Guides

Navy quilted moving blankets hung from a wooden rail a few inches off a bedroom wall
Do Moving Blankets, Egg Crates and Mattress Foam Work for Acoustics?
Published absorption data shows blankets, egg cartons and thin foam work mostly in the highs, absorb almost nothing at 125 Hz and don't block sound. Read more...
Client lounge with acoustic ceiling clouds edge-lit in pink and violet LED, a row of fabric wall panels and white leather seating
What Does Class A Fire Rated Mean for Acoustic Panels?
Class A means a flame spread index of 0 to 25 and smoke developed of 450 or less in the ASTM E84 test, and it only covers the material that... Read more...
Long tracking room with orange walls, rows of ceiling clouds, fabric wall panels and a custom wood console desk
Does an Air Gap Behind Acoustic Panels Help?
An air gap behind acoustic panels adds little bass on a wall, where Z-clips leave 1/2" to 1". Core thickness matters more. A deep gap pays off on clouds. Read more...
Bare control room after drywall, before any acoustic treatment
How Long Does a Bare Room Ring?
A bare concrete-block room measured 3.3 seconds at 1 kHz. Reference listening rooms aim for 0.2 to 0.4 seconds. How decay is measured, your room's target and how much absorption... Read more...
Mix position in a Dolby Atmos music room, with the front speakers, a screen and height speakers in the ceiling
Why Bass Changes From Seat to Seat
Why bass sounds different in different spots of a room: room modes, the mode math for a 12 x 14 ft bedroom, published measurements and where to sit. Read more...
9 inch deep Diaphragm Bass Trap, 2 x 6 ft, covered in acoustic fabric
Why Thin Panels Don't Fix Bass: What the Data Shows
Do acoustic panels absorb bass? Published lab data: a 2" board absorbs 0.18 at 125 Hz and a 4" board absorbs 0.60. Why panel depth sets bass absorption. Read more...
Small writing room with fabric-wrapped acoustic walls, a light wood desk, two task chairs and a woven rug
Flutter Echo and Slap Back: How to Stop It
How to fix flutter echo between parallel walls: why treating one wall of each pair is usually enough, what to use, and how to find the walls that buzz. Read more...
Custom studio desk at the mix position
Where to Put Your Speakers and Desk
Studio monitor placement by the numbers: how far from the front wall, where to sit, how to reduce desk bounce, and why a few inches change the bass. Read more...
Production room with slat wood walls, red LED cove lighting, a wood desk and a tiered synthesizer rack
Wood Slat Acoustic Panels: Do They Work?
Wood slat acoustic panels work in the mids and highs. Lab NRC is 0.70 to 0.95 with a cavity behind them and about 0.55 laid flat. How to mount them... Read more...
Tuned membrane bass trap, 3 x 4 ft, covered in acoustic fabric
Porous vs. Tuned Bass Traps: Absorption Below 100 Hz
Porous vs. tuned bass traps: why porous fill needs depth, how low a 6" or 12" trap reaches, why deeper traps need lighter fill, and where a membrane fits. Read more...
Las Vegas recording studio control room with two lit ceiling clouds and gray fabric wall panels
Case Study: A Raw Warehouse Turned Recording Studio in Las Vegas
A Las Vegas recording studio built in a raw warehouse: wall and low voltage design, acoustic treatment, lit ceiling clouds, a custom desk and the full install. Read more...
Finished all-white control room in the Calabasas studio, with speakers set into the soffit walls and a custom white desk
Case Study: An All-White Studio in Calabasas
A multi-room studio in Calabasas finished entirely in white: a control room with soffit-mounted speakers, a listening room with lit risers and a lounge. Read more...
Finished Dolby Atmos music room in rural South Carolina, wide view of the mix position and speakers
Case Study: A Dolby Atmos Music Room in South Carolina
A Dolby Atmos music room built onto a house in South Carolina: separated floor, double framed walls, ceiling isolation rafts, tuned membrane traps and fabric track. Read more...
Control room with fabric-wrapped walls, a black front soffit with recessed lighting, a row of guitars and an upright piano
What It Costs to Build a Recording Studio in Los Angeles: Real Budgets by Project Type
Recording studio build costs in Los Angeles: panels for one room from $2,000, fabric track rooms $20,000 to $50,000, garage studios $75,000 to $175,000. Read more...
All-white listening room with tiered risers lit from below, white sofas and a ceiling projector
Home Theater vs. Recording Studio Acoustics: What's Different
Home theater vs. recording studio acoustics: a theater has a looser decay target and uses subwoofers to even out bass, so it needs less treatment. Read more...
