Alex D.

Background noise in the workplace isn't just an annoyance; it can impact your productivity and even your health.

According to a 2015 report from the World Green Building Council, excessive background noise can lead to an astounding 66% drop in performance for tasks requiring concentration. This is especially troublesome for open layout offices, where the insistent chatter of computers, keyboards, phones, scanners, printers, and human conversation can result in a focus-shattering cacophony.

The stakes are even higher in industrial settings like factories and warehouses. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, has said noise levels over 85 decibels can damage one's hearing, with the Center for Disease Control estimating that 22 million workers every year are exposed to such dangerous levels of noise in the workplace.

Acoustic solutions such as panels, clouds, or baffles can help absorb many of these echoes, reverberations, and mid to high frequencies, but that's just the beginning of addressing these noise issues. Workplaces should also mitigate excessive noise by relocating loud office equipment behind doors or partitions, designating "quiet zones" where employees can enjoy some much-needed auditory respite, and requiring the use of hearing protectors in areas where even the best acoustic solution can't entirely reduce noise to a manageable level.

In the end, you'll have happier and healthier workers. And that's always a good thing.

Some design inspiration for you, courtesy of August's birthstones and Audimute's Fabric Acoustic Panels.

Life Point Church in Mentor, Ohio, recently contacted Audimute to address the acoustics in its newly constructed auditorium ahead of its opening. The size of the venue, its layout (two tiers of seating), and the role of live music and livestreaming in Life Point's services called for a sound-absorbing treatment that offered lots of effective coverage. 
 
The Audimute solution — AcoustiColor® acoustic panels coated to match the surroundings and installed in three key locations: 

• The back walls of both the balcony and the ground floor
• The sides of the auditorium
• The back wall of the stage 

Soon after hosting their first services in the new auditorium, Life Point reached out to Audimute with rave reviews: "Our services went great...such an exciting day for Life Point! The acoustical panels made a huge difference and we love the way they look. I must say you and your team made this part of the project so easy for us and we were really amazed at the attention to detail and the professionalism of your team." 

At Audimute, we've been lucky to work with some of the top drummers in the music industry, and we've been even luckier that those drummers have shared the results of their Audimute acoustic solutions with their legions of followers on social media platforms like Instagram.

Recently, one of our drummer friends, Gabriel Staznik, showed his 90,000+ followers "Before Audimute" and "After Audimute" footage of him drumming in his drum room. In the "Before" footage, the boom of the floor tom bounced around the space while the crack of the snare was nearly lost in the reverberations from the rest of the drum kit.

The "After" footage, on the other hand, revealed an acoustically treated room courtesy of such Audimute solutions as our Planks Acoustic Panels Kit and AcoustiColor® Planks and Panels. In this footage, the sound was crisper. The drums were cleaner. It was a significant acoustic difference, and Gabriel was excited it to share with his followers.

Among the several comments on the post were a couple different ones that mentioned they liked the sound of the untreated room — the "before" — better.

And you know what? They weren't wrong.

'Wait a minute! How can you say that?' you might ask. "You're an acoustic solutions company, and you treated his drum room! Shouldn't those comments about liking the untreated sound make you upset?"

No.

Just like those commenters, we might ultimately prefer the "raw, untreated" sound of booming, echo-y drums, BUT we want it to be an intentional choice by the musician. In an untreated room, there's no choice: you're always going to get echo.

With an Audimute treatment, Gabriel is in control of the sound in his drum studio instead of the other way around. He now enjoys a crisp, clear sound in the room; if he wants to add reverb or effects after the fact, he can, as opposed to the more difficult task of cutting out the reverb post-recording if he doesn't want it.

There's nothing wrong with echo and reverb on a recording, of course. Many legendary artists, from the Beach Boys to Frank Sinatra to the Supremes to the Beatles, recorded vocals or instruments in specific rooms or studios with lots of echo to capture that special reverb-y sound. It all depends on the outcome you're going for.

Gabriel said it best in the comments on his post: "If you want raw, lively energy for a big, open drum sound, untreated rooms can be magic. [...] But if you need clarity, control, and mix-ready recordings, treatment makes all the difference."

