A room that echoes does not get better because people speak more quietly. Conversations blur, the television goes up a notch, and after an hour in a meeting everyone is tired. The cause is rarely the people and almost always the surfaces: in rooms with many hard, smooth surfaces, sound is reflected instead of absorbed. What helps is not insulation — it is surface area that absorbs.
This guide explains how to recognise the problem, which figures on a data sheet actually mean something, why the distance to the wall often matters more than the choice of material — and how to mount and cut acoustic panels.
How to tell that room acoustics are the problem
There are three signs that together are fairly conclusive:
- Reverberation. A clap, a cupboard door, a chair on the floor — the sound hangs in the air noticeably longer than you expect.
- Speech intelligibility. You cannot make out the words even though it is loud enough. At the far end of the table, in the next room, on a video call.
- Effort. Listening takes concentration. This shows up first in offices, restaurants and meeting rooms.
This is exactly where sound absorbers come in: they reduce unwanted reverberation, improve speech intelligibility and make a room easier to be in.
Sound absorption is not sound insulation
The two terms get mixed up constantly, and the confusion regularly leads to the wrong purchase:
- Sound absorption works inside a room. It takes the energy out of the sound that is already there — against echo, boominess and poor intelligibility. That is what this page is about.
- Sound insulation works between two rooms. It stops noise arriving from next door or from above. That is a question of the building element — wall construction, door, ceiling, floor.
An absorber on the wall makes the room quieter. It does not make the wall denser. If your neighbour is the problem, an acoustic panel is the wrong answer — if your own living room wears you out, it is the right one.
The figures: what counts on a data sheet
How well a product absorbs is measurable. The method is EN ISO 354, a measurement in a reverberation room. All ORGANOID acoustic products are tested to it; the test reports are in the download area.
- αw (weighted sound absorption coefficient) — a value between 0 and 1. 0 means everything is reflected. 1 means practically nothing comes back.
- Absorption class — puts the αw value into a class. A is the best, then B, C, D.
- NRC — a second figure, common in English-speaking markets, which our data sheets carry as well.
The line above it matters: every measured value applies to one specific test set-up. A value without a note on the mounting says very little. The next section shows why.
The distance to the wall matters more than the material
This is where most plans are won or lost. The same acoustic panels, the same material, the same surface area — only mounted differently:
| Test set-up | αw | Class | NRC |
|---|---|---|---|
| mounted directly on the wall | 0.50 | D | 0.75 |
| 40 mm backing insulation | 1.00 | A | 1.00 |
| 180 mm air gap | 1.00 | A | 0.95 |
| 140 mm air gap, 40 mm backing | 1.00 | A | 1.00 |
Glued straight onto the plaster, the panel ends up in class D. With backing insulation or an air gap, the same panel reaches class A. The air behind it is not a mounting detail — it is part of the absorber.
The same picture with the other systems: the wall panel Infinity Wall and the ceiling panel Infinity Sky reach αw 0.95 (class A) with 50 mm backing. The Acoustic Panels Fine reach 0.90 (A) at 216 mm distance with 30 mm backing, and 0.85 (B) at only 56 mm.
In practice: plan the substructure before you choose a product. Gluing flat to the wall gives away the larger part of the effect.
Wall or ceiling
Both work, and there is a dedicated system for each. The decision usually comes down to which surface in the room is free.
- Wall surfaces — the Acoustic Panels and Acoustic Tiles from the Modular family are made for covering wall areas; the wall panel Infinity Wall is the large-format system for it.
- Ceiling surfaces — the ceiling panel Infinity Sky is mounted directly on the ceiling.
- Suspended — the ceiling cloud Infinity Fly hangs freely below the ceiling, tested at 150 mm distance with 50 mm backing. That is the way to go when the ceiling itself must stay untouched.
Living room, bedroom, office
At home it is rarely about a whole wall. A continuous area — behind the television or behind the sofa — is the case for Acoustic Panels. If you want individual accents instead, Acoustic Pictures or freely combined Acoustic Tiles are the simpler route: they do not need an unbroken surface.
In the bedroom the material plays an additional role. Our natural surfaces are breathable; allergen tests are available for selected surfaces. The design WOOL, made of real sheep’s wool, stores humidity, releases it again when needed and filters formaldehyde out of the air.
