Ask HN: What's the best way to reduce echo in a space? Those acoustic foam panels are not cool, but even if I bought them, where should I put them and why? What looks good, improves a space's acoustics, and isn't too expensive? |
Ask HN: What's the best way to reduce echo in a space? Those acoustic foam panels are not cool, but even if I bought them, where should I put them and why? What looks good, improves a space's acoustics, and isn't too expensive? |
echo = reflections of sound-waves from hard surfaces
you have to hinder those reflections and try to absorb sound-waves in your room ...
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_%28acoustics%29
if there is nothing in a room even "direct" noise is disturbing - especially if everybody is in a different video-chat and some people tend to speak louder than others.
cheap and good looking?
* hang thick/fluffy carpets onto the walls
* cover other hard/flat surfaces with something fluffy ;)
* put (fluffy) stuff into the room ... from plants to large stuffed animals - whatever floats your boat ;)
* https://www.snoringsource.com/sound-absorbing-materials/
"professional" alternatives
* sound absorbing panels
* acoustic-foam material (some look like egg-boxes, but out of a black foamed synthetic material)
imho this problem - echos and noise in general - is the main reason for avoiding open-plan offices like the plague ... at all costs, these are such an annoyance to everyone!!
especially if you follow a "clean desk" policy, w/o "personalized" spaces and therefore w/o stuff on the desks ... ;))
just my 0.02 €
Edit: forgot the where to put them part of the question which is ultimately unanswerable without know what you are doing and the details of the space including what is in the room.
is there any reference material you'd recommend reading?
That and some drapes will be what I try this weekend, maybe next weekend try to add some acoustic panels to the wall right in front of my desk or something.
I appreciate it's a good bit of guess and check. I was hoping to avoid that and get to the root of it with a technical acoustics answer but I also appreciate there's people with phds in this kind of thing so something something balance.
Since it is just your voice you can look at a spectrum analyzer to get the frequency range of your voice, look at the big peaks and search for sound treatments suited to that frequency range. This will make it much easier on you, treating a room for a small frequency range is much simpler than it is for the entire spectrum.
You could glue the acoustic foam onto a board, add a rail for drapes etc - and then be able to move the whole assembly around to try different positions.
