The Intention of Acoustical Sound Treatment Testing

Testing a performance product is necessary to ensure it lives up to claims made, as well as providing data for making new claims about performance and ability. For some products, verifying ability is simple. For instance, plastic spoons just need to prove they can hold a liquid, or a hanger needs to hold a shirt without breaking. Items with less apparent qualities require more effort to quantify their performance, however. Sound treatment products are a prime example, as the sound waves they are made to reduce cannot be touched or seen. Because of this, we are forced to rely on scientifically tested values to qualify performance and reference points when comparing products.

Acoustical testing, performed by qualified, independent laboratories, is absolutely necessary to validate the performance of foam sound treatment products. When conducted in a laboratory setting, a foam sound test generates comparable real-world factors like noise reduction and sound transmission that can be applied to a whole field of products. This establishes a structured, categorical way of identifying which products do what and how well, as well as how they compare to each other. A test sound of varying frequency is played in specially-constructed rooms, both with and without the treatment products, and levels of sound are recorded and evaluated to create the performance values consumers rely on.

It’s also important to perform these tests every so often, as changes in the raw material sources that sound treatments are manufactured from may impact end-performance. Fabrics used in covering panels also have a bearing on product performance. With sound being non-tactile, products may make claims stating that they can perform in ways they are incapable of because the average person has no way to measure their claims, only hearing the results after purchase and installation. Acoustical testing is the best way to identify these performance values in sound deadening panels, which helps consumers make the right decisions for their space.