What is the best way to place acoustic panels?

Acoustic panel placement is essential for achieving desired sound quality. Haphazardly placing the panels or covering every wall of your room with acoustic foam is unnecessary and will never give the desired results. This leads us to the critical question; where should you place acoustic panels? And, how to get the best results from your acoustic panels?

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Acoustic treatment is crucial for any place where significant sound quality is desired. Different areas such as offices, restaurants, home theaters, living rooms, and even bedrooms can take advantage of a good acoustic treatment. However, due to a lack of clear directions, the acoustic placement is often done in an inefficient way, highly compromising the outcome of the treatment.

The Physical Properties of Sound and The Science Behind Acoustic Panels

Sound is simply our perception of vibrations in the air. In closed spaces, sound becomes more complex. It hits walls, ceilings, floors, furniture, fixtures, and any other objects including people. Based on the length, width, and height of your room, the sound waves also create resonances of their own. As an example, consider how your voice sounds in a washroom versus in your bedroom.

Acoustic sound panels seem deceptively simple at first, however, there is more to acoustic panels than just absorbing the sound. While installing acoustic panels, the placement of the panels is a game changer. In this post, we will discuss where to place acoustic panels, how acoustic panels work, and how you can install different types of acoustic panels to get the most advantage out of them.

Why Are Acoustic Panels Important?

Acoustic panels are one of the most talked about trends because of two reasons. First, they are aesthetically pleasing. Even those who seemingly do not have resonance issues are going for wood acoustic panels as they provide functionality as well as aesthetics. The second reason is more practical; acoustic panels are an integral part of any place where sound absorption is required. Places such as music studios, cafes, voice recording studios, living rooms, home offices, etc. are just some examples where acoustic panels are usually installed.

How To Know If You Need Acoustic Panels 

To put it simply, you need acoustic panels when the sound waves in your space just don’t sound right. If you’re building a home theater, acoustic panels will enhance your movie watching experience. They will create a buffer thereby absorbing reverberations and making the sound quality clearer. In a workplace setting, whether you are doing any kind of audio recording (of music, or maybe for a podcast), or you’re simply trying to figure out if there’s an option to address a noisy office environment, acoustic panels are the answer to your problem.

How Do Acoustic Panels Work?

Acoustic panels work by dampening and deadening soundwaves, eliminating back noise and echoes, and controlling reverberations. Reverberations are the soundwaves that bounce off walls or structures. Since the sound wave is basically vibrations in the air, it acts as a sort of cave where sound can travel in but cannot escape. Therefore, acoustic panels work by trapping sound waves within the materials (wood, foam, etc.), absorbing the echoes and reverberation, leaving you with a well-balanced natural-sounding space. 

The Type and Design of Acoustic Panels

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Acoustic panels come in different materials, shapes, and sizes. The placement of acoustic panels plays the fundamental role in efficient working of the panels. In order to achieve the best results, the panels are installed on walls and ceilings of a space.The panels sometimes have exposed surfaces that look jagged or saw-toothed. The Triangular shape thus formed creates a funnel to sound waves, causing them to bounce back and forth until they’ve spent all their energy.

Some panels do not have exposed rugged surfaces, they rely on the absorbing properties of the material itself such as wood slat panels and acoustic foam panels. For aesthetic purposes, there is usually a fabric covering acoustic foam panels.

What Happens When There is No Acoustic Soundproof Wall?

When you do not have acoustic panels installed, the sound waves keep hitting different objects in a given space. The waves bounce right off the walls, the ceiling, furniture, etc. This is how reverberation and echoes are created, cluttering a space with too much noise. In our post How Do Acoustic Panels Work we take a deep dive into the science behind acoustic panels and break down each material used for sound dampening and absorption nice!.

Acoustic Panel Placement: Determining the Optimal Placement

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of where to place acoustic panels in a room. The ideal placement will vary depending on the size and shape of the room, as well as the specific acoustical needs of the space. However, you can make sure that your acoustic paneling is both functional and aesthetically pleasing by adhering to a few general standards and taking into account your alternatives.

