Room acoustics glossary
The terms you will meet when treating a studio or home theater, each with the physics behind it and a calculator to try it on your own room.
Room Modes (Standing Waves)
Natural acoustic standing waves formed by sound reflecting between parallel room boundaries.
RT60 (Reverberation Time)
The time required for sound pressure level to decay by 60 decibels after a sound stops.
First Reflection Point
The boundary coordinate where speaker sound reflects directly to listener ears within 20 ms.
Comb Filtering
An acoustic interference artifact created when direct sound combines with a delayed reflection.
Schroeder Frequency (f_s)
The crossover frequency separating low-frequency room modes from high-frequency specular sound.
Flutter Echo
A high-frequency ringing echo caused by sound bouncing repeatedly between parallel hard walls.
Bass Trap vs Acoustic Panel
Difference between thick low-frequency absorbers and thin mid-high acoustic panels.
Absorption vs Diffusion
Removing sound energy versus scattering sound energy evenly across time and space.