In the office the measurable benefit is greatest: less reverberation, fewer distracting background noises, better conditions for concentration and conversation. The same applies to restaurants, cafés, schools, medical practices and retail spaces — anywhere speech intelligibility counts.
Mounting acoustic panels: which fixing for what
The fixing also determines the distance to the wall — and with it the effect. Each system has its own mounting instructions in the download area.
- Acoustic Panels Modular — adhesive film, acoustic rails or mounting adhesive.
- Acoustic Tiles — power magnets with a 6 mm gap, adhesive film or mounting adhesive.
- Acoustic Pictures — mounted with nails, depending on the frame version.
- Acoustic Panels Fine & Bold — screw clips on horizontal battens. The tongue-and-groove joint gives a seamless run.
- Infinity Wall — screw hooks, included.
- Infinity Fly — wire rope suspension, included.
Adhesive film and mounting adhesive are the fastest solution, but they put the element straight onto the substrate. Rails, battens and suspension cost a little effort and win back the air space behind. The table above shows what that difference is worth.
Cutting and fitting
Hardly any room works out without cutting. Both absorber cores can be worked:
- Active Core (Modular family) — despite its natural fibre content it can be processed like PET, on existing machinery. Punching, sawing, water jet cutting, a utility knife and CNC cutters all work.
- MDF carrier board (Infinity family) — the rigid board allows flexible cuts and an exact fit to complex room geometries.
SketchUp files are available for most products at the design stage.
Ideas: what you can design with it
An absorber does not have to look like equipment. The formats are chosen so that the surface stays a design decision:
- Nine tile designs — GRID, CIRCLES, LOOPS, HYBRID, LINES, CELLS, BLOOM, PEARLS and SUN, each 580 × 580 × 20 mm and freely combinable. From four tiles.
- Panels in two widths — 580 and 1160 mm, each 2320 mm high, in the designs PURE (uncovered Active Core), WOOL white, WOOL sage green and ALMWIESE light.
- Pictures in two formats — 600 × 600 and 1200 × 600 mm, with a folded-over frame or a black wooden frame.
- Slat look — the Acoustic Panels Fine and Bold, 2780 × 128 mm, differ in slat width: 14 mm for Fine, 30 mm for Bold.
Beyond the collection surfaces, custom surfaces are possible — from slight adjustments to individual designs using your own natural materials.
What the absorbers are made of
The Active Core of the Modular family consists of hemp fibres and a biodegradable binding fibre. The combination gives stability, dimensional accuracy and effective sound absorption; the core is 93.8 % biodegradable. In the Infinity family an MDF board forms the core.
The visible side is an ORGANOID natural surface. ALMWIESE and ALMWIESE light are breathable and therefore let the sound pass through to the absorber — the surface does not get in the way of the effect. That same breathability shows in the room: the surfaces are open-pored and breathable. Allergen tests for birch and grass pollen allergens are available for selected surfaces.
On fire protection: the Acoustic Panels Fine & Bold are available as normally flammable (DIN B2 / EN D-s2,d0) and flame-retardant (DIN B1 / EN B-s2,d0).
Which system suits which project
- Acoustic Tiles — individual elements, nine designs, freely combinable. For areas that are allowed to grow.
- Acoustic Panels — two sizes, flexible cutting. For continuous wall and ceiling areas.
- Acoustic Pictures — two sizes, optionally with a wooden frame. For single accents without rebuilding.
- Acoustic Panels Fine & Bold — slat look, seamless runs, flame-retardant on request.
- Wall panel Infinity Wall — large-format system for wall areas.
- Ceiling panel Infinity Sky — the same system for the ceiling.
- Ceiling cloud Infinity Fly — freely suspended, without touching the ceiling.
An overview of both product families is under Acoustics.
Built examples and the next step
What this looks like in finished rooms — offices, hotels, practices and homes — is shown in our references. Test reports, mounting instructions and the acoustics brochure are in the download area.
And as with all natural surfaces: on a screen the material says very little. If you are planning a specific project, request samples and the technical documents — write to us and tell us what it is about.