There are some common factors that need to be considered when installing acoustic panels. Let’s have a look at reflection points, absorption coefficient, and how both these factors along with other aspects contribute to determining the optimal placement of acoustic panels.

Reflection points

Reflection points are areas where sound waves reflect off of hard surfaces, creating an echo or reverberation. These are one of the most important considerations when you are placing acoustic panels in the room. Common reflection points in a room include walls, ceilings, floors, and corners. By strategically placing acoustic panels at these reflection points, you can get the best results.

There are basically three reflection points that should be considered when covering acoustic placement.

1. The Mirror Point: it is the point between the loud speaker and the listening seat. 
2. The side walls: consider a sound system, you have placed two speakers on either side of your tv. The two walls on either side of these speakers is your second reflection point. 
3. The ceiling: the third reflection point is on the ceiling between the loud speakers and the listening position.

For more efficient coverage, first do the corner bras traps (walls and ceilings as discussed above), then treat the early reflection points for a better SBIR (speaker boundary interference response). To treat SBIR, place panels around the speakers to reduce the SBIR effect. Prioritize walls that create reflections with long paths first; these will create late arriving reflections that reduce sound clarity (look at side wall, rear wall, ceiling, and a rug for the floor).

Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC)

The Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) tells us how effectively a material can absorb sound waves. It is one of the crucial factors that need to be taken into account when installing acoustic panels. Acoustic panels covered with fabric, for example, have a high coefficient, usually around 0.7 or 0.8 and are more effective at absorbing sound. 70-80% of the sound waves that hit them are absorbed, and only around 20-30% of sound waves are reflected back into the room. In contrast, bare and hard surfaces such as stone or marble walls have low NRC ratings, around 0.1 or 0.15 coefficients. Wood slat acoustic panels also have strong NRC ratings, usually around 0.55-0.85, depending on how they’re installed. In order to maximize the efficacy of your acoustic panels, make sure you use materials with high absorption coefficients, and also consider installing them over insulation or with air gaps behind, as these factors will increase the sound absorption qualities of the acoustic panels.

The Symmetry:

Measuring the symmetry of a space can be a paradox; panels need to be balanced in a space, but at the same time, there are often multiple patterns in a given room, including windows, doors, A/C vents, etc. For better placement and optimal results, you need to consider other penetrations and obstructions too, such as lights and exit signs (in the case of music studios or cafes), that need to be installed around. Where possible, observe the primary symmetrical pattern, and when patterns must be broken for an obstruction, minimize the spacing between the panels.

The Area Covered:

Ensure that no two parallel walls are left untreated. If this happens, then standing waves may develop in the crevices of that space. Install panels in such a way that they are dispersed evenly across the space. Panels become less effective if they’re all placed together in a single corner. This is intuitive since only a small amount of the sound waves will reach that corner in the first half-second or second after the noise source occurs.

The Height:

The higher the panels are placed, the longer it will take the sound to reach them. While hanging acoustic panels well above eye level prevents any imperfections, or stains from the hanging process from being seen, it compromises the efficiency of the panels. This can adversely affect the acoustic treatment and create an unwanted echo. The best way to overcome this shortcoming is to buy 8 foot or 9 foot wood acoustic panels. These panels will cover the entire wall in a simple yet aesthetic way. Read more on how to reduce echo here.

Acoustic Panel Placement: A Step-by-Step Guide

Here is a simple step-by-step guide to help you install acoustic panels in any space:

Wall Mounted Acoustic Panels

Wall-mounted Acoustic panels are designed to reduce noise levels and eliminate echoes in a room. They absorb sound waves and prevent them from reflecting off of hard surfaces thereby creating a more pleasant and less noisy environment. Wall-mounted acoustical panels are used to reduce reverberation and background noise buildup that can interfere with speech intelligibility. These panels are installed in homes, home offices, cafes, and other such areas where the primary concern is to contain low to midrange wavelengths. In other areas with bigger acoustic needs, the wall-mounted panels are installed in combination with ceiling panels.

For wall-mounted acoustic panels, recommended thickness is one inch. At 500 Hertz the absorption value of a 1″ thick panel is in the order of 90% to 95%, which is right in the voice frequency range. Since the absorption values are usually based on a 2″ thick panel, the panel should not necessarily be considered a better panel since the additional thickness only provides an additional 5-10% absorption in the voice frequency range.

