BBE Sound Takes Inventory In Auralex's Best Selling Acoustical Treatments

[The following is a release from BBE Sound and Auralex]

July 22, 2008

BBE Sound, provider of high definition sound technology for both the professional audio and consumer electronic markets, recently constructed its own recording studio within its warehouse space at its Huntington Beach, California headquarters. With that, BBE Sound took inventory of Auralex Acoustics’ best-selling acoustical treatments and expert acoustical recommendations, to treat the space from the initial stages of the project. The studio project, spearheaded by Paul Gagon, VP of engineering at BBE Sound, was constructed over several years. And, as an engineer, he was able to customize it, accordingly. Being familiar with acoustics, he created a studio with nonparallel walls, to reduce reflected sound and unnecessary echoes. He was also conscious of isolation issues, being that the studio is located within its corporate headquarters. BBE Sound develops audio technology products that are used by mixers and musicians, thus requiring first-hand testing for maximum results. Previous to the studio construction, BBE Sound used to have to take its product prototypes to a rented studio space, to test it in the proper studio setting. An engineer and product manager, or both, would have to go off-site and pay to rent the space. Having a studio on-site reduces the time and cost of testing its products at an outside vendor. This also enables BBE Sound’s engineers to test the product at any phase of production, in a pristine listening environment and at any time of the day. The space consists of one big control room, with cabling running out to the warehouse area where several amps and guitars are all set up for testing. Several of Auralex’s acoustical products were involved in this project from construction to surface treatments. As for the construction products, BBE Sound installed Auralex’s SheetBlok Sound Barrier and its 2” Mineral Fiber in the walls of the space. The floor was floated using Auralex’s U-Boat Floor Floaters and its StopGap Sealant caulking materials. In terms of surface treatments, several 3” Studiofoam Wedges and its LENRD bass traps were installed. Auralex’s SheetBlok Sound Isolation Barrier is a dense, limp-mass vinyl material that is about 6dB more effective than solid lead at stopping the transmission of sound. It acts as a thin, dense sound barrier layer in walls, ceilings or floors and is most effective when used as one component of a multi-layered construction scheme. SheetBlok helps in decoupling floors and walls. Auralex’s Mineral Fiber sound insulation is the best way to tighten up a room's sound. It is much denser than standard insulation and is specifically designed for acoustical usage. It yields much better bass trapping, overall absorption, thermal characteristics, moisture absorption and sound transmission loss than any other product on the market. Made of a specially-formulated rubber compound, U-Boat Floor Floaters are Auralex’s proprietary U-shaped channels used to support framing members and float (isolate and decouple) them from the surrounding structure. With the help of U-Boats, a floated room features greatly improved transmission loss (isolation) and low frequency definition. StopGap Acoustical Sealant is a highly elastic, water-based sealant used for reducing sound transmission at the perimeter of wall systems or around electrical box cutouts to achieve specified STC/MTC values. The surface dries to a tough film but the sealant remains flexible and stays pliable for up to 5 times longer than alternative brands. 3" Studiofoam Wedges are recommended for rooms with higher SPLs (Sound Pressure Levels) or more low frequencies such as drum or voiceover booths. Auralex’s LENRD Bass Traps they can effectively tame the full frequency bandwidth in virtually any room. LENRD Bass Traps (Low-End Node Reduction Device) are extremely effective at achieving sound control throughout a given space by smoothing out low frequency room nodes.

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