can literally unbox a dozen panels knowledge of sound patterns has

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A Vicoustics-treated studio
Takeover panel
Studios on a budget can now be acoustically treated with an evermore
ZVWOPZ[PJH[LKHYYH`VMÅH[WHULSZJYLLUZHUKV[OLYZVS\[PVUZCaroline Moss reports
WITH RECORDING BUDGETS
universally slashed, most
contemporary musicians can only
dream of spending months in a
commercial facility. Consequently
home and project studios have
burgeoned, driven also by affordable
high quality recording equipment.
But there is still the issue of room
acoustics. Fortunately, the days of
Àxing egg boxes and duvets to the
wall are dying out. Technology has
moved on, and there is a wealth of
readily available acoustic panels
and treatments on the market suited
to a range of different applications,
dealing with common problems such
as absorption, diffusion and bass
roll-off.
‘It is now signiÀcantly easier and
more affordable to achieve worldclass sound in a home studio with
less work and for a lower price than
at any other time,’ says Terry Hayes,
international sales manager at
Auralex Acoustics.
‘If you follow a few basic rules, you
can literally unbox a dozen panels
and by placing them in key spots,
optimise your room’s acoustics
without major construction work,’
adds Susana Gaspar, international
sales manager at Vicoustic.
The availability of new materials
with acoustic properties, a growing
choice of colours and fabrics and
modular systems that can be added
incrementally have all helped this
market develop. ‘Go back 10 years,
and most mass-produced panels
were made of foam and suited lowend home recording enthusiasts,’
says Peter Janis, president of Radial
Engineering, which manufactures
the Primacoustic range of acoustic
solutions. ‘Today, the home studio
is capable of producing bed tracks
and demos of extreme quality. This
forces artists to “up” the quality
of the recording by ensuring their
home studios are able to do the job.’
An increasing level of education
has also assisted the process of
improving room sound. ‘Better
Acoustician Ozge Can frequently
uses acoustic panels in theatres
such as this
Vicoustic’s Cinema Round Premium
Auralex panels in situ
92 PRO AUDIO MIDDLE EAST January–February 2013
knowledge of sound patterns has
made us even more efÀcient in
the process of selecting speciÀc
materials and their ideal positioning
to stabilise a sound Àeld,’ says Ms
Gaspar. ‘When we study sound
behaviour in a certain area, we can
determine the inÁuence each surface
has on sound waves and condition
them using absorbent panels,
diffusors and bass traps.’
‘The age old approach of uniformly
cladding all surfaces with absorbent
material has proved inadequate,’
says Kevin D’Souza, CEO of Indian
acoustic products manufacturer
Sound and About. ‘Small rooms
suffer from huge low frequency
problems due to the wide and
irregular spacing in their
modal activity. When
a small room is
treated with
this wall-towall approach,
the high and
mid frequencies are
absorbed, leaving the low
frequencies virtually untouched.
This exacerbates the problem. The
room sounds unnaturally dead,
causing the engineer to compensate
with added reverb.’
Careful attention must be paid to
the whole frequency spectrum. ‘You
can buy several levels of pre-made
panels, and these vary from only
being effective in the high end to
panels that absorb and control
energy at all frequencies,’ says Mr
Janis. ‘Foam only absorbs higher
frequencies, which colours the room
by causing excessive bass.’ Radial
produces the Primacoustic Broadway
range of high density panels that
extend into the lower bass region,
providing more balance to the room,
just one of many readymade panels
especially designed to alleviate
challenges common to project and
smaller recording rooms. These also
include Auralex’s range of absorption
solutions in different fabrics including
Studiofoam (acoustic foam), ElitE
Propanels (fabric-covered Àbreglass),
SonoÀber (recycled cotton) and other
materials in panel form to treat early
reÁections, and SonoLite (fabriccovered acoustical foam).
Off the shelf bass traps, such as
the Primacoustic MaxTrap corner
bass trap which self-adjusts to the
problem frequency, and Auralex’s
Lenrd and Elite corner bass traps
and Sonolite bass traps, can also
help. ‘In most cases, treating a small
room involves treating the corners
with bass traps to better control the
low frequencies as well as applying
absorbers strategically to control or
eliminate early reÁections,’ says
Mr Hayes.
