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It’s one of the most common questions we’re asked here at Audimute. “What exactly is an NRC?”

 Well, in technical terms, it is a scalar representation of the amount of sound energy absorbed upon striking a surface.

I know, that sounds like something you heard from your fifth grade science teacher once upon a time and forgot all about - so what exactly is a noise reduction coefficient? Do NRC ratings really matter? (We’ll give you this one - yes they do!)

I’m here to break it down for you and share with you the 5 most important things you need to know about Noise Reduction Coefficients.

1.) NRCs are an average rating of how much sound an acoustic product can absorb. This rating is important to know because it determines just how much quieter an acoustic product will make your space.

It’s easier to understand if you compare an acoustic panel to a sponge. Like a sponge absorbs water, an acoustic panel absorbs sound and NRCs tell us just how much sound it can soak up.

2.) NRC ratings vary on a scale from 0 to 1. An NRC of 0 means that the acoustic product is perfectly reflective – absorbs no sound, while an NRC of 1 means the acoustic product is perfectly absorptive – absorbs all sound.

The formulas used to find a product’s NRC does not result in a percentage and therefore, values larger than 1 are possible - like our bass traps that have a NRC of 1.15, but we’re not bragging. ;)

If you’re on the hunt for a solution to a noise problem in your space, you’ll want to look for acoustic products with high NRC ratings. The higher the NRC, the more sound the product will soak up.

3.) Thickness & density of a product are two really big factors in determining an NRC.

Here at Audimute we offer acoustic products in varying thicknesses. Thicker, less dense acoustic products absorb more. Thinner, more dense products absorb less.

4.) Acoustic product NRCs are determined using a microphone and fancy equipment that measures sound frequencies.

Well at least ours are. There are a few different ways to determine NRCs. We use the ASTM Standard Test Method for Sound Absorption.

5.) Soundproofing products do not have NRCs.

NRCs apply to absorption products, while STC ratings apply to soundproofing products.

If you’re not an acoustic expert - and we don’t expect you to be, it’s really easy to assume that all acoustic products are ‘soundproofing’ products. Not all acoustic products are created equal. You can learn more about the differences here.

If you’re interested in creating an amazing sound experience in your space with high ranking NRC products, give ourexperienced acoustic specialists a call or fill out a free room analysis form to find the perfect acoustic solution for you!

Resources:

http://www.alionscience.com/About-Alion/Labs-and-Facilities/Acoustics/Riverbank-Acoustical-Laboratories/Lab-Features

Are you ready to improve the acoustics of your home theater? We receive countless inquiries about home theater treatment each day, and the most commonly asked question is where acoustic panels should be applied to most effectively improve the sound quality in the theater. Today, I am going to take you step-by-step on finding reflection points and how you can use this as a guide for perfect panel placement.

First, we need to discuss what reflection points are. The primary reflection points are the points throughout your theater at which sound is initially reflecting. In other words, it’s the first surface that sound comes in contact with after leaving your speakers. Primary reflection points are important to find as these are the most effective treatment points throughout your home theater.

Now picture this: you just finished your home theater set up! You spent hours shopping for the right speakers, the most comfortable couch, and the best screen or projector. You throw in your favorite movie and notice something: you forgot to take the room acoustics into consideration! Fear not! That echo you’re noticing can be treated by adding acoustic panels to your theater!

To find the reflection points, you will need the following:

      • A home theater

      • A handheld mirror

      • Sticky notes

      • A patient friend

1. First, set up the room as if it were finished. Speakers and seating in your space should be placed in their final

locations. Moving any of these elements will change the primary reflection points of sound throughout your space.

I recommend leaving the walls mostly bare (aside from any speakers). This will make the process of marking and finding reflection points much easier.

Once the walls are bare and the speakers are in their final position, it’s time to start listening. Carefully examine where the sound is coming from in the theater.

2. Second, have your friend hold the handheld mirror parallel to the wall surface. Face the screen in your theater, and move the mirror around the walls until you can see any speakers reflected in the mirror. Be sure not to move your head or tilt the mirror throughout this process, as this will alter the reflection points. Mark these points with a sticky note. These are the primary reflection points.

Each speaker in your space should have 6 reflection points (one on each of 4 walls, one on the ceiling, and one on the floor). For a 5-speaker system, there should be 30 reflection points. Some of these points may not be treatable. This would include points that are blocked by open hallways, furniture, or other objects. This is not an issue. While treating primary reflection points is important, treating every reflection point is not necessary to improve the sound quality in your theater.

3. Once you have the reflection points marked, you can begin adding absorption.                 

For reflection points on the floor, consider adding a rug. If the theater is carpeted, treating the floor should not be necessary. For any windows, consider adding curtains or drapes.

