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Featured Project
KJWW designed and tested the acoustics of the new recording studio suite for Curtis, Inc in Cincinnati, Ohio. The control room and performance studio feature ultra low background noise levels and variable acoustics, laying the foundation for successful and flexible recording and reproduction environments. The control room also features a Reflection Free Zone, offering the sound engineer an accurate listening environment free of undesirable early reflections. Watch the demonstration video. |
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Mission We collaborate with the design team to find practical solutions to acoustics, dynamics, noise, and vibration challenges. Our proactive, innovative approach consistently lays the foundation for cost-effective designs to meet our clients’ goals. |
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If good acoustics is a prime goal of your building project, then you must ask yourself two questions:
Unfortunately, acoustics is given a low priority in many building projects. It usually doesn't start off that way, but its high status can be slowly chipped away by cost-cutting measures here, nonprofessional opinions there, and surrender by weary building committee members who just want the project to be completed. We have seen changes made to structural, lighting, electrical, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, plumbing and room finishing systems cause unacceptable background noise levels, create standing echoes, produce annoying peak room resonances and create various other acoustic anomalies. Most of these acoustic problems are built into the building, and cannot be repaired without great expense. Wishful thinking and off-the-cuff remarks often run counter to the laws of physics.
Cost is a common excuse for not following recommendations. Certainly the initial construction costs are lowered, for example, by replacing a quiet HVAC system with self contained roof top units placed directly over the spaces they serve, but what is the real cost of having a 65 decibel background noise in your building?
SET ACOUSTIC GOALS EARLY AND STICK TO THEMEach space has an acoustic function, and therefore, each should be given acoustic goals. These goals should be established even before the architect lays down the first line on the concept drawings since they affect the site orientation and room programming. Make the acoustic goals a part of your design specifications. There are over eighty different acoustic measures of a space, but fortunately only three are needed to give a solid foundation for excellent acoustics:
1. Background Noise A scientific measure of silence is the Balanced Noise Criteria rating (NCB). This rating is a measurement of the humanly perceived background noise over the entire audible frequency range. Standard goals for NCB ratings have been established for various types of spaces. The following is a list of recommended NCB ratings.
2. Speech IntelligibilitySpeech Intelligibility is simply a measure of how much of what is said is understood by those in attendance. Initially, this measurement was accomplished by reading a list of words and having all in attendance write down what they thought they heard. Now, speech intelligibility can be quickly measured in existing rooms and estimated for planned spaces using computerization. The most common measurement system is the RASTI method (Rapid Speech Transmission Index) which was introduced as an international standard in 1987. The RASTI values for the range of conditions are given below.
Although there are no published standards, we recommend that all spaces achieve a speech intelligibility of RASTI 0.65 or above.
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Acoustics Group |