In late 2024, an old water heater at the McDowell County Tourism & Visitor Center in western North Carolina finally gave out and flooded the building, causing such significant damage that the flooring and furnishings had to be replaced. And while echoes had always been a problem in the visitor center, they became even worse in the wake of the water damage.

"The acoustics were overwhelming," says Kim Effler, president and CEO of the McDowell Chamber of Commerce and McDowell Visitor Center. "There were days we truly couldn't hear ourselves think."

With upwards of 20,000 visitors passing through the center every year en route to McDowell County's many attractions and activities, Kim knew the acoustics needed to be addressed.

Her search for an effective yet affordable acoustic solution brought her to Audimute and our Fabric Accent Acoustic Ceiling Clouds. Ideal for rooms with high ceilings or limited wall space, each Fabric Accent Acoustic Ceiling Cloud has an NRC rating of .95, absorbing an average of 95% of echoes, reverberations, and mid to high frequencies.

With three hexagon-shaped Fabric Accent Acoustic Ceiling Clouds now installed, the difference in sound quality inside the McDowell County Visitor Center has been significant.

"Acoustically, the space is now so much better," Kim says. "The ceiling clouds have created a calmer, more productive environment. Our team noticed the improvement immediately, and even our visitors have commented on how peaceful the space feels. It’s been a game-changer."

We love it when Audimute customers get creative with our acoustic solutions. Here's a great example from Warren L., who writes:

"I have a Class C motor home and a lot of noise comes into the cab from [the] rear of the motorhome. The manufacturer suggested a curtain to block noise to the cab from the rear. I chose isolé Sound Barrier Sheets after some research. I installed them and tested them. What a difference! [...] Considering this was an ad hoc install, I was very impressed with the curtains. They look great. I am very pleased with my isolé sheets."

Thanks, Warren! In addition to its effectiveness when mounted over doors or windows, isolé makes a great partition, and we're happy it's bringing you some peace of mind on the open road. Wishing you safe and (great) sound travels!

News out of England that recently caught our attention: Meta has opened a $16 million lab to conduct audio research and development for the company's AI glasses and other AI equipment. In addition to anechoic and semi-anechoic chambers, the lab also features what it is calling "one of the world’s largest configurable reverberation rooms," equipped with "101 individually adjustable acoustic panels" to simulate different environments ranging in size.

Whereas anechoic chambers completely absorb sound (to the point that people have reported feeling disoriented after standing in one for a prolonged period of time), reverberation rooms are designed to create reverberation and send sound energy around the space. In fact, when an acoustics company like Audimute wants to calculate the noise reduction coefficient, or NRC, of its acoustic panels, it sends them to laboratories that test the acoustic products in such reverberation rooms. NRC ratings range from 0.0 (no absorption) to 1.00 (total absorption), with Audimute's panels boasting NRC ratings as high as 0.95.

We're excited to learn more about the role that acoustics will play in, as Meta says, "developing intelligent audio that adapts to users and their surroundings." And, hey, Meta - if you ever want to build a reverberation room stateside, feel free to reach out to our Acoustic Specialists for a consultation!

Many times at Audimute, we'll hear from folks who need help with "soundproofing." Their office is too echo-y, there's some high-frequency sound in their restaurant, they want to be able to hear their drums, etc. All completely valid acoustic concerns; except the solution they're looking for isn't soundproofing; it's sound-absorbing. 
 
At Audimute, we do both (more on that later). But let's delve into what those terms really mean. 
 
Soundproofing has become the easy, shorthand term for any kind of sound management solution, but it really only speaks to a specific kind: the total containment of a room or space so that no sound is getting in or out. 100% soundproofing is possible, but it can result in an acoustic environment so tightly regimented that it ceases to be comfortable (check out anechoic chambers for more).  
 
Maybe you don't want 100% soundproofing, but you do want to block some sound from getting into or out of a space. There are plenty of scenarios where where that's the case: 

• You live in a house next to noisy train tracks
• You own a loud rock venue and don't want your sound to bleed into the quiet coffeeshop next door 
• You live in a house next to noisy train tracks and a loud rock club 
• You own a loud rock club located inside a house next to a quiet coffeeshop by train tracks

...You get the idea. 
 