To treat any reflection points on the ceiling, consider flush-mounting Acoustic Tiles to the ceiling surface, or suspending Acoustic Clouds from the ceiling.

4. Finally, for the reflection points on the walls, consider adding Acoustic Panels. With a variety of sizes, colors, and styles to choose from, Audimute Acoustic Panels are an excellent option to consider for any home theater application.

For more advice on creating the perfect home theater, please don’t hesitate to contact one of our Acoustic Specialists!

November 15, 2016, Cleveland, OH – Audimute Soundproofing and its parent company, One Wish LLC, are proud to announce our selection as one of Smart Business’s 2016 World Class Customer Service Award recipients. This award distinguishes 25 organizations from 17 Northeast Ohio counties that manifest their commitment to delivering world-class customer service internally and externally.

“Nothing is more important than the customer,” says Mitch Zlotnik, President and Founder of Audimute and One Wish LLC. “Providing remarkable customer service is in our daily conversation at Audimute. How well we serve our customers is how we engage in the success of our business. Our company is unique because we have the opportunity to personally connect with our customers and provide expert advice to find a solution to their sound issue(s).”

Our entire team is committed to creating the ultimate customer journey and we are honored to be recognized for this effort throughout the company.

Audimute Soundproofing is headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio. Audimute specializes in the design and manufacture of eco-friendly solutions for noise abatement and sound control in residential, commercial, and institutional spaces. Since our inception in 2005, we have been solving sound problems in many industries including healthcare, construction, architecture, restaurants, house of worship, recording studios, manufacturing, and education.

The World Class Customer Service awards honors companies for their superior customer service. The award raises awareness of the importance of customer service in the business world, recognizes organizations that demonstrate exceptional customer service and share best practices in customer service from those that do it best.

November is International Drum Month. That means that now is the perfect time to set up your home drum room! When setting up your drum room, make sure to keep in mind the acoustics of your space. This will help to keep your neighbors (and the cops) away, while also ensuring that the space sounds great. 

Follow these helpful tips to help improve the acoustics of your drum room for yourself and your neighbors.

1) Consider drum kit location

Where you place the kit can have an impact on the sound in your drum room. For the best results, I would recommend placing the kit in the corner of your room, facing out towards the room. Keep the kit away from any shared walls. This will help to push sound into the room, instead of directly at any walls, and will help with the process of enclosing the kit, which brings us to the next tip…

2) Enclose the kit (to the best of your ability)

Enclosing the kit can help to create a barrier around the drums. This will help to weaken the sound before it has a chance to reach the walls of your drum space. This can be accomplished using our Absorption Sheets. Placing Absorption Sheets behind the kit (one on each wall) will reduce the amount of sound reflecting off the walls. Hanging Sheets in front of the kit will help to effectively enclose the kit, creating a “room-within-a-room” with Absorption Sheets.

3) Treat any windows

Windows are a common point if weakness in most structures. Adding mass and density to any windows can help to reduce the amount of sound traveling through them. Creating a plug for the window using a heavy, rigid board is one option to consider. Isole® can be another great option to consider. The Peacemaker® inside of the Isolé is designed to help block the amount of sound capable of escaping through a window.

4) Don’t forget about doors

It’s important to treat any doors to your drum room. Anywhere air can travel, sound can also travel. Because of this, sealing off the door to your room will help to reduce the amount of sound capable of escaping your space. Isolé can also be a great option for door treatment, helping to provide mass and density to the door to your drum room.

Following these tips will help to improve your drum room for yourself, and all those around you. For additional questions on treating a drum room, please feel free to give our Acoustic Specialists a call at (866)505-6883.

You know you have a sound issue. However, you're not sure if you need to block or absorb the sound. Sound absorption and sound blocking are two very different principles. Using sound absorption in a space will help to improve the sound quality by limiting sound reflections, reducing echo and reverberation. Sound blocking, on the other hand, will help to ensure that sound is not traveling through any shared walls, floors, or ceilings. Most acoustic problems can be treated by utilizing either sound absorption or sound blocking. But what do you do if you need both? That’s where isolé® comes in.

Originally designed to block sound traveling through shared hotel room doors for The Ritz-Carlton, isolé is a two-in-one sound solution, providing elements of both sound absorption and sound blocking. Each isolé consists of a layer of our eco-C-tex sound absorption material, along with a layer of our Peacemaker® Sound Barrier, which is a recycled tire rubber barrier designed to block sound transmission. Isolé’s 36” x 82” size should be perfect for most door applications.

Although isolé was designed specifically for doors, its applications go far beyond just door treatment. Isolé can be a perfect option for window treatment. The layer of Peacemaker included in the isolé will help to provide mass and density to a window. Three metal grommets make installing isolé over a window a snap!

