Among our clients, there is often confusion between what is sound and what is vibration. We concede that the two can be difficult to distinguish to the untrained ear. Read on to learn more about the relationship between the two and how vibration can transduce into sound.
The world of modern architectural acoustics is still relatively young, with calculations and standards being refined to this day. This reality makes the acoustical achievements of the ancient world all the more impressive. Read on to learn about a few different ancient structures that produce impressive acoustic phenomenon!
More than a few of us at Metropolitan Acoustics are vinyl record enthusiasts. Vinyl is a true survivor, having outlasted all of its would-be physical media successors. Ultimately, not even the digital compact disc could dethrone the analog ambassador of high-fidelity. Streaming services and compressed audio deliver us fast-food quality music that gets the job done when we are in a rush or on the move, but the ritual of laying down the needle to the groove has yet to be outdone. Read on to learn more about how vinyl and the turntable bring warm music to our ears.
Today, many existing buildings are being considered for renovation or restoration because the cost and carbon footprint may be significantly less compared to constructing a new building. These projects can also help tame urban sprawl and preserve the heritage of
For many, summer means it’s time for a vacation, and travelers looking to beat the time, traffic, and heat of the road take to the sky. Let’s face it, though, airplane travel has its downsides. Once you finally get through
In our April 2023 newsletter on selective auditory attention, we discussed how our brain processes sounds from the environment, separating what is important from what is background noise. Part of this process is the determination of the location of different sounds in order to identify and categorize them. But how exactly is this spatial calculus accomplished? Read on to learn more about sound localization.
As spring moves into summer, the world starts to wake up. People spend more time outside talking and playing, and that pesky bird keeps waking you up at 4 am! With all this activity, you might find yourself thinking that everything seems so loud now. As you are probably aware, all this sound can be measured in units of decibels (dB), but did you know that the unit dB means multiple things? Read on to learn about how the decibel may not be as simple as you think.
Have you ever been so engrossed reading something that you didn’t hear someone talking to you? Or hard at work while listening to music and suddenly realize you weren’t really listening for the last few minutes? Although our ears may hear all of the things going on around us, sometimes our brains tune out distracting or irrelevant sounds to help us focus or keep us from becoming overwhelmed as a result of large quantities of sensory information. This phenomenon is known as selective auditory attention and is a topic that falls within the broader subject of psychoacoustics. Read on to learn more about how humans can tune out the world around them.
One of the more confusing aspects of acoustics to our clients is the difference between “laboratory” and “field” ratings when it comes to partition design. For example, the International Building Code (IBC) distinguishes between the two for assemblies around dwelling units in a multi-family building: why the distinction and what does that mean for the designer of the building? Read on to learn more about the difference between lab and field ratings.
It’s February, and many of us recognize our loved ones on Valentine’s Day. For all those we care about, we’d like to enlighten you of the relationship between unhealthy hearts and noise. Read on to learn more about how you can take care of your heart from an acoustic perspective.
Metropolitan Acoustics, LLC is an acoustics and vibration consulting firm based in Philadelphia, PA. We specialize in architectural acoustics and vibration monitoring.