Acoustics Education

Is your office too noisy? From open-plan distractions to lack of privacy in meetings, workplace noise can hurt productivity and morale. Discover smart acoustic solutions—like wall panels, ceiling baffles, and sound masking—that transform noisy offices into focused, professional spaces.

A comprehensive list of acoustic terms with examples to help illustrate each term.

Tired of hearing every footstep, conversation, or car horn from outside? Learn how to reclaim your peace and quiet with our step-by-step DIY guide to installing a noise barrier at home. Whether you're blocking street sounds, loud neighbors, or room-to-room noise, this post walks you through exactly what materials you’ll need—and how to get professional-grade results on your own. Perfect for homeowners, renters, and weekend warriors ready to make some noise disappear.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 22 million workers are exposed to potentially damaging noise at work each year. Regardless of where you work, hearing loss is preventable with proper sound and safety measures.

The following are common laws and rules of thumb for noise mitigation that we use (and so can you) to understand and measure sound and noise levels.

When we are approached to solve noise problems, part of our job is to educate our customers about acoustics. One of the first things we talk about are the differences between STC and NRC ratings and what each of them means within a particular application.  

Learning the basics of acoustics will help you select products and methods to better solve your sound and noise problems. Certain words and phrases are used throughout the DDS Acoustical Specialties website to describe how our products work in relation to sound.

Pickleball, a sport amalgamating elements of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong, has witnessed a surge in enthusiasts. Amidst the excitement of each game, an unavoidable issue surfaces: the noise. The distinctive sound of the ball meeting the paddle, coupled with the shuffling of feet and conversations on the court, has raised concerns regarding noise levels

Sound is both an art and a science. You can get hung up on all the terms and calculations but you can also understand it more simply. One major aspect of sound is that it is like water. It can mold, meld and take the form of its surroundings. Sound, much like water, can be absorbed by some materials and contained by others. This is why we offer both and make the distinction between soundproofing materials and sound absorbing materials.