The Sound Absorption Golden Rules

You clap your hands in the middle of your kitchen and hear what you think is an echo, but it actually isn’t. What you heard was reverberation. Reverberation is a continuous “stream” of noise you hear after the source of the sound stops. Reverberant noise tends to build in a space as noise is added to it, and will result in sound that is “garbled” or hard to understand. An echo is a distinct sound with a start and end that is loud enough to be heard repeatedly above the general reverberation.

It’s easier to understand the difference between a reverberation vs echo when you think about where you’re more likely to encounter them. Reverberation is more likely what you’re hearing in smaller spaces (kitchens, bathrooms, doctor examination rooms). You’re more likely to hear echoes in medium or large spaces (gymnasiums, large conference rooms, banquet halls, or an underground cavern). The reason is that the larger the volume of the space, the longer the reverberation time because low frequency and high frequency sound waves will encounter surfaces less often in large spaces than in small ones.

The good news is that sound absorbing materials will solve problems with both reverberation AND echo. And of all the examples we gave (except for maybe the cavern…), acoustic wall panels are just what the doctor ordered.

When we hear an actual echo in a room, it’s usually one of two types:

Slap Echo

A slap echo (or a slapback echo) is a single echo that can be heard almost immediately after the sound source stops. You’d notice this type of echo when you sharply clap your hands together and then wait to hear the quick response. While Elvis used this technique on some of his tracks in the 1950s, you probably don’t want it in your soundproof home office.

Flutter Echo

A flutter echo is the quick back-and-forth echoing of a single sound trapped between two hard surfaces. You may hear a flutter echo in an indoor swimming pool or gymnasium if a lifeguard or referee loudly blows a whistle.

For reducing room echo, you should do the following steps:

1. 1. Using professional acoustic panels or materials to absorb sound (most important)
   2. Adding everyday absorptive items like caprets, curtians and blankets will help minimally

What we do not recommend is using bookshelves, plants or any other hard surfaces will do little to nothing to reduce echo

Although there is a lot of good information out there on stopping echoes, much of it is mixed with bad advice. When you boil it down, it’s pretty simple — the key to reducing echoes in a room is to break the pathway between hard surfaces with soft, absorbent surfaces. You should be skeptical of any solution that touts it’s effectiveness, but doesn’t accomplish that basic goal. While not every room is the same, we can give you some basic advice based off the size of the room.

echo reduction in your typical small or medium room

Some smaller rooms have higher acoustical needs, like a podcasting room or a soundproof gaming room for example. Solving reverberation problems in smaller spaces tends to be cheaper and easier than in larger ones. Let’s say you’re experiencing some bad reverberations in your TV room and it’s seriously affecting sound quality or you work in a noisy office and are in need of sound proof cubicles. The best way to fix the problem is by adding an acoustical treatment to the room (sound absorbing materials). While the most effective treatment is going to be sound proofing panels, that doesn’t make it the right solution. Fabric wrapped acoustic panels are usually the right answer for a small conference room, but you may not want them in your living room.

There also are sometimes practical solutions that will eliminate the need for specific acoustic treatments, like being intentional about your furniture choices. Or for the cheapest solution… just open the door and let the sound out!

How to reduce Echo in Large rooms

For large rooms like gymnasiums, restaurants, auditoriums, or jobs like improving church acoustics, the best solution is to install acoustic paneling. We recommend Acoustic Pro™ Fabric Wrapped Panels, our specially-designed acoustic panels constructed with a rigid fiber absorber core. The edges are hardened for increased durability, and then the whole panel is wrapped in designer fabric to ensure they look good in any room. Our panels come standard in six shapes, eight colors, and two thicknesses (1” and 2). Customizations are available depending on your specific needs.

Solving sound issues in a large room is more complicated than in smaller rooms. To get a good recommendation, you’ll need to contact us so we can collect some more information from you.

At the end of the day, a room with bad echoing is a room few people want to be in. If you’re going to tackle an acoustics project, start by taking a hard look at the room in question and do your best to soften it up a bit. Not sure where to start? Give us a call! We are happy to help you determine what products are needed, figure out the recommended square footage, and provide you with installation tips. Reach us at 1.800.679.8511 or chat with us by clicking on the icon in the bottom right corner of your screen.

To get the best results for reducing echo in a room, we recommend reaching out to us for a professional acoustical analysis. With the information provided by you, we consult with our acoustical analyst to get you the exact amount of material you will need to add to your space. The steps to get this done are simple, all you need to do is:

1. 1. Measure your space and provide our team with the exact dimensions, surface type, and pictures of your space
   2. Select the acoustic panels from our selection you would like to add to your space
   3. Purchase and install the materials!

Although there is a lot of good information out there on stopping echoes, much of it is mixed with bad advice. When you boil it down, it’s pretty simple — the key to reducing echoes in a room is to break the pathway between hard surfaces with soft, absorbent surfaces. You should be skeptical of any solution that touts it’s effectiveness, but doesn’t accomplish that basic goal.

Step 1. Measure Your Space

Getting the right dimensions of the space is very important for getting you the best recommendation on the amount of material you will need. Believe it or not, there is a best room shape for acoustics! The other thing that affects our recommendation is the types of surfaces you have in your space. Treating a room with hardwood floors versus a room with fully carpeted floors will yield different recommendations.

Lastly, we love pictures! In a perfect world, we would be able to walk around your space, that is not something we can do, so the next best thing we have is pictures and videos. The more the merrier! This way, we can get a good visual understanding of the space and what may be causing you some sound issues.

Step 2. Select the right acoustic panel for you

We carry a wide variety of acoustic panels that help reduce echo and reverb in a space. We understand every space may have different aesthetical needs, so we try to have a panel for everything! Check out our panels and feel free to reach out to our team for advice.

In most cases, two of our top-selling products are our PolyZorbe polyester panels and our Timberwool wood fiber panels. These both provide a great mixture of aesthetics and sound absorption to your space!

Step 3. Install Acoustic Material

Once steps one and two are completed, we will have a recommendation for the number of panels you need for your space, from there it’s time to get to work. We have installation guides on our panels and can help walk you through how to install them if needed!

Call us at 1.800.679.8511