Isolé can also be an effective solution for rehearsal spaces. Using isolé on any shared walls will help to reduce the amount of sound exiting your space, while also improving the sound quality inside your rehearsal space.

If you have any questions about isolé or treating your space, please feel free to fill out an online analysis form, or contact any of our Acoustic Specialists!

What is an acoustical ceiling cloud?

Ceiling clouds are designed to effectively reduce reflected sound in large and open environments as well as to delineate space. Stylish lines and soft shapes suspend horizontally from the ceiling and absorb sound across their entire surface for unequaled acoustical performance.

Ceiling Clouds create a modern appearance combined with noise reduction and reverberation control in most environments including residential and commercial spaces. Along with exceptional sound absorption and superior aesthetics, clouds feature outstanding architectural design flexibility and visual interest.

Are there other ways to perceive space?

Walls are perhaps the easiest and most recognizable architectural elements that define a room. Current design trends are focused on rooms that flow into one another without visual obstacles. Clouds are a subtle yet distinct method of delineating the differences that exist between areas.

How is a ceiling cloud different?

There is an acoustical benefit to exposing the backside of clouds. More air heightens the panel’s ability to capture and convert echo from the open space.

Acoustic clouds are hung parallel and offset from the ceiling allowing them to absorb sound waves at two points. Sound absorption occurs as sound travels toward the ceiling and then again as it bounces back to the floor. This dual-absorption ceiling cloud reduces echo and dampens noise.

Key Features:

     • The perfect soundproofing solution for areas with limited wall space

     • Dual sound absorption

     • Define spaces and accentuate a feature area

     • Mix and match sizes and shapes

     • Custom configurations available

     • Suspend individually or in groups

Acoustic ceiling clouds are the ideal solution for absorbing reflections from ceilings, reducing sound reverberation, and improving speech intelligibility!

Ever wonder what it’s like to work at one of the top companies in the world? We do. That’s why we are giving you the inside look to what some of Forbes 100 best companies office spaces look like!

1. Acuity 

An insurance company based in Wisconsin, brings to life world class art, provides a free onsite gym for employees, zip lines for the adventurous innovators and an indoor Ferris wheel. Sound too good to be true? Just take a look for yourself.

2. Adobe Systems

Family time is precious” at Adobe, where they just launched a new 42+ week paid leave for families to take time to for their kids. On top of that, they offer indoor rock walls, a gourmet kitchen with chefs working around the clock, a full basketball court and even a quidditch arena!

3.  Autodesk

Encouraged to take 20 minute naps at work, Autodesk offers conference rooms with swinging tables, treadmill desks where you can work and workout at the same time, themed office spaces and a rooftop break area. 

4. Google

An adult playground, Google offers themed lounge rooms, swim in place pools with a lifeguard, massage therapists and multiple pool tables. Don’t forget to stop by their gourmet kitchen where Google offer’s their employees three free meals a day. 

5. Hyland Software

Located in Westlake, OH, Hyland Software offers FWAs, also known as flexibly work arrangements, where you are trusted to pick the hours you work that best fit your personal lifestyle. Maintain FWA while playing a pickup game of basketball on Hyland’s indoor or outdoor basketball courts or use the free fitness center. Then go to one of their onsite massage therapists, barber shop or the beak room where cushy recliners are located and ocean, calming music plays for some R and R.

6. Quicken Loans 

Headquartered in Detroit, MI, Quicken Loans offer pool tables for employee breaks, repurposed bank vaults for meeting rooms, Grand Prix Big Wheel races and a themed Cleveland Cavaliers basketball court.

7. Twitter

Located in the heart of San Francisco, Twitter’s newly designed headquarters features an 800 foot rooftop outdoor space with seating areas, corn hole and a freshly mowed lawn. Directly below that is a cafeteria where daily menus are posted offering anything from #comfort food to #birdseed type products.

8. Zappos

Viva Las Vegas! Not only will you get be submerged in historic Vegas, but you’ll also find yourself lost in the ball pin along with the lifeguard camel. Take time to relax on the 6^th floor in the fishbowl room, enjoy themed conference rooms, indoor snow sledding, pinewood derby races and Christmas parties for the homeless.

9. Capital One Financial

Coffee anyone? Stop by Capital One Financial headquarters for a sweet visit to their onsite coffee and café, free gym facilities and transparent meeting rooms.

10. Airbnb

It’s all about traveling at Airbnb. Travel the world in one work day with the help of Airbnb’s country themed coffee cafes. Need some downtime? Contact the management team to receive a travel voucher for your “hotel” accommodations or escape to one of the company’s work space areas designed to match any mood.