Diffusion also requires careful
attention. Sound And About’s
DART panels work together as a
system, tackling diffusion with a
nested quadratic residue diffusor
and splitting treatment of the
frequency spectrum into three areas
to aid absorption. ‘High and mid
frequencies are absorbed by the
broadband absorber, troublesome
low mid frequencies that muddy up
the sound but are essential to the
body of the sound are absorbed
by the slat resonator, while the
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diaphragmatic bass trap tackles the
low frequencies and brings in clarity,’
says Mr D’Souza.
Vicoustic recommends a
combination of its Wavewood,
Cinema Round Premium rounded
absorbent panel, Multifuser DC
quadratic diffuser and Super Bass
Extreme low frequency absorber.
‘These can be combined to create
a perfect acoustic solution, from
low to very high frequencies, that
can work anywhere, from studios to
high-end listening rooms,’ says Ms
Gaspar. Vicoustic is also developing
a set of kits, exclusive to the Asian
home hi-À market, that combine
levels of absorption, diffusion and
low frequency control.
Acousticians often prefer to stick
with a tried and tested brand.
Turkish acoustician Ozge Can, who
handles projects such as theatres,
cinemas, concert and conference
halls and cultural centres, frequently
uses acoustic panels in her designs,
working with Aktav Acoustic as
a solution partner. Ms Can also
advises on the danger of working
with panels that haven’t been
thoroughly tested before installation.
‘There are some difÀculties if the
measurement results and technical
data sheet of the panel are not
showing all the frequency range
results,’ she says. ‘You can’t be sure
about the quality, unless you have
experience with the product.’
Familiar prefabricated panels
also have the advantage of being
predictable in their behavior. ‘This is
due to their standard design,’ says Mr
D’Souza. ‘Treatment can be broken
up into various panels, tackling
speciÀc areas that require correction
across the frequency spectrum.’
But while readymade panels
are predictable, buildings are
not. ‘Rooms of standard drywall
construction will behave completely
differently to solid brick or concrete
walls,’ says Andy Munro of Munro
Acoustics. ‘Suspended timber
Áoors common in older houses will
soak up bass, as will traditional
plasterboard ceilings. Heavy curtains
and soft furnishings reduce high
frequency energy but hardly touch
low frequency “standing waves”. The
object of the exercise is to balance
the acoustic energy in a room and
then allow it to decay evenly and as
quickly as may be appropriate.’
Proportions and symmetry play a
big part too. ‘The more symmetrical
the room’s dimensions are, the
easier it is to treat,’ says Ms Gaspar.
‘But not all rooms follow the general
acoustic rulebook and the challenge
lies in achieving the desired acoustic
comfort. We provide a professional
acoustic recommendation for any
kind of room, from a small vocal
booth to a concert hall. This way, the
Ozge Can contributed to the acoustic design of
Iraq’s El Nejef Cultural Centre
Kevin D’Souza of Sound and About
best results are guaranteed and the
client can be very much involved in
the transformation.’
Of course the major downside to
DIY acoustic treatment is getting it
wrong, requiring expensive correction
which wipes out the initial savings.
‘Using acoustic panels based purely
on brochure speciÀcations is like
taking a medicine for an unspeciÀed
ailment without seeing a doctor;
you might get cured but then you
might die in the process,’ says Mr
Munro, who launched the modular
System Z 20 years ago. This allows
the company to build complicated
acoustic panels off-site and deliver
Ànished rooms with pre-deÀned
performance and a guaranteed
assurance. ‘This way of working is
necessarily more expensive than off
the shelf products,’ says Mr Munro.
‘Custom-made acoustic panels
always achieve better performance
than readymade ones, although
there are exceptions to this rule,’
adds Beirut-based acoustician
Fouad Bechwati. ‘You cannot always
trust the acoustic data published
by manufacturers as a lot of
them use simulations rather than
measurements in acoustic labs.’
Ultimately though, the choice is
greatly inÁuenced by cost. ‘Mass
produced products are signiÀcantly
less expensive as we are not cutting
and measuring each panel to Àt,’
says Mr Janis. ‘And because the
panels are sized to be UPS friendly,
they Àt standard pallet sizes which
reduces freight costs.’
Adds Mr D’Souza, ‘Being
readymade, they are quick to install,
helping the studio earn sooner.’
Readymade acoustic solutions
can work for a wide range of project
studios. But, as always, they are only
effective when handled correctly. To
properly be rid of the bad old days of
egg boxes and duvets, there’s still no
substitute for education.
www.auralex.com
www.munro.co.uk
www.primacoustic.com
www.soundandabout.com
www.vicoustic.com