What Does ‘Good’ Acoustics Actually Mean?

If you are a podcaster, a Youtuber, or a producer, you are very attentive when something doesn’t sound right. In fact, anyone can walk into a room and almost notice when the acoustics in a space are bad. However, when the acoustics are good, it rarely draws our attention because there isn’t anything wrong with the sound that causes a disturbance.

In these professions, you aim for the unnoticeable good acoustics, rather than the disturbances that come with bad acoustics. But how can you turn a room from having bad acoustics into good acoustics?

A room is generally made up of four walls, a roof, and a ceiling, all of which are hard, flat surfaces. The problem comes in when hard, flat surfaces are the main culprits in bad acoustics. Naturally, sound bounces off hard flat surfaces.

Luckily, there is a solution. While you can’t alter the structure and behaviour of sound, you can manipulate the hard surfaces in a room to enhance the sound and achieve the goal of ‘good’ acoustics.

There are tools that you can add to the surface of your walls that will enhance the sound quality in a room and contribute to having good acoustics. Firstly, you can use sound absorbers. 

When sound is released from a source in a room, some of the sound waves will make their way from the source directly to the listener. But the larger part of sound waves will bounce off the hard surfaces in the room and will be heard at a different time by the listener, which causes sound disturbances.

Also, if you consider that one single sound wave will bounce off the surface of a wall about 60 times in one second, you could only imagine how great the disturbance must be.

However, sound absorption solutions like acoustic foam and different foam shapes, serve as ‘holes in the wall’ where some sound waves fall into the hole and aren’t reflected to the listener. The sound waves are absorbed.   

But sound absorption tools are not a standalone solution. Historically, humans don’t like the unnatural sound that is created by overusing sound absorption panels. It is unsettling and may even make you feel like you’re in an asylum.

That is why you need balance, and in the case of good acoustics, this balance comes in the form of sound diffusers. Depending on the shape and curve of a diffuser, it can work to direct sound in a specific direction or disperse it evenly throughout a room without it bouncing off walls at random.

When the diffusers and absorbers are used together in a room, they work in tandem to disperse sound evenly to optimize the listening experience as well as absorbing any stray sound waves that may serve as a sound distraction.

When you are aiming for good acoustics, it is also important to know that only treating one hard surface in a room isn’t going to be effective in achieving the desired effect. In a room with six hard surfaces, you need to consider treating all or most of these flat surfaces. And most importantly, don’t forget about the floor and ceiling. Granted, you won’t be able to install sound absorbers or sound diffusers on the floor but adding in a rug will assist in achieving good acoustics.

Now that you know what good acoustics mean, why not treat yourself, and your studio, to Hush Echo’s acoustic foam panels for the upcoming festive season? Contact us for more info.