Looking to update your office space? Check out Audimute’s Acoustic Panels, Ceiling Clouds and Baffles and Acoustic Tiles to modernize your office interior!

Resources:

1. Glassdoor.com
2. Forbes.com

“Green” acoustics. How many times have you heard that? If you work at Audimute, you hear it on a daily basis.

So what exactly is it?

We’ve developed a highly effective eco-friendly alternative to acoustic panels. Our line of eco-C-tex® use 1/10 of the energy required to produce fiberglass and 1/4 of the energy used to create acoustic foam panels.

In fact, we love recycling, being eco-friendly and using raw materials that are naturally better for your interior space! It’s our global responsibility. So it’s only fitting that when it comes to our manufacturing process, we choose our textiles carefully and we share a mutual understanding with our vendors. Guilford of Maine, our acoustic fabrics vendor, takes pride in the fact that 53% of their products are made from 100% recycled materials and 86% of their products contain recycled content in some form or another. Read more about how Guilford of Maine recycles plastic bottled into fabrics here!

We use this high-quality, eco-friendly acoustic fabric to cover our top-selling fabric acoustic tiles and panels. Each product is hand assembled by our production team right here in Beachwood, Ohio to ensure we meet & exceed your expectations.

To learn more about our products, contact one of our Acoustic Specialists!

Leaves are turning, fireplaces are burning and squirrels are packing their nuts; it must be Fall, the season of change! Everyone knows that Fall is famous for oversized sweaters, warm colors and let’s be honest, pumpkin spice lattes. But where did these traditions come from? Nature? Pinterest? Food? How about the fashion industry?

We’re giving you an inside look on this season’s hottest fashion colors and how Audimute is styling your space with a twist of color.

From Fashion to Fabrics.

Believe it or not, fashion leads the trends in the season’s and year’s top colors. Whether it’s what color to dye your hair, what flavor of ice cream to order or your color scheme at your wedding – there’s a good chance it was influenced by the fashion industry.

Fashion designers look at the world, observe Mother Nature, get inspired and transform those observations into a new style trend. The world is constantly changing, therefore, the fashion industry is constantly changing.

From Fabrics to Audimute.

Inspired by Fall fashion trends, Audimute is freshening up its own fabric line! Fresh off the runway, we’re integrating four of this season’s hottest colors and five new designer fabrics.

Modernize any space with the crisp color of green apple and refreshing Lapis blue. Soak up the last of summer’s sun with sunshine and indulge in the warmth of pumpkin. Whatever color you fall in love with, it’ll be sure to add a little pop to your life!

Transform your space’s style with Audimute’s new Fall 2016 color line and designer acoustic fabrics. Our fabrics are acoustically transparent, ensuring high acoustic performance and are proudly woven in America from the finest, high quality yar

Audimute is so often asked about products that stop barking sounds from transferring rooms (and we’ve got some advice for it here), but it’s important to remember that many dogs are actually scaredy cats when it comes to loud noises. With Halloween just around the corner, keep in mind that loud, constant interruptions, like trick-or-treaters, can be very upsetting and stressful for pets.

Here are Five Halloween pet tips to help you and your canine have a smooth, comfortable holiday:

1. Take him on a walk before trick-or-treating begins. Think of this walk as an acoustic panel – it takes most of your dog’s energy before he can bounce around the house. 
 

2. All but the most social pets should be kept in a separate room – either with or without a view of the front door, depending on their noise anxiety. Some dogs may need to see the cause of the noise, while others prefer to hide. 

 3. If your dog is comfortable in a crate or other enclosed area, drape an acoustic sheet over top to create a quiet space away from all the action. Set his food and water bowls within reach, and give him his favorite toy to sleep with. If a soundproofing blanket is not available, try a towel or sheet, and play familiar noises like music or TV.

4. If your dog is not comfortable in small space, place him in a quiet room away from the front door with his toys, food, and water, a half hour before trick-or-treating begins. If a room is not available, think about where your dog hides during thunderstorms or fireworks, and set them up there. Drape an acoustic sheet over the doorway, or play soft music to drown out noise coming from the front of the house.

5. The common behavioral symptoms associated with dog noise anxiety include: panting, pacing and circling, digging or jumping in an attempt to escape, whining, hiding, and trembling. Keep these Halloween pet tips and signs in mind during thunderstorms, fireworks, and other loud events, to alleviate the stress they cause on your four-legged friends.

 
We know you love your pets – we love ours, too! Remember that dogs and cats have sensitive ears and hear things that we don’t, making home acoustics important year round. If you feel your space is too loud for your pet’s comfort, consider adding some custom image panels to the mix. Not only will they break up hard surfaces and improve acoustics, they’re great high-quality prints of your favorite images…like, say, a pet picture!