How to Install Wall-Mounted Acoustic Panels

There are two effective methods of installing wall-mounted acoustic panels:

1. Impaling Clip Method

It is a simple and effective way of installing wall-mounted panels.

Step One:

Mark on the wall where the panel will go. Place impaling clips 4″ inside of where the panel will be mounted. Screw the impaling clip to the wall using an appropriate fastener.

Step Two:

Place a dollop, that’s the technical term, of industrial strength construction adhesive, like Loctite Power Grab, next to each clip.

Step Three:

Place each panel onto the wall, on top of the clips. Press the panel firmly at the location of each clip to ensure the clip penetrates the fiberglass completely.

2. Z-Clip Method

The z-clips method takes a little more time to measure, plan and install. The hardware is a two-part mechanical fastener. A panel with z-clips will have one of the mating z-clips factories installed on the back of the panel. The other mating z-clip is installed on the wall with appropriate fasteners. The panel is then hung onto the wall clips. Z-clips are highly recommended for tenants who might have to remove the panel with minimum damage caused to the wall.

Ceiling Mounted Acoustic Panels

Acoustic ceiling mounting is the placement of acoustic panels on the ceiling of a space to reduce floor-to-ceiling slap echo, height modes, SBIR, and reflections. There are three methods of mounting ceiling acoustic panels:

1. Cloud Mounting Brackets

The recommended method of an installment is to obtain a perfect 4″ air gap, using the Acoustics Cloud Mounting Brackets.  These easy-to-use brackets mount in minutes to suspend your acoustic panels.

2. Wire-Hook Suspension

Use a wire (approximately 26”, depending on the height you want to cover) and cut it into 4 pieces. Attach one piece of wire onto each of the 4 eye hooks (or S-hooks) on the back of the panel. Then attach the other end of the wire to four equally-spaced hooks in the ceiling. Any hook rated for a hanging plant should work just fine with your panels too, however, it is recommended to get a professional opinion before choosing a hook or chain.

Free Standing Acoustic Panel

These are lightweight portable acoustic panels that can be used as a temporary partition in smaller spaces. These can be used to cover noise absorption around a smaller area, such as your study spot, or the area around your drums or amps. You can combine one or more free standing acoustic panels; however, it is recommended that for bigger rooms you should go for more practical options such as wall-mounted or ceiling-mounted acoustic panels.

Removable Soundproof Walls

Removable soundproof acoustic walls are an effective way to temporarily soundproof your room. Foam, and fiberglass are some of the materials that can be used to create a removable acoustic wall. These are portable and can be moved around easily. In the case of foam and fiberglass, you can simply pick out an aesthetic design and then strategically mount it on the wall or ceiling that needs sound absorption.

Sound Dampening Panels for Bedrooms

Acoustic sound-dampening panels can provide you with absolute privacy for your bedroom walls. Especially if you share a wall with another noisy roommate or a neighbor, you can get wall-mounted acoustic panels and block all the unwanted noise. Even though foam is a cheaper option, for your bedroom it is recommended to use an aesthetic option such as Wood slate panels or fiberglass.  

For perfect sound absorption in your bedroom, combine the acoustic panels with some soft area rugs, carpets, and curtains.

In today’s crowded world, secluded places are rapidly dwindling. Whether you are a creative person who needs a space to work peacefully, or you live in a condo or in an apartment and wish to watch tv in peace, the soundproof acoustic panels are the solution to your problem. However, it is essential that you know where to place acoustic panels for the most efficient results. Are you still thinking about it? You might find your perfect acoustic panel at Andor Willow. 

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Hearing sound is a wonderful sensory experience. It allows us to communicate effectively, hear danger approaching, and listen to the music we love. A world without sound would be a far different experience than we’re used to. That would catch most of us off guard. But too much sound can be just as off-putting.

The places we live and work in are generally built with lots of flat surfaces. This doesn’t do any favors for the acoustics in the room. Sound waves bounce and reflect and cause echo and reverb. Learning where to place acoustic panels will give you the tools you need to tackle these audio issues before they cause problems.

