13 Best Sound Absorbing Materials to Improve the Acoustics in Your Room

These days a lot of people have the need to install sound absorption products whether in their house or office or somewhere else.

They keep asking me what soundproofing materials do the job, and how you can pick the ones that absorb sound efficiently.

Knowing what is the perfect sound absorbing material can make your sound proofing project half-way done from the get go.

With this in mind, I decided to provide an answer to your questions. Although you may already know what sound absorption is, let us revise that, just in case.

Best Sound Absorbing Materials

What is Sound Absorption?

Sound absorption can sometimes be confused with soundproofing, which, actually, does not make much sense because they are pretty different.

It is important to know that, when a sound encounters an object, only two things can happen: it can be either absorbed (sound absorbing) or reflected back (soundproofing).

If you want to prevent an unwanted noise from entering or leaving a space, you need soundproofing. However, the situation with sound absorption is unlike.

You need sound absorption when you want to improve the acoustics of the room. By doing this you are, basically, reducing the echo because it is being absorbed, and all you get is an audible and clear sound within the room.

To put it in this way, sound absorption happens when there is a loss of sound energy due to sound waves being absorbed by sound absorbing products placed on places such as walls, ceilings, floors.

However, the sound made in one room can be audible in another room since the sound absorbing material only reduces an echo but it does not block it.

But why is all of this insignificant? Why would you ever need this?

First of all, the installation of a sound absorbing product can contribute to a suitable acoustic environment within a space, which is, you could agree, an enjoyable place to be in.

Even though it might put you through a sound insulation experiment to find the perfect balance, it’s totally worth the time and effort.

Also, sound absorption is a desirable, or even necessary, solution for schools, sports halls, recording studios, lecture auditoriums, theaters, cinemas, or concert venues.

Therefore, you can find sound absorption solutions everywhere. Since they are so widely used, you should know what types of materials are there and how you can distinguish them.

Characteristics of Sound Absorbing Materials

When it comes to sound absorbing materials, also called sound absorbers or sound diffusors, they are, usually, soft, light, fluffy, or porous, which enables them to better absorb an echo.

While products made of sound absorbing material can soften up the surfaces of the room, they are also designed to contribute to the aesthetics of the room.

However, their essential function is to improve the quality of sound within the room.

It’s most likely that you will be coming across different types of sound panels, but knowing what material to look out for is going to save you some money and provide you with the best results possible.

Furthermore, you should pay attention to the fact that the sound absorbing ability of a material is not always the same depending on the sound frequency.

So, low frequencies, below 500Hz, can be much more difficult to detect and absorb while higher frequencies are usually easier to absorb.

Before moving on to the materials themselves, you should know that they are divided into three main categories.

Porous sound absorbers 

As the name says, they are made of a porous material. However, they may be divided into two forms: fibrous material and open-celled foam.

Fibrous material can absorb a sound since a sound wave is able to penetrate its surface where it gets bended and dampened and then converted into heat energy.

This means that their essential function is to convert the acoustic energy into heat energy where most of the sound is absorbed into heat and only small parts of it are reflected back to the room.

On the other hand, open-celled foam absorbs a sound by the air movement of the sound waves through passages of the material. As a result, the sound is reduced and the heat is generated.

Porous absorbers are widely used because they are effective and successful in reducing noise transmission especially in mid-range frequencies. Also, thicker sound absorbing materials have a greater impact on sound absorption.

Panel absorbers 

They are, on the other hand, made of non-porous and non-rigid materials.

Also called membrane absorbers or single absorbers, they present a group of common building elements, such as a table, a chair, a window, a door, etc.

Their main function is dealing with low or bass frequencies of a sound where their best effectiveness of absorbing a sound can be achieved.

Do acoustic panels work? Most of the time they do – but the trick is to still pay attention to the material as not every acoustic panel will provide the same results.

Resonance absorbers 

They contain a mechanical or acoustical oscillation system where they have plates with an air space. Those plates can be either of perforated materials or with a hole or an opening.

The holes or openings are able to trap and lock the sound inside, so the echo is successfully absorbed and reduced.

These absorbers present one of the most effective ones when it comes to low frequencies.

They’re often made of sound reducing materials which are ideal to improve acoustics inside your room.