When I first started working in acoustics, I heard this phrase “acoustic ABCs”. At the time I didn’t realise that it was a literal acronym for three acoustic terms. So, what are these ABCs? Essentially, they are used to summarise the three acoustic concepts used to ameliorate problem noise. Absorb The A is for Absorb.…

This next blog in our Acoustics in the Sun series talks about the paper titled The Sonic Gathering Place Installation, Melbourne: User Experience and Post-Hoc Assessment of Sound Levels, by Lex Brown, Jordan Lacey and Tom Neudorfl. This was a particularly interesting paper because unlike many studies into the impact of biophilic design, it wasn’t conducted in…

Noise stress has been studied in relation to physical and mental health in the context of road and rail traffic noise. But what about in the office? Could noise-induced work-related stress in the office environment be something for which employers are responsible under WorkSafe guidelines? What is work-related stress? According to WorkSafe Victoria, work-related stress…

The peace and tranquility usually associated with yoga studios includes incense, sound bowls, lotus flowers, pictures of Buddha, and Gen X men who’ve renamed themselves in Sanskrit. It doesn’t ordinarily bring to mind sound masking. But when our client opened their yoga studio adjacent to a multiple noisy neighbours, even the chakras indicated something had…

Traffic noise is one of the more debilitating sounds a human being can experience, long term. This is because continual exposure can impact blood pressure, heart health, mental health, and more. That’s before any of the other negative impacts associated with pollution. We have covered the links between noise and health impacts in previous blogs.…

White noise is often confused or conflated with sound masking. However, it has uses of its own. Primarily in research environments. White noise is a sound where all audible frequencies occur in equal measures. Unlike in sound masking there is no shaping. This is useful for research, including for researchers in this next blog in…

This blog has previously posted about the link between noise and high blood pressure. But did you know that research has now linked noise to adverse heart health impacts, specifically cardiovascular disease? Linking noise and heart disease Over one hundred years ago, the Nobel Prize winner Robert Koch predicted that “One day man will have to fight…

The board room has the same function the world over: as the largest meeting room in the office, the most important, private meetings occur. They’re also a great place for Friday night socialising, but that’s not usually the reason Soundmask is called in! Forest and Wood Products Australia The privacy problem in the board room…

While data breaches often make the news, the problem of sound transmission looms large for those who value speech privacy or simply freedom from unwanted noise. Defining sound transmission Any noise the moves between or through objects can be considered sound or acoustic transmission. In an open plan office, for example, sound can transmit over…

Residential air-conditioning noise shouldn’t be the number one question acoustic consultants get asked to solve. For one thing, the average home owner does not have the means to pay professional fees required. But in this fifth blog in our Acoustics in the Sun series, that exact issue inspired Michael Hayne and Richard Devereux to prepare a paper…