ATI SONAR

Bringing Acoustical Performance to the Surface

ATI Sound Or Noise Acoustic Rendering (SONAR) is Architectural Testing’s exclusive program, which combines Transmission Loss (TL) data and the mechanical properties of your product, to simulate the acoustic response based on actual sounds.

In other words, it allows you to hear your product’s acoustical performance.

You choose the sounds you want to hear and your product(s) to analyze, and we create an interactive report which simulates the acoustic capabilities of your products. A wide range of sounds are available to choose from, or we can make on-site recordings for your particular application.

Not All STC/OITC Numbers are Equal

Trying to describe your product simply with an STC/OITC number does not give a very clear picture of your product’s performance. One product might have an STC of 32, while another might have an STC of 27, but how do they actually sound?

Two products with the same rating can sound vastly different.  This is due to the fact that there can be significant variation at a particular frequency for two products with the same rating. Good high frequency performance on one product might make a good choice for an environment where sirens and car alarms are often heard.  Another product with excellent low frequency attenuation would more effectively combat airplane or subway noise.

If the end goal of specifying a particular STC/OITC rating is to achieve the quietest environment possible, then there should be a way to determine this before installing the actual product on-site. This is where ATI SONAR comes in.

 

Back to Top

Web Demonstration

The best way to understand the capabilities of ATI SONAR is to see it in action. You can click on the image below to see for yourself. You may also request a full demo CD or a link to download the stand-alone demo (200MB file). 

 

Doesn’t load? Click here to download the stand-alone version (4MB).

Request more information on ATI SONAR

Uses for ATI SONAR

ATI SONAR is highly versatile and can be used for a wide range of applications.

Typical applications could include:

• Airplane Noise heard through Airport Windows
• Traffic Noise heard through a New York City Wall Construction
• Conversation Recording heard through a Condo Wall Construction
• Comparison between an entire family of products to demonstrate what a change in STC/OITC means for acoustic performance.

 

Back to Top

Sound Attenuation vs. Absolute SPL Level

ATI SONAR demonstrates a product's ability to block sound.  This is not the same as determining the actual sound level and precise frequency response that would be heard at a specific location. To achieve this, the actual SPL of the source recording would need to be determined, the playback volume level would need to be fixed, and the frequency response of the playback speakers would need to be compensated for among other things. While this is entirely possible to do, it is not necessary to determine the effectiveness of a product, especially when comparing a group of products to rank order their effectiveness.

Back to Top

Third Octave Vs. Narrow Band

STC/OITC ratings are based on 1/3rd octave data. As a result, dips in frequency response caused by the mass-air-mass resonance and the coincidence frequency of a material do not always occur directly at the STC frequencies. This means there could be some frequency variation the test and data does not pick up. These effects are compensated for by comparing the test data to our large database of similar products and by examining the physical properties of the product.  The final frequency response should sound very close to the actual response of the product.

Back to Top

Low Frequency Content

Based on the inherent limitation of performing TL measurements at low frequencies, it is not possible to accurately determine how well a product will pass very low frequency content (20-80Hz) based solely on STC data. As a result, frequency response at these frequencies are approximated based on the physical characteristics of the product. For most applications, this has a minimal affect on the overall playback. For applications such as home theater, this uncertainty becomes more important, and methods are employed to better approximate the low frequency response of a product.

Back to Top

Simple vs. Complex Structures

A structure is only as strong as its weakest link. ATI SONAR demonstrates the effectiveness of a particular product or element but does not include the effects of additional elements within a room (i.e. a wall structure with two windows and a door). Due to flanking paths, air leakage, vibration, etc, you cannot determine what it would sound like in a given space with information from only one element without taking into account the other elements.

Back to Top

Volume Playback

Some care should be taken in playing back ATI SONAR recordings due to the wide dynamic range of the sounds. There is a large difference between the volume of the original and processed sounds. Due to the large dynamic range needed, the quieter the background noise in the room, the easier it will be to hear the results. Over the ear headphones work well in noisier environments.  The volume should first be adjusted using the original sound to ensure the playback level is not too loud.

Back to Top

It’s All About the Gear

People often ask what type of speakers / headphones should be used to playback ATI SONAR demonstrations. Obviously, the higher quality the speakers or headphones, the better ATI SONAR will sound. Since ATI SONAR highlights the improvement a product makes, you can still get a good idea from average speakers, although the overall quality and dynamic range might suffer. Also, playback on lower quality systems will not reproduce the actual sound as faithfully. The following multimedia speakers or headphones are recommended to get the most out of your ATI SONAR demonstration.

Multimedia Stereo Speakers With Subwoofer
Logitech Z-2300
Logitech x-230
Cyber Acoustics CA-3550
Creative SBS 380 2. 1
Multimedia Stereo Speakers With No Subwoofer
Logitech V20 Notebook Speakers
Cyber Acoustics CA-2022R
Sony SRS-Z 510 Personal Active Speakers
Headphones
Sony MDR-V600
AKG Acoustics K 301
Xtra Sennheiser PX100

More Information

Request more information on ATI SONAR

Back to Top

Learn more about how the Architectural Testing Difference can help you or Contact Us today.

Testing Acoustical Performance