Latest Posts
4 Restaurants with Great Acoustic Design
As perceptions of what constitutes luxurious environments and trends in food service have evolved, restaurant design has more and more favored large, open spaces and hard surfaces. And this is having a serious effect on restaurant noise levels. In the race to create sumptuous and modern aesthetics, many of the decorative features which used to […]
What You Need to Know About Acoustics
Do you ever find yourself at your office, at a busy downtown intersection, in an industrial plant, a restaurant or a studio, or simply in your home, and you’re unhappy because unwanted noise is interfering in your life? If so, you’re far from being alone. Noise pollution comes in many different forms and under many […]
How to Build a Podcast Studio: Podcast Buckets vs. Acoustical Treatments
Whether you’re thinking about creating one, or you’re already producing a podcast, you likely hope to cultivate and foster a loyal fan base. To do so, of course, your primary goal is to provide your audience with compelling content, but you also need to very seriously consider the quality of the sound you’re recording. Listeners […]
The ‘Long View’ of Sound
There’s a moment early in the movie “Men In Black” – after a big green alien has raised “all his hands and flippers” (and was then blasted into goo) – where a tired-out Agent D says to Agent K “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” K replies “What?” And D says “The stars. We never just – […]
The Value of Sound and Acoustically Treating a Room
In the American economy, we see “value” mentioned frequently, and while the word “cheap” isn’t used, it’s often implied. No one wants to own cheap products, but no one wants to spend more than they should to get the performance they want. In the categories of sound and acoustical products, there’s a wide range of […]
Soundproofing and Acoustic Treatments in the Workplace: Luxury or Sound Investment?
Soundproofing and acoustical treatments are often neglected in the planning phase of commercial buildings and workplaces. Architects and design professionals focus on structural integrity and spatial function, but it’s only when people start to work in those spaces that acoustic problems are revealed. Always looking to trim budgets, business owners may question whether investing in […]
What is Sound Diffusion (and Absorption)?
Here’s an easy definition: diffusion is the method of spreading out sound energy with a diffusor (diffuser) for better sound in a space. However, in the wide, wide world of acoustics, the sound diffusion process and tools are widely misunderstood, even by some acoustics professionals. This seems a bit odd, because it’s one of only […]
Is Food That Loud?
It’s practically official: “too much noise” is now customers’ single most-hated restaurant problem, ahead of bad service, bad food, and high prices. While open kitchens, cranked-up music-playback systems, and raucous diners certainly have played a part in amplifying this business-killing monster, many complaints were aimed squarely – and rightly – at the restaurant’s acoustics. Hard […]
Fitness Acoustics: Keeping Sound In (and Out)
It seems like gyms and specialty fitness classes are popping up everywhere – in strip malls, next to office suites, and under apartment complexes in dense cities. The noise they generate, whether from loud music, clanking weights, or dozens of spinning stationary bikes, is causing an inundation of noise complaints, 911 calls, and even forcing […]
Fitness Acoustics: Can Your Class Hear You?
With summer just around the corner, more and more people are hitting the gym and attending group fitness classes such as spin cycling, yoga, CrossFit, and other health-oriented activities. An important key to any successful workout or class, of course, is listening to the instructor. Unfortunately, many gyms and fitness spaces are highly reverberant, making […]
