Acoustic Guides
Everything we have written about controlling noise, grouped by the question it answers. Start with the fundamentals if the difference between blocking sound and absorbing it is not yet obvious, then go to the room or the problem you are actually dealing with.
Start here: how sound actually behaves
Most soundproofing that fails, fails because absorption was used where a barrier was needed. These three set the vocabulary for everything else.
- STC Ratings Explained for Soundproofing Walls What STC measures, how it is tested, the levels recommended for homes, offices and hotels, and practical ways to raise the STC of a wall.
- Acoustic Insulation vs Soundproofing Membranes Insulation absorbs sound inside a room while membranes block it from passing through. How the two differ, and how they combine.
- DIY vs Professional Soundproofing Where a curtain and a door seal are genuinely enough, and where budget, room size and an STC target mean they are not.
Blocking noise in a home
Room-by-room plans for keeping unwanted sound out, each built around a barrier layer rather than foam on the wall.
- How to Soundproof a Bedroom A step-by-step guide covering SoundBlanket MLV on walls, BassBloc, door seals, curtains and how much coverage each needs.
- How to Soundproof a Room from Noisy Neighbours A layered plan for shared walls: MLV to block, BassBloc for bass, felt panels and door seals, with a Mumbai bedroom case study.
- Soundproof Shared Apartment Walls with MLV & Felt Standard apartment walls rate only STC 35 to 40. What to add to block airborne noise and finish the surface properly.
- Reduce Traffic Noise: Wall & Window Solutions Blocking city traffic noise with MLV walls, BassBloc, acoustic finishes and window treatments, plus a high-rise case study.
- Soundproofing a Home Office for Remote Work Keeping outside noise out and call audio clean, with a coverage guide worked through for a 10 by 12 foot room.
- Soundproofing Kids’ Study Rooms with Curtains Cutting distractions in a child’s study room using acoustic curtains and simple steps, with a Pune apartment case study.
Treating a room so it sounds right
Absorption and diffusion: what to do when the problem is echo, reverberation or speech that cannot be made out, rather than noise coming through a wall.
- Acoustic Solutions for Restaurants & Cafes Fabric panels rated NRC 0.90 and Echsorbix felt panels that stop noise building on itself and keep conversation possible.
- Felt Acoustic Panels for Offices, Gyms & Nightclubs How PET felt panels, NRC 0.30 at 9 mm up to 0.60 at 24 mm, behave in each of these spaces and which thickness suits which.
- Auditorium Acoustic Design with Wooden Slat Panels How slats balance absorption and diffusion for speech clarity, with NRC and core material specifications explained.
- Airport Noise Control with Perforated Metal Panels Cutting reverberation in terminals so PA announcements stay intelligible, while matching glass, steel and stone interiors.
- Soundproofing Home Theatres & Studios Pairing STC-rated barriers that stop bass leaking out with NRC-rated treatment that controls echo inside the room.
Doors, walls and the weak points
A partition is only as good as its gaps. These cover the places where the rating on paper and the result on site diverge.
- Door Seals & Soundproofing Tiles Doors leak 30 to 40 per cent of unwanted noise. How perimeter seals and tiles restore a room’s STC, and where each belongs.
- High-STC Acoustic Walls: EN & ISO Standards What a high-STC wall is, which EN and ISO noise limits it meets across Europe, and the core materials that stop airborne sound.
Industrial, machine and structure-borne noise
When the source is a machine rather than a neighbour, vibration matters as much as airborne sound, and the treatment changes accordingly.
- Industrial Noise Control for Plant Offices How offices inside manufacturing plants handle 85 to 100 dB machinery noise using membranes, vibration damping and internal treatment.
- Structure-Borne Noise Control in Machine Rooms Controlling noise from HVAC, pumps, lifts and generators through damping, isolation and absorption, with a hotel case study.
- Anechoic Chamber Design, Materials & Purpose What an anechoic chamber is, how it is used in audio, automotive and research testing, and the design principles behind it.
Specification, standards and projects
For the consultant, the specifier and the buyer: what a tender needs to say, and what these materials have done on real projects.
- Acoustic Standards for Government & Corporate Projects Requirements for courtrooms, boardrooms, auditoriums and control rooms: high-STC walls for confidentiality, NRC finishes for clarity.
- Soundproofing Materials for Dubai Hotels How hotels in Dubai and the wider Middle East control noise, from low-frequency absorbers to fabric panels, curtains and door seals.
- Global Acoustic Case Studies Ramee Hotel Dubai, a Qatar banquet hall, a European headquarters, a Saudi plant office and an airport terminal.
- Exporting Soundproofing Materials from India How certified material reaches Dubai, Europe, the US and Asia-Pacific, and what documentation travels with it.
Past the reading stage?
If you know roughly what you need, the test reports behind every figure quoted in these guides are downloadable, and the application pages set out what goes on each surface in a given type of room.