What is the difference between soundproofing and sound treatment? This blog post breaks down the two concepts to help you identify the noise problems in your room so that you may fix the issue in a cost effective manner.
If your sound issue is mainly with loud sounds coming into or leaving a room that you don’t want to hear then you are dealing with a soundproofing issue. However, if your issue is with sounds of speech intelligibility, an echo effect, or even a very loud ambient environment, then you are likely dealing with an acoustical treatment issue.
What’s The Difference?
Imagine it’s the middle of the night and your next door neighbor has decided it was the perfect time to blast their favorite song or practice the “In The Air Tonight” solo on the drums. It can often feel like they are playing right in your living room and you may be wishing you had spent more money soundproofing the walls in your home. On the other hand, imagine that you are at a restaurant with your friends and you are having a hard time understanding what the each other is saying because of all the excessive noise caused by the ambient sounds. You may be wishing that acoustic treatment had been used to help cut down on the extra sound reflections and lower the noise level.
To deal with these two different sound issues you need similar but different products and treatments.
How do you Soundproof?
In our next door neighbor problem, we can prevent their sounds from coming into our room by using sound blocking products that are heavy, dense, and rigid. Those products have been created with sound blocking in mind and are very effective at their job. Soundproofing will often involve rebuilding walls or whole rooms, adding extra layers or more efficient sound blocking drywall and filling wall cavities with sound absorbing insulation. For this reason, soundproofing can be a very expensive project to undertake.
How do you Apply Sound Treatment?
In the restaurant scenario, we’d be looking into reducing the level of sound and decreasing the sound waves that are being reflected around the room using products that absorb sound waves like acoustic foam panels. This is designed to dissipate sound within the fibers and thus soften the sound of the room. Sound absorption products are usually easy to find, fairly light-weight and can be installed relatively easily.
That is the quick explanation of how to differentiate sound-proofing vs sound treatment in your space, whether it be for your home, or your business. Here at TRUE NORTH, we are here to help advise and provide you with the perfect solution to whatever sound issue you may be facing!