HOME . ACOUSTIC CURTAINS
Sound Barrier Curtain / Panels
Retractable or Stationary
Single Barrier
Used to create an ENCLOSURE to absorb and block noise.
Double Barrier
Used to create an ENCLOSURE to absorb and double block noise.
Dual Absorption Single Barrier
Used to create a SEPARATION between two noise sources, resulting in blocking and absorbing on both sides.
Dual Absorption
Used to create SOFT absorbing SURFACES for noise to be absorbed before hitting hard surfaces in the room.
Choosing the Right Product
To enclose noise?
To protect employees outside the enclosure from noise.
Recommended Products:
Separate two noise sources?
To have activities going on, on both sides, at the same time.
Recommended Products:
Minimize overall noise?
Adding soft surfaces to a room to absorb overall noise.
Recommended Products:
The objective is to absorb and block sound as much as possible.
The more sound we are able to absorb – the less sound has to be blocked.
Additional Recommendations to Reduce Overall Noise
- Placing curtain panels in an “accordion pattern” increases the overall audible absorption by defusing acoustic energy from parallel surfaces in the room.
- Place the Dual Sided Absorption panels to offer soft surfaces for sound to absorb before reaching the hard surfaces in the room.
- Placing Free Hanging, Ceiling, Wall and/or Corner Baffles in certain areas in the room to provide better absorption.
How is Sound Absorption & Blocking Measured?
NRC (Noise Reduction Coefficient) – used to measure noise reduction (through absorption) in the same space as the noise source.
STC (Sound Transmission Coefficient) – measures the Decibels loss of the sound going through an object.
All Building materials have acoustical properties in that they will all absorb, reflect or transmit sound striking them. Conventionally speaking, acoustical treatment materials are designed and used for the purpose of absorbing sound that might otherwise be reflected.VIEW MORE >> Sound absorption is defined as the incident sound that strikes a material that is not reflected back. An open window is an excellent absorber since the sounds passing through the open window are not reflected back but makes a poor sound barrier. Painted concrete block is a good sound barrier but will reflect about 97% of the incident sound striking it. Sound Absorption is frequency dependent. A material will not absorb and reflect all frequencies equally. Typically the thicker the material, the more absorption at lower frequencies. << VIEW LESS
NRC (Noise Reduction Coefficient) – used to measure noise reduction (through absorption) in the same space as the noise source. It is basically a measurement of how well something absorbs sound, mostly in the range of normal speech frequencies. It is measured from 0 – 1.0 and can be thought of as a percentage. The higher the NRC, the better it is at absorbing sound.
Example: A painted drywall wall has NRC of about .05, so it absorbs only about 5% of the sound that hits it and reflects back 95% of the sound.
STC (Sound Transmission Class) – A rating of how well a material/product attenuates sound. In simpler terms, it is how well an item blocks sound from going through it. The higher the STC rating, the better sound isolation the wall will achieve. The STC rating is derived by measuring the transmission loss in dB at certain frequencies and comparing it to a known STC curve.
Example: A metal stud wall with ½ in. thick drywall has an STC of 34. Cinder Block walls have an average STC of upper 40’s to low 50’s.
An STC rating in the upper 40’s is good. STC ratings in the 50’s are excellent.
In general low Frequency (Hz) sounds are very difficult to absorb because of their long wavelength. It will require very large and dense materials to absorb those lower wavelengths. A high frequency sound has many cycles in a second and will easily get absorbed by materials and be transferred into heat.VIEW MORE >> Just as when you rub your hands together very rapidly, this produces more heat than if you rub your hands together slowly. High frequency sounds will attenuate much quicker than low frequency sounds. As sound waves travel through the air, the amplitude of the sound wave decreases (attenuates) as some of the energy carried by the wave is lost to friction and other properties of the air.
This means that, under the same conditions, a high frequency sound won’t travel as far as a low frequency sound. One of the characteristics of low frequency sound is that it can travel relatively long distances without much attenuation (reduction in level). It is not uncommon that low frequency noise is traced to a site several miles away from the complainant’s property. << VIEW LESS
Decibel (dB) is a logarithmic scaled unit of measurement. It is quite often used to define an intensity of a sound level or the power of an electrical signal. The dB scale is a easy way to define numbers that are normally very small to very large.VIEW MORE >> When describing sound level in dB, the term dB SPL is used. (Sound Pressure Level) Humans perceived SPL changes as a perceived loudness. This is a scale where 0 dB SPL is the lowest level sound audible to humans and 125 dB is the threshold of pain. The dB scale is logarithmic, meaning that a 10 dB increase means we perceive the sound level as twice as loud. A 10 dB decrease means that the sound level is perceived as half as loud. A 3 dB change in level is considered a just noticeable change in perceived loudness.<< VIEW LESS
Putting an exact number on decibel reduction by placing our Acoustic Curtain / Panels for a particular space is difficult.
There are many variables to consider:
- The low or high frequency of the sound
- The distance the sound is able to travel (space around the sound)
- The surfaces around the sound (flooring, wall, shelving and ceiling materials)
