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 neighbour has decided to play their music turned up to 11, or practice their drum solos, and it feels as if they are playing right in your living room… At that point you are wishing that your builder had spent more money Soundproofing the walls in your home. On the other hand, imagine that you are at a new local restaurant with your friends and you are having a hard time understanding what the others are saying because of all the excessive noise caused by the sounds that are bouncing off the hard reflective surfaces in the space. At this point we are all 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 neighbour problem we are wanting to interrupt the sounds coming into and out of our room using sound blocking products which are usually heavier, denser and more rigid than normal building products. 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?

At a restaurant, 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 high density glass wool. 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 Primacoustic, we are here to help advise and provide you with the perfect solution to whatever sound issue you may be facing!

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