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Diffusion is an essential piece of the puzzle for any music producer or audio engineer trying to treat their room or studio. But most producers, especially ones looking for the fast and easiest way to add room treatment without knowing the science behind it, focus on absorption (if those budget foam panels off Amazon can even be considered that) and completely disregard the other half of the equation.
But that’s not the problem…
The problem is that once producers and audio engineers wisen up to the fact that acoustic diffusion is essential to treating their room or studio, they start doing some digging and find that the only solution to their problems is wooden wall installations that cost a fortune and are heavy enough to rip the armaments out of the drywall of their bedroom studio. Is there no other way?!
Luckily for an entire generation of both new and established producers, there is. SoundAssured offers affordable and easy-to-install acoustic diffusion for your music studio, home theater, or gaming room. We were sent a few packs of their PVC diffusers to find out just how much they helped control the reflections and sound of my room. After installing them in the studio a couple of weeks ago, here’s what we found out about the SoundAssured PVC Geometric 3D Wall Panels.
How Acoustic Diffusion Works
Acoustic diffusion is a technique used in music studios to scatter sound waves evenly throughout the room to create a more balanced and natural sound. This is achieved by using diffusive surfaces such as special panels, screens, or irregular shapes on walls and ceilings that scatter sound waves in multiple directions, breaking up any standing waves or acoustic hot spots and providing a more uniform sound field.
The goal of acoustic diffusion is to enhance the quality of recorded sound by reducing unwanted reflections and creating a more realistic and spacious listening environment.
What Are The SoundAssured PVC Geometric 3D Wall Panels?
The SoundAssured diffusers are a low-cost, lightweight way to add acoustic diffusion to your room. While the more expensive diffusers rely on hard-angled pieces of wood that jut out at irregular shapes to help disperse the incoming sound waves, the SoundAssured diffusers rely on thin and angled pieces of PVC material to achieve a similar effect.
Each package that you purchase comes with 12 panels, which covers a surprisingly large amount of space on your walls and room. Each package can be purchased in either white or black, meaning that you should be able to snag something that matches the vibe of your room.
With the two packs of diffusers that I was sent, I was able to cover more than enough of my rear-facing wall. And while I’ll save the deeper explanations about my impressions of this feature specifically, I’ll just say for now that a single pack of the SoundAssured diffusers covers a lot of ground.
Learn More And Snag A Pack Of Your Own Here
What I Like Most About The SoundAssured PVC Geometric 3D Wall Panels
With a niche product like this, oftentimes what you see is what you get. And while I certainly thought that when I first was in contact with the team behind these PVC diffusers, there are a handful of aspects to these panels that deserve an extra bit of spotlight. Here are my favorite things about these panels that impressed me the moment I unpacked them.
They Get Most Of The Job Done
There is a certain mode of thought that says that 80% of the benefit of anything is obtained by the initial 20% of the work and that anything after that will see diminishing returns. That is exactly how I see these diffusion panels, and I mean that in the best possible way.
While they aren’t professional, Hollywood-level acoustic diffusers meant for Hanz Zimmer’s creative space, their angled designed and reflectively dense materials do disperse and break up the majority of sound waves that your monitors would throw at them. Besides, professional acoustic diffusers cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars for even the cheapest options and can even range up to being thousands for complete built-in wall diffusers.
And most of us don’t have time or money for that.
Instead, the SoundAssured PVC Geometric 3D Wall Panels allow you to solidly treat your room and deal with the majority of the issues affecting and coloring your sound at a fraction of the price. With a single pack costing under $60 and covering a fair amount of wall space, the majority of spaces can be covered and earth with by purchasing only as a single package. Larger spaces might require two packs, but even then you’ll likely have some left over.
They’re Easy To Install
The packs of diffusers ship with nothing save for the panels themselves and while we assumed that they would require some sort of mounting device or wall-hanging clamps, all we did need was highly-adhesive double-stick tape. Choosing the right adhesive that can support the panels indefinitely is an issue I will discuss here shortly, but getting them on the walls was completely doable by myself alone in the span of about 30 minutes (and mind you the read wall of my studio is fairly large).
They Look Sweet
I know we need to keep the sound of the room and the affectations that the diffusers have on said room at the forefront of our minds, but it’s hard to deny how slick and cool a wall covered in these diffusers actually is. In just a couple of weeks We’ve had these installed in my own studio, We’ve gotten many compliments and comments from my professional producer friends about how much they added to the room.
And not only do they look pretty slick on the surface level but the angles and refractions of the panels mean that they catch and play with light in complex and nuanced ways. A simple RGB uplight that would look generic on the wall instantly splays across the angles of the SoundAssured PVC Panels in ways that are hard to describe.
If you’re big on ambient and mood lighting for your studio, gaming space, or home theater, definitely look into getting the white panels over the black ones. We got the black panels, as we prefer a more intimate and closed-in feeling when being creative, but looking at images online and in other consumer reports, the white panels undeniably take to mood lighting better!
Things I Weren’t Crazy About
Any piece of budget studio gear will never be perfect, and while we had previously stated that these diffusion panels will get you 80% of the way there we know that many producers out there will be hung up on the 20% of potential they’re leaving on the table. So with that in mind, here are a few of the minor things that should be noted about the SoundAssured Wall Panels.
They’re Brittle
By nature of their composition, they are a bit brittle and their edges have a propensity for snapping if they aren’t handled carefully. Usually, this wouldn’t be a problem, as once they are on the wall there is a small chance they will receive contact that is forceful enough to cause any lasting harm to the panels.
But if they aren’t installed correctly or with low-budget adhesive strips and fall off the wall, expect a corner to crack or a seam to show.
Buy The Right Adhesive Tape!
For obvious reasons, this has nothing to do with the panels themselves and more with the means by which you install them. But we wanted to note that you should not cut corners regarding the quality of the adhesive, or double-sided tape you use to install these panels.
Cheap or after-market tape will get the panels on the walls for a weekend, but you’re like to wake up Monday and have a floor scattered with panels like we did (each with a fresh crack or blemish).
So buy quality tape and don’t be shy about the amount you use for each panel. And when installing the panels, look for all the different points where the panel will come in contact with the wall and apply a healthy dose of tape at those points. We did this on my second try installing the panels, and ever since they’ve kept an iron grip on the walls of my studio.
Final Thoughts On SoundAssured PVC Geometric 3D Wall Panels
At the end of the day, it takes careful deliberation and calibration to determine exactly what you’re room needs to treat the acoustic issues presented. And while we can never say with unending certainty that these are must-buys for you and your space, we can say confidently, after using them in our own studio for weeks, that they are a fantastic and cost-effective way to handle the brunt of your diffusion needs.
Add on the fact that they ship fast, look cool, and can be installed completely on your own and you have little reason to not at least consider these as an option! We got them, loved them, and have no intention of taking them down off the walls.
Learn More And Snag A Pack Of Your Own Here
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
