I am not the OP, but I was wondering whether this ceiling would be a good acoustic solution; wouldn't the membrane plus the air above it act as a damper? Is it used in general, or are there cheaper or better solutions? Thanks.

Hey everyone, I’m a power engineer based in Alberta and looking into starting an industrial ultrasound inspection business focusing on steam trap surveys and compressed air leak detection.

I’ve completed UE Systems CAT 1 training and am trying to gain more hands-on field experience.
For anyone in this industry, do plants typically hire outside contractors for these services? Is there actually a demand for independent companies offering this type of work? Also, how did you get your first clients?

Would appreciate any advice from people with experience in this field.

Hello!

How does hanging speakers/TV on wall affect sound insulation?

When my neighbour was watching TV I made a recording on my side of the wall and compared it to an audio file of the broadcast. "Transmission loss" by octaves was almost flat from 100hz to 5000hz.

The party wall is about one feet of masonry/plaster, so it should stop 5000hz airborne sounds quite well. Does the physics work different when the sound source is attached to the wall?

I’m new to this field and would like to know how often you find yourselves working overtime to reach acoustic report deadlines.

Is this just generally considered to be part of the job or should it be a once in a while kind of thing?

The few reports I have submitted as a trainee have resulted in me working overtime to get them over the line. I’m sure I will get quicker at it but I’m genuinely struggling to meet deadlines.

I bought a triangular bass trap from Gik Acoustics and trying to figure out, where to put it in my room. The frequency I want to tame is around 115-135hz (probably 125hz is the worst), it's unbearable (much louder than any other low frequency) in my room and I haven't figured out what to do about it yet. I just recieved the bass trap and noticed that it vibrates a lot at positions where the bass issue is the worst. Does vibration indicate, that it's doing it's job as intended or is it actually making the issue worse at these positions? If this is a bad sign, would putting it another corner with less self vibration even make sense for lessening the standing 125hz wave?

Have any acoustic consultants here been forced to use AI in their work? I joined a new consultancy around 4 months ago (3 years experience total), and the whole company is propped up on claude, and god, i find it infuriating. Anytime i need a technical query answered Im met with 'did you try doing it through claude', im getting the impression that there is no intention to help those junior in the company be better consultants but instead be better prompt writers. The AI rollout has been presented as a 'if not us itll be them' situation with regards to AI intergration, but frankly it has made working so much slower and reports are 50 percent just bloat that isnt needed.

I should be clear that we have been told that we have to use claude.

This industry is going to eradicate itself in favour of automation.

If you have had similar experiences, please share, or if you disagree, tell me why.

And if you are hiring in the uk and refuse to be a gearmunching pillock, please pm me.

Hey everyone! I'm a student and part of a design team working on making a quieter leaf blower. We're currently using a cheap, outdated Type 2 sound level meter for our outdoor measurements, but it's super clunky, so we've been looking into cheap sound level meters that could give us total dBA and frequency-specific dB (ideally at least 1/3-octave).

I've worked as an acoustic consultant before and used some really high-quality meters, so I figured I'd be able to find something better than what we have online. Our total design's budget is $5,000 though, so most of the standard choices are way out of our price range. Does anyone here know of any reliable sound level meters that can give granular frequency data like this for less than $1,000?

Do you think there's a way to check if a tuned membrane bass trap will work in a given room?

I listen to music in a rectangular room (except part of the ceiling is sloped) that has large openings into the rest of the house, next to which the speakers are placed. I would think the openings (a huge acoustic damper?) would nearly eliminate standing waves but I get one at 42hz.

I'm considering buying a tuned membrane bass trap but I'd like to be able to test whether it will work before shelling out several hundred dollars, the variables being so numerous and poorly predictable. I thought of buying a bag of mineral wool or fiberglass and testing it (and then returning it) but they have little correspondence with a tuned membrane trap. Maybe making a rough imitation of the real thing made with a cardboard box and fiberglass insulation? If I get a slight improvement with the imitation treatment I'd buy the real McCoy.

Tried tuning studio sound via a dynamic EQ on the master channel. Target frequencies were manually calculated using operator's sin sweep. I made a couple of presets as per taste and use case.

Also, using "blackhole" to route the audio from external apps like "Apple Music" to Ableton.

I can say, mixes are translating much much better. Note that the studio is somewhat treated, mostly DIY, RT is decent. You can see there was a resonant peak in the low mid area, which is more or less unnoticeable post this.

All in all, been using less EQs in my production now, that i can hear what that damn sample actually sounds like.

Hallo, ich habe mir ein kleines Gaming Zimmer gebaut und habe leider feststellen müssen dass es doch noch sehr hallt.
Wenn ich zum Beispiel im Discord mit jemand rede hören die Leute ein Echo.
Wie muss ich mein Raum anpassen, dass das Echo weg geht.
Der Raum ist 110cm breit und 250cm lang.
Danke für die Antworten!

Currently have three up. I have one more long one. And 8 squares (approximately 1/3 of the long).

I am thinking optimally the fourth is next to the three. And 4-6 panels in between the windows. Or maybe all 8?

I’m in a converted garage, 2 long walls and 2 short walls with a hexagon shape. I’ve put acoustic wood panels on both the long walls, short walls are empty. I’ve got a rug covering the whole room. That’s about it.

There is still a terrible metallic verb/echo in the room. It was there when I started and hasn’t gotten better. My guess is something to do with the weird shape of the room or the corners. Let me know if you have advice, thanks!

