Sound Absorbing Paint to improve sound?

L

lreinstein

Audioholic Intern
My wife and I live in a town-home with a very large living room with high vaulted ceilings. The sound is a bit too lively and bright. We will soon be replacing the ceiling and are looking for some easy way to absorb the sound (my wife does not like popcorn ceilings, acoustic tiles, etc).

I noticed on the web http://www.hytechsales.com/prod150.html a paint product with embedded microspheres that claims to absorb sound 30% and improve acoustics...called acousti-coat. Does anyone know anything about it and whether it might help?

thanks

larry
 
no. 5

no. 5

Audioholic Field Marshall
Well, their FAQ section had this to say:

Q: Can You Guarantee a 30% reduction of sound?
ANS: NO: As we cannot control the application, and due to a wide variety of wall configurations, the amount of sound reduction will vary tremendously from one application to the next. Considering that most conventional sound deadening products available are 3" thick or greater, one can only expect so much from an application that is 30-40 thousands of an inch thick.
You may do better with drapes, or a rug.
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
My wife and I live in a town-home with a very large living room with high vaulted ceilings. The sound is a bit too lively and bright. We will soon be replacing the ceiling and are looking for some easy way to absorb the sound (my wife does not like popcorn ceilings, acoustic tiles, etc).

I noticed on the web http://www.hytechsales.com/prod150.html a paint product with embedded microspheres that claims to absorb sound 30% and improve acoustics...called acousti-coat. Does anyone know anything about it and whether it might help?

thanks

larry

What will she approve? Perhaps you could place decorative sound absorption panels that would look like picture frames? Or, you could make them look like it?
 
T

trnqk7

Full Audioholic
Can you adjust the eq on your receiver to reduce the amount of treble? This in combination with more "soft" decorations such as sofas, rugs, drapes, etc. would probably help more than the paint...brownie points for you if the wife gets to do some redecorating as well? ;)
 
Alex2507

Alex2507

Audioholic Slumlord
My wife and I live in a town-home with a very large living room with high vaulted ceilings. The sound is a bit too lively and bright. We will soon be replacing the ceiling and are looking for some easy way to absorb the sound (my wife does not like popcorn ceilings, acoustic tiles, etc).

I noticed on the web http://www.hytechsales.com/prod150.html a paint product with embedded microspheres that claims to absorb sound 30% and improve acoustics...called acousti-coat. Does anyone know anything about it and whether it might help?

thanks

larry
After taking a quick look at it, I get the feeling that it is 3X more expensive than regular paint coverage wise. If it actually worked it would be a bargain. Put 2 coats of that on your vaulted ceilings and "BAM" absorption!

There are a few guys here who are knowledgeable about room acoustics and I 'm looking forward to there input.
 
J

Joe Schmoe

Audioholic Ninja
That has to be some of the most obvious snake oil since green magic markers. There is no possibility that paint could have enough mass to appreciably affect sound. Physics 101.
 
There is no way I would use this paint and expect any audible results. Vaulted ceilings are indeed tough as they often focus the sound back at you from multiple directions.

Work the drapes angle as well as throw rugs and decorative (nice-looking) acoustical panels. Even beveled 1" panels will do wonders in the proper locations assuming you have a reflectivity issue.

I personally think white acoustical diffraction tiles look pretty cool spread around a vaulted ceiling.

You might also go with some of these in an arrangement that breaks up the ceiling a tad:



You can pick the colors that work in the home. It's a piece of art!
 
B

bpape

Audioholic Chief
I couldn't agree more. There's no way that any kind of paint is going to do anything to improve any part of your room's acoustics.

Save your money, take her out for a nice weekend and THEN talk her into putting up some proper treatments. :D

Bryan
 
Halon451

Halon451

Audioholic Samurai
Embedded microspheres? I just love it when a company markets some product and resorts to using catchy words and phrases like that. It's as if they think more people will believe there is some kind of laboratory science going into the design of said product, when in fact - it's just another form of snake oil. My shower soap has "embedded microspheres" in it too. Maybe I could spread some of that around my living room and improve the acoustics? :rolleyes:

To the OP: It is a very legitimate question you asked, and it appears as though by this point you have your immediate answer - steer clear. Decorative wall panels can meet with approval from many wives, depending on the application and arrangement.
 
J

Johnd

Audioholic Samurai
I had an Embedded microsphere once but I got my Doctor to remove it:eek:
Smart#@! :p

When the hemorrhoid doctor was performing his inspection he could not hear anything. In this way we know that embedded microspheres actually perform as promised: they are sound deadening. Didn't you read the article Greg? :p
 
Savant

Savant

Audioholics Resident Acoustics Expert
Regardless of what the paint has embedded in it, "30% reduction" of "transmission" and "reflection" is largely meaningless. Especially when they offer no test reports to back up the claim. (I couldn't find any on their site, anyway.) The data sheet states 30% "noise reduction" at 500 Hz. So what? If they literally mean "noise reduction" in the technical sense, that would equate to about a 1.5 dB reduction [10*log(0.7)], which is probably within measurement error and uncertainty for an NR test. In other words, it's a meaningless test result, if a test was actually performed.

If they aren't sticklers for acoustical nomenclature and they somehow measured a 500 Hz absorption coefficient of 0.30 - and then erroneously reported this both as "noise reduction" and as a percentage, neither of which it would be - I would want to see some test results. I wouldn't rule it out as possible - thin finishes with (even tiny) trapped air pockets can have "high" absorption (relative to hard surfaces without air pockets). But I wouldn't believe it unless I was shown a test report. And even then, I would want ample documentation of how it was tested. (Most labs won't let you paint the test sample area. :) And testing some substrate like gypsum wallboard before and after it's been painted could introduce uncertainties, to say the least.)

Finally, assuming the best possible outcome - that the paint actually does provide a 0.30 absorption coefficient at 500 Hz, and presumably comparable numbers at higher frequencies - it would be moot in the contexts of acoustical treatments for home theaters. At 500 Hz and above, the type of absorptive treatments that most HT applications require should have coefficients > 0.90. In the case of compromising for SAF, there are ample materials with mid-high frequency absorption coefficients in the range of 0.50-0.90 that are more modest in appearance than the übertrap-of-the-week. Ceiling tiles, heavy carpet, and heavy drapes, to name a few. And drapes are particulary good at hiding übertraps. ;)
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
... My shower soap has "embedded microspheres" in it too. .
Those are designed to clean better and rejuvenate your dead skin:D Have you noticed any benefits yet? If not, you need to use it more, and need a real break in period, to the end.:D
 
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