Sound in rooms

Absorption, diffusion and bass traps

Absorbers soak up, diffusers scatter, traps catch the bass.

Put the treatment where it counts

Tap the spots to place treatment; the bars show reverb time.

Try it

  • Place panels at both first reflection points
  • Put a bass trap in a corner
  • Get the mid reverb time under 0.6 s
More on this

Absorbers soak up sound, diffusers scatter it, and bass traps go where the low end piles up. Each fixes a different problem.

Tap the spots around the room to place panels and traps. The bars show the reverb time in the lows, mids and highs.

A thin panel absorbs high frequencies well and low frequencies hardly at all: the long wavelengths pass through it. Thickness, and an air gap behind it, extend it lower.

Bass builds up in corners, where several walls meet, so that is where traps do most. Diffusers keep a room lively without the flutter of bare parallel walls; they suit the back of a larger room more than a small one.