The Problem with Audio Issues

You may not realize it, but many problems you encounter at home or work can be solved quite simply. When we get a group of people conversing in the same room, sound waves can reflect endlessly. This makes the room sound louder and makes communication more difficult. 

When sound waves reflect off hard, smooth surfaces, they bounce back into the room. When that sound wave travels back across the room, it creates echo and reverberation. Echo is a familiar phenomenon. Those returned sound waves can be cool when you’re playing with them, but they wreak havoc on communication.

As those sound waves return and intermingle with speech, it can be hard to hear what people are saying. Not only that, but if they continue to build in the room, you’ll end up with reverb problems. It’s a classic example of too much sound in the room.

Reverb occurs when sound waves are allowed to reflect around the room without anything to absorb them. The waves mix and become louder together. As the ambient volume in the room builds, we tend to talk over it to be heard. This only exacerbates the problem. We need to absorb waves to stop audio issues at their source.

How Acoustic Panels Work

Acoustic panels are among the most popular methods when it comes to sound control. They can be used to absorb and redirect sound, and they’re easy to incorporate into any interior design scheme. Here’s how they work:

The type of acoustic panels most people are familiar with is the type made of dense foam or mineral wool. These acoustic panels absorb a wide spectrum of frequencies, preventing sound waves from returning to the room. They transform hard, reflective surfaces into dense, porous ones. Placing them in the right spots can stop runaway sound waves in their tracks. 

Another type of acoustic panel is the diffuser. You may have seen them before without realizing what they were. Diffusers may be curved, angled, or created with several surfaces set at different depths. The purpose of this type of diffuser is to redirect sound waves around the room. Doing so prevents the direct reflections that cause audio chaos.

Some situations require bass traps. This is a type of acoustic panel designed specifically to counteract bass waves. Standard absorptive acoustic panels have trouble with the lowest frequencies, and those low tones make a big noise. Bass traps work by absorbing and equalizing the pressure created by bass waves. These are mostly found in spaces where music is performed or played over loudspeakers.

Now that you know more about them, let’s look at where to place acoustic panels and why it’s important.

Why Does

Placement of Acoustic Panels

Matter?

Acoustic panels can contribute great things to a room’s acoustics, but they have to be placed correctly. They can’t absorb what doesn’t impact them, so make sure to place panels where sound waves will find them. The more sound waves come into contact with your acoustic panels, the more effective they will be. Don’t go too crazy installing panels; however, as this can make a room sound dead. We need a mix of hard and soft surfaces to get the best sound. 

Some rooms are primarily plagued by speech noise. Others may have issues with sounds created when multiple people move about. The placement of your panels should reflect your goals. Treating a home studio or theater will look different than treating an office space. Let’s take a look at commonly treated spaces and where to place acoustic panels in each.

Where to Place Acoustic Panels

in Great Rooms or Living Rooms

One of the places people generally need acoustic control is in their living room or great room. It’s where people gather and it can get incredibly loud without sound control measures. The higher your ceiling, the more pronounced the audio issues will be. This is why proper placement is key to getting the results you want out of your acoustic panels.

The first place that’s important to treat is the place where speech waves strike the walls. This usually centers around the 4-6 foot range. That’s where most people’s mouths sit in space, and direct waves reach the walls at that point. You may want to go low if people mostly sit in the room, and high if they mostly stand. Centering panels at 4-6 feet absorb a good deal of waves and prevent echo and reverb from getting too distracting.

If you’ve got particularly high ceilings, it’s a good idea to mount some panels overhead as well. Since there is typically very little to absorb sounds overhead, placing panels there goes a long way. You’ve got a couple of options when it comes to choosing where to put acoustic panels.

First, you can add some panels higher on the walls. This will allow some reflections to be absorbed instead of continually bouncing around the room. But don’t forget the ceiling itself. Mounting a few panels there will change that large, flat surface into one with absorption properties. If you don’t know where to place acoustic panels on a ceiling, we’ll walk you through a few ways to incorporate them.

