reducing echo sound level in a all concrete shop

[glenn bradley]

Roger is quite correct. When I used to analyze sound spaces in a previous life we came in last. Addressing issues in an empty shell is a fool's errand. Once the fixtures are in, machines, DC ducting, light fixtures, materials, cabinets, etc. the specific problems can be addressed if they still exist. Check out some of our brethren who video in their shops as a full time job. A few absorption panels and a bass trap or two can do wonders for an acoustic space. There are a lot of commercial and very specialized products out there. I doubt you are going to analyze the space to the degree required to surgically use these. That means trial and error and that gets expensive. Like in many things, sound treatment stats with the question "what happens if we do nothing?".

[Doug Dawson]

Roger is quite correct. When I used to analyze sound spaces in a previous life we came in last. Addressing issues in an empty shell is a fool's errand. Once the fixtures are in, machines, DC ducting, light fixtures, materials, cabinets, etc. the specific problems can be addressed if they still exist. Check out some of our brethren who video in their shops as a full time job. A few absorption panels and a bass trap or two can do wonders for an acoustic space. There are a lot of commercial and very specialized products out there. I doubt you are going to analyze the space to the degree required to surgically use these. That means trial and error and that gets expensive. Like in many things, sound treatment stats with the question "what happens if we do nothing?".

Very well said, and IMO exactly right.

Very often you don’t have to do very much to solve what seems to be a significant problem. A set of shelves along one wall can make a big difference, adding diffusion. You don’t have to deaden the room (which would make it sound unnatural anyway.)

I like to hear the music of the machines.

[Jim Becker]

I will agree that filling up the space with machines, etc., will help control reflections a whole bunch. But I assure you, I was totally astounded at the change when I put those acoustic tiles on my shop's ceiling and took that hard surface out of the picture. It was amazing. If I ever do another shop, such as if we downsize, I assuredly will do the same for that space, too, for the few hundred dollars it cost me to cover ~700 sq ft in the current space.