FAQ
Better sound starts with understanding your room. Find answers about acoustic treatment, choosing the right panels and getting the most from your space.
1. What do acoustic panels actually do?
Acoustic panels absorb some of the sound that would otherwise reflect off walls and ceilings. They help reduce echo and reverberation, improve speech clarity and make listening or recording more accurate. Their effectiveness depends on their construction, thickness, placement and the amount of treatment in the room.
2. Will acoustic panels stop sound reaching my neighbours?
Acoustic treatment and soundproofing solve different problems. Treatment improves sound inside a room. Soundproofing reduces sound travelling between spaces and usually involves the building itself, including walls, floors, doors, windows and gaps. Acoustic panels and bass traps do not replace soundproofing.
3. How do I know whether my room needs acoustic treatment?
Common signs include an obvious echo, ringing after a hand clap, unclear speech, boomy or uneven bass, and recordings that sound excessively “roomy”. In a studio, you may also find that mixes sound very different elsewhere. A clap can reveal flutter echo, but it cannot reliably diagnose bass problems; measurements provide a more complete picture.
4. How many acoustic panels do I need?
There is no single panel count that works for every room. The answer depends on room dimensions, ceiling height, surface materials, furniture, intended use and the problem you want to solve. Treating a mixing room requires a different approach from reducing echo in an office. Plan placement and coverage together rather than choosing panels by floor area alone.
5. Where should I place acoustic panels first?
For a stereo listening or mixing setup, begin with speaker and listening-position placement. Side-wall and ceiling reflection points are common treatment priorities, alongside appropriate bass control. Front- and rear-wall treatment depend on the room. For speech-focused spaces, distribute absorption around the areas where people speak and listen. Anthill’s room setup guide
6. What is the difference between acoustic panels and bass traps?
Both absorb sound, but they are designed with different priorities. Thinner panels generally work best at mid and high frequencies. Bass traps use greater depth or specialised construction to improve low-frequency control. A room can have very little audible echo and still have serious bass problems.
7. Why is my bass loud in some places and weak in others?
Sound reflecting around a room creates peaks and cancellations that change with position. Room resonances and reflections from nearby boundaries can make some bass notes overpowering and others difficult to hear. Speaker placement, listening position and suitable bass treatment all matter; simply turning up the bass may not solve a cancellation.
8. Should bass traps go in the corners?
Corners are often useful locations for substantial bass treatment, including wall-to-wall and wall-to-ceiling junctions. However, they are not the only useful locations. The best arrangement depends on the absorber design, available space and the room’s measured behaviour.
9. Do I need ceiling treatment as well as wall panels?
The ceiling is another reflective surface. A ceiling absorber, often called a cloud, can help control reflections above a listening, recording or working area. It is particularly useful when wall treatment alone leaves a strong ceiling reflection. Placement and safe mounting are both important.
10. Can curtains, carpets or acoustic foam replace acoustic panels?
They can contribute to absorption, particularly at higher frequencies, but performance varies with thickness and construction. Thin foam, curtains and carpets generally do much less for bass than substantial broadband absorbers or bass traps. Compare absorption data across frequencies rather than assuming that all soft materials perform equally.
11. Can a room have too much acoustic treatment?
A room can become too dull if treatment absorbs mainly high frequencies while leaving bass problems unresolved. The aim is a balanced acoustic response suited to the room’s purpose. Product choice and placement matter more than simply covering every available surface.
12. What is the difference between absorption, diffusion and scattering?
Absorption reduces reflected sound energy. Scattering redirects reflections in different directions; a purpose-designed diffuser controls how that energy is distributed over a particular frequency range. A decorative or patterned surface is not automatically a broadband diffuser. The right balance depends on the room, listening distance and intended use.
13. Which Anthill product should I choose?
As a starting point:
- SLIM Broadband Absorbers: a slimmer option for mid- and high-frequency reflection control, including speech, podcasts and everyday listening spaces.
- PRO Broadband Absorbers: deeper panels for broader absorption extending further into the low-mid range.
- CORNER Traps: designed for low-frequency treatment in room corners.
- FUSION panels: combine absorption with a scatterplate that reflects and scatters part of the higher-frequency energy.
- CLOUD products: ceiling-mounted absorption.
- GOBO products: movable treatment for flexible recording and room layouts.
Choose according to the acoustic problem and available space. Check each product’s specifications, absorption data and mounting options before ordering.
SLIM · PRO · CORNER Trap · FUSION · CLOUDS · GOBOS
14. What does an Anthill scatterplate do?
A scatterplate covers part of the absorber’s face, reflecting and scattering a portion of the higher-frequency sound while allowing absorption through the exposed areas. This can help retain a livelier sound while providing treatment. It changes the panel’s acoustic behaviour, so a panel with a scatterplate is not interchangeable with an uncovered absorber in every position. FUSION PRO
15. Should I leave an air gap behind acoustic panels?
An air gap can improve the lower-frequency performance of a porous absorber compared with mounting the same panel directly against a wall. The benefit depends on panel thickness and gap depth. Some Anthill panels already include a rear air gap in their construction. Follow the mounting guidance for your chosen product. PRO construction
16. Do I need acoustic measurements, or can I judge by listening?
Listening is useful, but measurements reveal problems that are difficult to identify by ear alone, especially bass peaks, cancellations and long decay times. Measuring before and after treatment helps you assess the result and decide what to improve next. A measurement microphone is particularly valuable when setting up a recording, mixing or critical-listening room.
17. Can room-correction software replace acoustic treatment?
Room correction can help adjust the playback response, but it does not physically absorb reflections or remove reverberation from the room. It also cannot reliably fix every deep cancellation. Speaker placement, acoustic treatment and calibration work best as complementary steps.
18. How do I mount Anthill panels, and is hardware included?
Mounting options and included hardware vary by product and selected configuration. Check the product description and our mounting instructions before installation. Wall and ceiling fixings must suit the supporting material and product weight; the hardware attached to a panel does not necessarily include the anchors needed for your building.
19. Can I improve my room without permanently mounting panels?
Yes. Freestanding treatment can be useful in rented rooms, shared spaces and recording setups that change regularly. Anthill GOBO products provide movable absorption, with standing or wheeled options depending on the model. They can help manage reflections and microphone spill, but they do not create a soundproof enclosure. Explore GOBOS
20. What information should I send when asking for advice?
Send your room’s length, width and height, a simple floor plan, and photos showing the walls and ceiling. Include speaker, desk and listening positions where relevant, plus doors, windows and major furniture. Tell us how you use the room, what you want to improve, your budget and any mounting restrictions. If you have measurements, include those too.