Production room with slat wood walls, a custom desk, keyboards and an upright piano
What a Garage Studio Conversion Costs in Los Angeles
A garage studio conversion in Los Angeles costs about $75,000 to $175,000, covering isolation, AC and electrical, doors and windows, and treatment. Read more...
Writing room and lounge with a dropped soffit, blue LED cove lighting, trailing plants and fabric wall panels
How Much Does Acoustic Treatment Cost in Los Angeles?
Acoustic treatment cost in Los Angeles: from about $5,000 for a single room, $15,000 to $20,000 for a medium room, and $20,000 to $50,000 for fabric track. Read more...
Control room with a large-format mixing console, patch bays and outboard racks
Planning a Home Studio in Los Angeles: 6 Things to Decide First
Planning a home studio in Los Angeles starts with six decisions: what the room is for, isolation, which room, AC, power and wiring, and the budget. Read more...
Mix room with violet LED uplighting, ceiling diffusers and a console desk
Do Acoustic Diffusers Work in Small Rooms?
Diffusers only scatter frequencies their depth was designed for and need listening distance. What the published design math says about diffusers in small rooms. Read more...
Diagram of a curtain hung in front of a window showing sound passing over the top, under the bottom and through the fabric
Do Soundproof Curtains Work?
Soundproof curtains block little noise. They weigh a fraction of drywall and leak at every edge. Published data shows what they help with: reverberation and highs. Read more...
Mix room with fabric-wrapped walls under exposed wood ceiling beams, a custom wood desk with rack bays and a round jute rug
Can Room Correction EQ Replace Acoustic Treatment?
Room correction EQ can cut bass peaks at one seat. It cannot fill nulls, shorten decay or remove reflections, so it comes after placement and treatment. Read more...
Production suite with a ceiling cloud lit in violet LED light, fabric acoustic wall panels and a white desk
What Does NRC Mean, and Can It Be Over 1.00?
NRC averages absorption at 250 to 2000 Hz and skips bass. Published data shows why NRC over 1.00 is a test artifact and why 125 Hz matters more. Read more...
Control room with a slatted wood front wall, fabric side panels and wood console furniture
What Does STC Mean, and Why Does One Door Ruin a Wall?
STC rates how well a wall blocks speech. Published lab data shows a hollow door or a small gap can drop an STC 55 wall to about 28. Read more...
Red oak free-standing gobos on casters, with fabric panels and acrylic viewing windows, set up around a microphone
What Is a Gobo? Free Standing Acoustic Panels for Tracking Rooms
A gobo is a free standing acoustic panel that cuts bleed between mics in a recording studio. What it blocks, where to put it and what to look for. Read more...
Recording studio with a large-format analog console, studio monitors and a window to the live room
Soundproofing vs. Acoustic Treatment: What Your Room Needs
Soundproofing vs. acoustic treatment: soundproofing keeps sound in or out, treatment fixes how a room sounds. How to tell which you need, and the order. Read more...
Long tracking room with orange walls, ceiling clouds and wall panels
Acoustic Ceiling Clouds: Where to Hang Them and What Size to Pick
Where to hang an acoustic ceiling cloud, how to find the reflection points with a mirror, what size to pick and how far below the ceiling to hang it. Read more...
9 inch deep Diaphragm Bass Trap covered in acoustic fabric
Diaphragm Absorbers vs. Membrane Bass Traps: Which Fixes Your Low End?
Diaphragm absorber vs. membrane bass trap: one controls a broad low end range, the other targets one or two room modes. How to tell which your room needs. Read more...
Home studio with blue backlit acoustic wall panels, a desk between studio monitors and an upright piano
Broadband or Mid / High Acoustic Panels: How Thick Do You Need?
How thick should acoustic treatment be? Depth by type for wall panels, clouds, bass traps and diffusers, plus lab data on 2" vs. 4" panel cores. Read more...
Control room with a fabric-wrapped front wall, a cedar ceiling with LED cove lighting and a large rug
What Is a Fabric Track Wall? How the Job Runs
What a fabric track wall is: fabric stretched over absorption, wall to wall. How deep the infill goes, how the job runs, and what a full room costs. Read more...
Open-plan studio lounge with a coffered wood ceiling, seating area and a production desk
How to Measure Your Room (and What to Send Us)
How to measure your room for acoustic treatment: what to measure and photograph, and how to take a room measurement with a calibrated mic and a sweep. Read more...
Conference room with two suspended acoustic ceiling clouds and full height fabric acoustic panels along both walls
How Many Acoustic Panels Does My Room Need?
How many acoustic panels do you need? Where the first panels go, how to estimate the count with the Sabine formula, and a starting layout for a mix room. Read more...