Acoustic Testing

Acoustics is the study of sound, noise, and vibration. Understanding acoustical performance is important because fenestration and walls in a house need to minimize the transfer of unwanted sound into living areas. Acoustical testing helps diminish high levels of noise from unwanted sources. BETAC houses a collection of acoustic testing equipment that enables some 46 acoustic measurement standard tests. 

Three examples are: 

• ASTM E336-20 – field measurements of airborne sound attenuation between rooms in buildings 
• ASTM E966-18a – field measurements of airborne sound attenuation of building facades and façade elements 
• ASTM E1007-19 – field measurements of tapping machine impact sound transmission through floor-ceiling assemblies and associated support structures. 

XL2 Audio and Acoustic Analyzer 

The XL2 is a combination of a state-of-the-art Sound Level Meter, a precision Audio Analyzer, a comprehensive Acoustics Analyzer, and Vibration Meter all in one. It can handle a wide range of applications with the appropriate accessories such as: 

• Evacuation Systems
  • Speech Intelligibility, Commissioning and Inspection, Impedance Meter, 24/7 Evacuation Monitoring
• Noise Measurement 
  • Unattended Noise Monitoring, Environmental Noise, Occupational Health, Vehicle 
• Building Acoustics 
  • Room Acoustics, Reverberation Time, Noise Curves, Polarity, Delay Time
• Industrial Quality Control and Condition Monitoring

Features

A data logger program which allows recording of all the required sound levels onto the internal SD Card. The results can be uploaded to a PC for documentation and visualization. 

Software

1. Sound Insulation Reporter — The PC-based software provides standard reports for Airborne, Impact and Façade sound insulation measurements. It offers remote analysis for various measurements; two or more XL2 Sound Level Meters can be controlled via USB or wireless. The software also provides customized reporting and visualization. 
2. Room Acoustics Reporter — The PC-based software automatically generates reverberation time measurement reports and analyzes frequency response spectrum. This is an ideal tool for improving acoustics in buildings, homes, and various spaces such as classrooms. 

Reverberation Time

• Before/After comparison of acoustic room treatments 
• Adding sound-absorbing materials for evaluation 
• Comparison to Standard-specific tolerances 

The follow up would be to theoretically add material, i.e., furniture, sounds panels, art, tapestry etc. and then calculate the reverberation time using the Sabine formula. This allows for BETAC to assist clients in understanding the amount of material to add to the space to achieve the noise reduction goal.