Soundproofing – in the truest sense - requires new construction: tearing up a wall, adding a false floor, etc. It requires a significant amount of time, money, and labor. In short, it can be done, but it calls for a lot of commitment.
 
Sound absorption, on the other hand, is the use of mounted products such as acoustic panels to absorb echoes, reverberations, and mid to high frequencies within a room (We often tell people to think of sound waves as water and a sound-absorbing acoustic panel as a giant sponge soaking up those sound waves). There's installation involved with sound-absorbing panels, but likely no construction. 
 
Let's futher explore the difference between soundproofing and sound absorption with some real-world scenarios featuring our friend, Audie: 
 
Audie wants to drum loudly in his home studio but he doesn't want to disturb his neighbors. 
Audie needs a soundproofing solution. (Like our Peacemaker® Sound Barrier – 3mm). 
 
Audie is drumming but his drums sound muddy due to echoes in his home studio. 
Audie needs a sound-absorbing solution. (Like our Sound Absorption Sheets). 
 
Here's another one: 
 
Audie's clients at work have a hard time hearing him during conference calls due to reverberations in his meeting room. 
Audie needs a sound-absorbing solution. (Like our Fabric Acoustic Panels). 
 
Audie's desk at work is constantly rumbling and shaking due to vibrations from the parking garage downstairs. 
Audie needs a soundproofing solution. (Like our Peacemaker® Soundproofing Underlayment – 6mm). 
 
One last one: 
 
Audie wants to drum loudly in his home studio but he doesn't want to disturb his neighbors AND he wants his drums to sound less echo-y in his home studio. 
Audie needs a sound-absorbing AND soundproofing solution (Like our 2-in-1 isolé® Sound Barrier Sheets). 
 
In summation, when it comes to soundproofing vs. sound absorption, here's a nifty little rhyme to help you remember the difference: 
 
If loud noise is coming through the walls, floor, or roofing 
Then the solution you want is soundproofing. 
But if echoes create distraction and distortion, 
Then the solution you want is sound absorption. 
 
Ready to discover your sound-absorbing or soundproofing solution? Contact our Acoustic Specialists for a free acoustic consultation! 

While we celebrate 20 years of acoustic solutions at Audimute, we also want to celebrate the legacy of those who came before us. Today, we're highlighting the contributions of Emile Berliner.

Today, Berliner is best remembered as the inventor of the gramophone and for his groundbreaking work in helicopters and rotary engines. But he also had a lifelong interest in acoustics, which prompted him to develop the Berliner acoustic tile in the 1920s (below).

As one newspaper explained it at the time, Berliner's acoustic solution called for a room with poor acoustics to be "covered with hollow paper discs covered with thin wires to hold their shape. These are what Dr. Berliner calls 'sound sponges,' the principle being to absorb sound waves, preventing reflection." These discs were then concealed by a layer of specially made porous cement.

Berliner unveiled his concept for the first time at a meeting of the American Institute of Architects on October 8, 1925. Soon after, in February 1926, he received U.S. Patent No. 1573475 for his acoustic tile concept:

After another year of testing, Berliner gave the first public demonstration of his 'sound sponges' in February 1927 at the James F. Oyster School in Washington, D.C., during a lecture in the institution's 3,700-square-foot assembly hall by Lieutenant Benjamin H. Rigg, a member of the 1925 MacMillan Arctic Expedition. The results were immediately apparent: Lt. Rigg could be heard clearly, without echoes or reverberations distorting his speech. 

Word spread quickly. Soon after, Berliner installed his "Resonant Walls" at Drexel University, the New York Cotton Exchange, and even the board room of a financial institution in India.

Sadly, just as his work in acoustics was starting to find an audience, Berliner passed away in 1929 at age 78. It's unclear if "Berliner's Resonant Walls" continued to be installed after his death. 

(Images courtesy of Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division & the United States Patent and Trademark Office)