Panels Mounted to the Ceiling

The first option is to mount them directly to the ceiling itself. It’s simple to do and can add a little variety to your ceiling design. It will also absorb a lot of sounds created below, reducing echo and reverb. The mounting process will look very similar to installing them on walls, but it’s a little trickier. If you have particularly high ceilings or don’t feel comfortable mounting them yourself, hire someone to help.

Suspended Panels

Mounted panels can be effective, but you may find you get more bang for your buck with suspended panels. You’ve got a couple of options here as well. Two of the most effective will be ceiling clouds and a T-grid system.

Ceiling Clouds

Ceiling clouds are a very modern and effective way to absorb sound waves as they pass through space. Acoustic panels are suspended from the ceiling individually. This creates a very cool focal point that catches sound waves before they cross the room. You’ve got a lot of color and shape options, so go wild with your design ideas. You can even mount them horizontally, vertically, or at an angle. This option allows you to deliver absorption exactly where you need it.

T-Grid System

Another option for suspending acoustic panels is to use a T-grid system. You’ve likely seen them in school or office buildings. A metal grid is suspended from the true ceiling, and acoustic panels are laid into the grid. This is a great option for exposed ductwork or pipes, as it absorbs overhead sounds before they begin mixing. Keeping them from mingling with speech waves makes communication much easier.

Where to Place Acoustic Panels in a Home Office

Another spot people seek sound control is in home offices. Working from home has been a game changer for many in the workforce. Those with children, pets, or roommates, however, find it can be a bit distracting. Here’s where to place acoustic panels to quiet the office so you can concentrate.

Placing panels at mouth level works wonders here as well. A good deal of distracting sounds are going to come from speech, so absorbing those waves goes a long way. Center your panels around 4 or 5 feet off the ground. Give those panels a hand by blocking outside sounds before they enter.

You can make your acoustic panels more effective by sealing the gaps around doors and windows. The windows can be easily sealed by running a bead of acoustical caulking around the edges. Caulking will block sound from entering and remain flexible and effective for the long haul. 

For the doors, try using a door seal kit with an automatic door sweep. This will seal any gaps around the door itself. That will keep household sounds from entering when you close the door. Following these few simple steps will decrease your stress levels and increase your productivity.

Where to Place Acoustic Panels in a Home Studio

Whether we’re recording music or podcasts, acoustic panels are necessary to get great sound. That makes this another common room targeted for acoustical treatments.

The flat walls in homes are not properly equipped to produce perfect sound. To get the most out of them, proper panel placement is key. Some key locations in home studios are behind the speakers, the wall opposite the speakers, and the first reflection points. 

Placing panels behind the speakers will prevent immediate reflections from causing issues in your recording. Placing them opposite will help reduce echo and reverb by absorbing the most direct reflections. That brings us to first reflection points. 

First reflection points can cause us to hear imperfections that aren’t in the mix. Absorbing those reflections is necessary when editing, mixing, or mastering. They’re easy to find by yourself, too. You’ll just need a helper.

Sit in the place where you usually listen to your mixes. Have your helper hold a small mirror on the side wall at your head height. Have them move it horizontally until you can see the tweeter of the speaker on that side of the room. Place a panel at that location and repeat for the other side.

Where to Place Acoustic Panels in a Home Theater

A home theater is much like a home studio when it comes to deciding where to install acoustic panels. Home theater acoustic panel placement also relies upon tackling reflection points to improve the sound. If you like to listen to movies at a loud volume, you may want to add some panels in the corners to keep the audio contained.

Bass waves tend to gather and linger in corners. Placing panels near the corners will help improve sound and keep the volume under control. A bass trap in one corner will deliver the biggest results, but you can get by with traditional acoustic panels. Place panels at the back of the side walls to get great results.

Use Quality Materials

Now that you know where the best place to put acoustic panels in each room is, it’s time to look at your options. Beyond simply knowing where to place acoustic panels, product quality is another variable that greatly affects performance. 

Cheap materials may work okay but don’t expect them to work wonders. Using higher-quality materials will net you the best results. Be realistic about your expectations. Reach out to one of our reputable dealers and we’ll help you achieve your goals on budget.

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