You’re deep in thought, working on a critical project, when suddenly…
“Did you hear about so and so?”
“I can’t believe what happened in the meeting!”
“What’s for lunch?”
These snippets of conversation, while innocent enough, can derail your train of thought and chip away at your productivity. It’s not just about volume – it’s about the delicate balance between necessary communication and disruptive noise.
When it comes to managing sound in workspaces, two primary methods have long been employed: absorption and blocking.
Absorption: Soaking Up Sound
Absorption works by reducing sound reflections and overall noise levels in a space. It’s particularly effective for controlling reverberation and echo. Examples of absorption techniques include:
- Acoustic Ceiling Tiles: These specially designed tiles can absorb up to 80% of the sound that hits them, significantly reducing overhead reflections.
- Fabric-Wrapped Panels: Mounted on walls, these panels absorb sound across a wide frequency range, helping to control both high and low-frequency noise.
- Carpeting: Beyond its aesthetic appeal, carpet can absorb 35-70% of airborne sound, making it an effective tool for reducing impact noise and general chatter.
- Furniture Selection: Soft, upholstered furniture can act as impromptu sound absorbers, helping to reduce noise levels in common areas.
- Acoustic Baffles: Suspended from the ceiling, these can be particularly effective in large, open spaces like warehouses or industrial settings.
Blocking: Creating Sound Barriers
Blocking involves physically impeding sound waves to prevent them from travelling between spaces. This method is crucial for maintaining privacy and reducing direct sound transmission. Examples of blocking techniques include:
- Soundproof Partitions: These can be used to divide open office spaces, creating quieter zones for focused work or private conversations.
- Solid Core Doors: Unlike hollow doors, solid core doors provide significant sound blocking, essential for meeting rooms or private offices.
- Double-Pane Windows: These not only provide thermal insulation but also significantly reduce noise transmission from outside.
- Mass-Loaded Vinyl: This heavy, flexible material can be installed inside walls to dramatically increase their sound-blocking capabilities.
- Acoustic Seals: Applied around doors and windows, these seals close gaps that would otherwise allow sound to pass through.
While both absorption and blocking are effective in their own right, they often fall short in addressing the core issue of speech intelligibility in open office environments. This is where the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) becomes crucial, and why sound masking has emerged as the obvious solution.
By combining absorption and blocking techniques with a well-designed sound masking system, we can create acoustic environments that truly support both collaboration and concentration in modern workspaces.
Understanding SNR: The Key to Speech Intelligibility
SNR is the difference between the level of desired sound (signal) and the level of background noise. In an office setting, a higher SNR means speech is more intelligible – but it also means conversations are more distracting to others. Lowering the SNR will increase privacy and reduce distractions, but if it goes too low, it becomes difficult to understand speech at all.
This is where sound masking systems come into play.
Sound masking systems work by adding a carefully engineered background sound to the environment. This sound, often compared to softly blowing air, raises the noise floor of the space. As a result:
- The SNR for nearby conversations is reduced, making them less intelligible and thus less distracting.
- The SNR for intended listeners (e.g., in a face-to-face conversation) remains sufficient for clear communication.
The key is that this added sound is specifically designed to be:
- Unobtrusive: It blends into the background, becoming virtually unnoticeable.
- Non-interfering: It doesn’t compete with or mask important sounds like alarms or announcements.
Adaptive Masking: Responding to the Rhythm of the Workspace
Our sound masking systems feature active adaptive volume, recognising that conversation levels in an office space aren’t static – they vary throughout the day and week. This ensures optimal masking effectiveness at any given moment, adapting to the natural rhythm of your workspace.
The Remote Meeting Conundrum: When Louder Isn’t Clearer
With the rise of remote work, we’ve noticed a trend – remote meeting systems set to playback at excessively high volumes. This approach is counterproductive, as it doesn’t improve speech intelligibility and increases noise pollution in adjacent areas. It’s a classic case of “loud but not clear.”
To address this, CrystalVox have developed speech-optimised loudspeakers that focus on:
- Rich bass reproduction
- Enhanced speech clarity
- Natural sound quality
These speakers balance loudness and intelligibility, ensuring clear communication without excessive volume.
The Polyvalent Workplace: Flexibility Through Acoustic Design
Modern workplaces are increasingly polyvalent environments, with employees expected to seamlessly switch between collaborative tasks and focused individual work. To meet these diverse needs, a thoughtful approach to acoustics is essential.
So whether you’re an open-plan office, a busy call centre, or a mixed-use space – the team at Sound Directions can help you combine smart room layout, acoustic considerations, and sound masking technology to support both collaboration and concentration in your workplace.
Together, we can engineer your workspace into an acoustic environment that enhances productivity, privacy, and wellbeing for all.
Without Sound Masking: Positive SNR
With Sound Masking: Negative SNR