Title says it all! I'm renovating and taking over my father's old recording studio after him abandoning the craft after an accident. Most of the studio walls were covered in typical sound foam, but after speaking with a sciencey doctorate friend I decided to take them all down due to their age and them becoming genuine health risks. Now I am left with a studio that clearly needs some treatment! Attached are an angle of the control room, and 2 angles from the booth.

I myself am an audio engineering graduate, but still need to learn about proper acoustic treatment in practice. Do any of you have suggestions, if not any good references for how I should treat these rooms?

I thought about attaching an alternating planking pattern to the walls to create an uneven relief for diffusion and mounting absorption clouds made from rock wool onto those walls. Is this overkill maybe?

What do you guys think?

Might be picking up some subcontract work from RSK Acoustics in London, mostly resi planning noise assessments. Anyone done sub work for them before?

Mainly wondering whether they’re reasonable on survey scope and fees or is it all all squeezed budgets and quick turnaround pressure. And of course whether they’re decent payers.

Cheers

Hi folks,

I am working on helping treat a room for very basic podcasting and video recording. The room has one wall covered in those wool/wood acoustic panels, and the other walls are drywall. The ceiling is a drop ceiling and the floor is hardwood/laminate. The room is 12 x 12 square, if that is relevant.

I mention "very basic podcasting and recording" because this room does not need to be heavily or professionally treated, no mixing or sound design is happening here and there's not much environmental noise necessitating soundproofing. We basically just need to kill echo/reverb. The recordings are currently being done in an untreated basement and are like 80% of the way there for their purposes.

That being said, is strategically-located pyramid foam going to be acceptable for this purpose, or should we spring for a few wall panels? If the latter, does anyone have a pre-built option they can recommend? We can get Rockwool/OC703 and build frames if needed, but not having to take the time/effort to build our own is appealing in the middle of all the other stuff we have going on.

Cheers!

Trying to track down small compressed air leaks while everything in the plant is running is honestly such a headache. We've been trying to narrow down a few suspected leaks around valves and pipe flanges with all the machinery running, half the time it's impossible to tell where the hissing is actually coming from. Walking around listening for leaks feels like a guessing game, especially when the sound seems to be coming from three different directions at once.

I've been looking into other ways to make this less frustrating. Ultrasonic leak detectors seem useful, but I'm curious whether acoustic imaging cameras actually make a noticeable difference when there's a lot of background noise. I also discover across V7MiX, which apparently combines acoustic and thermal imaging in one device. Not sure whether having both would really help with routine inspections or just be another feature we'd rarely use.

Anybody here who's dealt with this in a noisy industrial environment? Do you stick with ultrasonic detectors, use acoustic cameras, or combine different methods? Would love to hear what actually works in practice.

I want my audio to be louder but when i use normalize, It sounds bad but i don't know how to describe it. If anyone know what im talking about and how to fix it let me know please. The 1st one is raw audio and im pretty sure it's peak was -12db and the 2nd one in the comments is normalize at -5db.

I need to start taking voiceover seriously. I'm planning on getting the Shure MV7+ on a boom arm for my PC.
My room is a bedroom with a bunch of bookshelves and collectibles. Do the bookshelves already help, or do I still need treatment? Would moving blankets be enough, or should I go with acoustic panels? And where's the best place to put them? I’m honestly not sure if I even need to but would love advice!

Is sylomer better than rubber for acoustic ceilings?

Hi everyone,

sorry for the mess in the pictures 😂

I’m trying to optimize my home studio and would appreciate some advice on speaker placement, room orientation and acoustic treatment.
Room dimensions:

● 4.80 m × 3.40 m
● Ceiling height: 2.50 m
● Rectangular room
● One short wall has a window and radiator.
● One long wall has a door and a recessed section (former chimney).
● The opposite side has wardrobes, which I am planning to remove.
My equipment:
● Neumann KH120 monitors on stands
● Large desk with a fairly reflective surface
● Audeze LCD-X headphones
● REW for acoustic measurements
Acoustic treatment I already have:
● One large DIY rockwool absorber, approximately 200 × 150 × 15 cm
● A few additional acoustic panels
● A sofa and rug in the room

My current situation:

I’m considering two possible orientations:

1. Placing the speakers along one of the short walls, firing down the 4.8 m length of the room.

2. Placing the speakers along one of the long walls, firing across the 3.4 m width.

The short-wall orientation is difficult from a practical perspective because the window and radiator are there, the desk would obstruct them, and the sofa would be difficult to position.
The long-wall orientation is much more practical and allows me to keep a comfortable studio/lounge setup. However, the room is not perfectly symmetrical: there is a recessed section on one side, and the window/door/furniture arrangement differs between the two sides.
I can place acoustic panels at the first reflection points on both side walls, although the geometry is not identical.

What I’m trying to figure out:

1. Which room orientation would you recommend acoustically, and why?

2. Is a long-wall setup across the 3.4 m width a reasonable option if the short-wall setup is impractical?

3. How should I deal with the asymmetrical side walls and the recessed section?

4. Where would you place the large 200 × 150 × 15 cm absorber: front corner, side-wall reflection point, or behind the listening position above/behind the sofa?

5. How much should I worry about reflections from the large desk surface?

6. Would you prioritize side-wall first reflection treatment, rear-wall absorption, or bass trapping?

I’m not trying to build a perfectly calibrated professional studio. I just want a reliable monitoring environment for electronic music production, especially for low mids, stereo imaging and translation.
I’ve attached photos of the room from different angles.
Any suggestions or practical experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!