cement as well to ensure maximum density. Drywalls filled with sheetrock or fiberglass can also be used. This inner room must be smaller than the outer room and is generally placed in the middle of it, allowing for a space between them where the resultant escaping sound is trapped even more. This ensures that only a minimum of sound meets the walls of the outer room, thus increasing the chances of a 100% sound proofed room.  Read more...

If you’re still sacrificing your home made recordings and mixes because you think you don’t have the six-figure budget to come up with some basic sound treatment, think again! The most crucial forms of acoustic treatment are also the ones that are the least expensive to make. If you’ve set up a small recording area in your bedroom or in your home, there are some ways to improve the sound of the recording space as well as the way you listen to your music.

Choosing an appropriate space

If you haven’t dedicated a space just yet, it’s best to look for as large a space as your home or bedroom would allow. A larger space almost always guarantees better acoustic response than a tiny one because standing waves and early reflections are generally less (although still largely present if you don’t have any treatment). So to begin your project, look for a place where you can position your recording equipment or computer in the middle of the room so that sound bounces off the side walls at the same time with its trajectory. Once you’ve done this, set up your rig as you see fit.

Determining the best listening position

It’s always a good idea to experiment with the best mix listening position in any environment, but a good rule of thumb is to keep your head at a position that allows it to form a triangle with the tweeters of your studio monitors. Keep your monitors as far as possible from the back wall. Mark this position with duct tape on the floor, and try moving around it to hear the differences in phase that each position gives.  Read more...

For the home theater enthusiast, there are different types of acoustic treatment that you can use to create a great sounding acoustic environment. Not only are you limited to thousand-dollar products that are being used in the world’s top notch home theaters and studios, you can also use less expensive ones available online and even make DIY solutions.

Categories of acoustic treatment

There are three types of acoustic treatment that you could use in the treatment of your home theater: absorbers, diffusers and reflectors. Reflectors are surfaces that allow sound to bounce off of it relatively untouched. Absorbers are materials that trap sound (or particular frequencies of that sound), which are useful in creating a dead sounding space. Diffusers are surfaces that serve to scatter sound in a variety of directions according to its surface pattern.

Choosing what sound treatment to use in your home theater

Your home theater might be located in your den, the living room, or even in your own bedroom! You may or may not use a carpet for your floor (especially if you’ve got beautiful wooden floors), but don’t skimp on the wall absorbers; these panel absorbers (usually made of fiberglass inside a wooden frame) are the bread and butter of your theater acoustic treatment.

For the corners of your room, don’t forget to invest in some bass traps, either the wedge type or the tube shaped one. Although earth-shattering bass is great for action flicks and chase scenes, an inaccurate bass response in your theater causes some bass frequencies to be louder than others, resulting in an inconsistent bass sound that will leave you puzzled.  Read more...