Acoustical insulation is insulation designed to absorb as much sound as possible with as little sound reflection as possible.  Acoustic insulation on our site comprises of Fiberglass and Mineral Wool insulation panels that are 24" x 48" sheets.  The thicknesses that we have vary from 1" to 4" thick (the thicker the panel the better).

PLACEMENT OF PANELS:  The placement of acoustic panels depends on the type of application.  If this is for sound absorption of lower ambient noise or echoes in a restaurant or conference room the placement is not as important as the number of panels installed.  Usually the walls or ceilings are fine for acoustic panels in these types of situations.  For sound studios and home theaters, the placement of acoustic panes is more important.  A panel should be placed diagonally in each corner of the room (from floor to ceiling).  In addition to the corner panels, each bass speaker should have panels on both side walls as well as a panel on the ceiling above the speaker.  Additional panels can be spread throughout the studio.

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT TYPE OF ACOUSTIC INSULATION TO PURCHASE?  Most acoustic sites don't really go into details on what type of insulation you need or what thickness is appropriate.  That's most likely because they don't understand sound absorption themselves.  To simplify this for our customers you can use the table below for the 5 acoustic insulation panels we sell. 

                                                        CO-EFFICIENTS AT FREQUENCIES IN HZ

HOW TO READ THE TABLE ABOVE: For each material, frequencies ranging from 125hz (low frequency) to 4000 (high frequency) are tested.  The number under each frequency is the percentage of sound absorbed by the insulation at that frequencey.  For example, at 500hz, 1" Fiberglass Insulation will absorb 68% of the sound with 32% of the sound reflecting back.  Numbers highlighted in Red are the best for that frequency.  The NRC (Noise Reduction Co-Efficient) is the arithmatic average of the sound absorption co-efficients at frequences of 250, 500, 1000, and 2000.

SUMMARY OF TABLE: As the numbers show, 4" Mineral Wool insulation is the best for sound absorption but to compare to 2" thick insulations, you have to divide those numbers by two for a fair comparison.  In our opinion, 2" Fiberglass and both the 2" Mineral Wool and 4" Mineral Wool are the best at absorbing sound.  2" Fiberglass is better at the mid-range frequencies but 2" Mineral Wool is better at the lower and higher frequencies.  In conclusion, the best insulation panel for bass (low frequencies) is Mineral Wool.  The best insulation for voices (mid-range frequencies) is 2" Fiberglass.  One last thing to factor in your decision is the weight of the insulation.  Fiberglass insulation is 3# density (3 lbs per cubic foot) which is much lighter than the Mineral Wool which has 8# and 4# densities.  Also space may be an issue which makes 1" and 1-1/2" Fiberglass your most practical option.

HOW TO COVER PANELS WITH FABRIC:  We simply sell the acoustic insulation panels without any fabric.  Fabric should be stretched over the front of the panel and frame and fastened in the back with staples.  Frames can be made out of wood or plastic.

MASS LOADED VINYL SOUNDBARRIER MATERIAL