Acoustic Consultancy

Acoustics can define a studio. They have a profound effect on everything that is recorded, produced and mixed in the space; not only dictating how you perceive sound, but also how you feel. That said, there’s often a risk that the pursuit of “perfect acoustics” can result in logistical, technical and aesthetic compromises. Our consultants are used to being engaged with all elements of studio design and are thus adept at finding solutions that allow brilliant acoustics to coexist with interior design, studio furniture, ergonomics and technology infrastructure. Careful measurement and analysis is an important part of our process but equally so is understanding the client’s requirements and workflow.

Typically our acoustic designs are installed by our in house team who are then able to fine-tune a scheme during post-installation analysis. Whilst some of our designs incorporate “off-the-shelf” acoustic treatment products from the likes of RPG and GIK, the majority are custom built solutions tailored to the precise sonic and aesthetic needs of the space in question. Furthermore, a great deal of acoustic improvements don’t involve treatment at all: room choice and shape, loudspeaker position, listening position, loudspeaker stands and furniture choices can all have a significant impact on the acoustic performance of a room.

A great deal of our work in this area remains in the studio world however our acousticians continue to enjoy working on improving the sound of many other environments! In recent years we have also worked on marine acoustics, restaurant acoustics, multipurpose hall acoustics, and acoustic treatment for office spaces and meeting rooms.

Broadly speaking, our Acoustic Consultation services cover two main areas - Sound Insulation and Internal Acoustics. These two areas are quite distinct, though often confused.

Sound Insulation

Also referred to as sound isolation or soundproofing, sound insulation is concerned with keeping noise out or in, or both - typically required to some degree for studios and performance areas.

There are different levels of sound insulation provided by different materials and techniques. Sound can be transferred through materials and through the air and, in attempting to make a room “soundproof”, it is normally necessary to employ numerous techniques to avoid sound transfer through the structure of a building and through air movement.

It is frequently the case that the degree of sound insulation is dependant on the space available and budget. Limiting the transmission of very loud sounds can be expensive and take up lots of room! Whilst we’ve designed many studios with very high specification acoustic isolation, a pragmatic approach where a space is insulated to an appropriate degree for its location and usage, can often result in more manageable build costs and more internal space. Our acousticians frequently conduct a noise survey towards the start of a project where acoustic measurements of a space and its surroundings are taken so we can determine an appropriate approach. In advance of this we often ask the clients to consider:

  • What loud noises are around the studio location? Is there footfall from the floor above? Can you hear the birds through the window? Are you near main roads, train lines or flight paths?

  • What’s the space going to be used for? The requirements for recording rock drums versus podcast production can differ greatly!

  • Who’s at risk of being disturbed nearby? We’re often talking about neighbouring homes or workplaces here, but it you may also need to consider gardens and public spaces too.

Internal Acoustics

Internal acoustics refer to how a room sounds on the inside; they affect the quality of everything that’s recorded in the room and dictate how your ears perceive the sound you hear in the space. We’ve designed acoustic solutions for hundreds of facilities - some are existing rooms converted for professional audio usage, some we design from scratch, and some are operational studios that are experiencing a particular problem with how things sound. Among the common issues we encounter are:

  • Poor mix translation;

  • Boomy sound;

  • Recordings sound harsh or unpleasantly loud;

  • Too dead or too lively;

  • Confusing stereo imaging or phasey effects;

  • Where the one part of the room sounds completely different to another.

Our plans for resolution of these issues can include:

  • Changes to room orientation;

  • Moving the listening position;

  • Changes to loudspeakers - model, stands and position;

  • Furniture changes;

  • Loudspeaker DSP configuration;

  • Acoustic Treatment.

Rear of a production studio with wooden diffusors and fabric wrapped acoustic panels

Internal Acoustic Treatment

Acousticians typically specify acoustic treatment to control the following:

  • The overall reverberation time (sometimes referred to as the RT60) and reverberation characteristics of a room;

  • Early reflections and boundary interference - Sound that has deflected from a nearby surface that arrives at your ear slightly after the direct sound;

  • Room modes - Built up between parallel surfaces and affecting the low-frequency response of the space;

The treatment may be specified to absorb, reflect or diffuse the sound and most strong treatment schemes incorporate a combination of these approaches.

We often work with panel-based systems where different types and sizes of acoustic panels are strategically placed throughout the space to improve the acoustics. These panels are often fabric-wrapped, where a wide range of colours or custom printing options are available, along with options on timber detailing and customised shapes and edging.

We also design fabric-track based schemes where all the treatment elements are custom built to live behind a fabric wall. This provides a really consistent studio aesthetic despite the hidden treatment serving multiple different functions.

Loudspeaker Optimisation and DSP

A great deal of speaker alignment improvements can be achieved simply by giving careful consideration to loudspeaker positioning, subwoofer positioning, speaker stands and internal acoustic treatment. However, there are occasions where DSP loudspeaker optimisation systems can further enhance the performance of a listening environment. Many of these systems claim to be “plug and play” but in our experience, it’s very easy to inadvertantly introduce numerous other phase and EQ problems into a system without professional calibration. Our consultants are highly skilled in this area and are able to recommend what systems might be appropriate for a particular listening room, and then provide detailed calibration to ensure you're getting the most from your loudspeakers.

Loudspeaker DSP has become commonplace in multichannel audio systems like 5.1, 7.1 and Dolby Atmos, in part due to the positional complexity associated with their layouts. Yellow Technology is one of the UK’s only Dolby Atmos Certified Partners (CSP) and regularly perform complex system calibrations in this field.