A sound masking system’s effectiveness
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2025 8:13 am
Achieving spatial uniformity
Most people compare the sound of a professionally tuned masking system to that of softly blowing air. However, there is much more significance to the tuning process than simply providing a pleasant auditory experience.
is directly related to its ability to closely match the specified curve. Variations in the masking sound can profoundly impact performance, so a specification not only provides a target curve, but also a tolerance that indicates by rcs data how much the sound is allowed to deviate from that curve across the space. Achieving consistency is also important for comfort—a uniform sound fades into the background more easily and occupants come to consider it a natural part of their space.
Historically, tolerance has often been set to ±2 dBA (i.e. plus or minus two A-weighted decibels), giving an overall range of 4 dBA. However, advances in masking technology over the last few decades (described below) allow it to be as low as ±0.5 dBA, or an overall range of 1 dBA.
Most people compare the sound of a professionally tuned masking system to that of softly blowing air. However, there is much more significance to the tuning process than simply providing a pleasant auditory experience.
is directly related to its ability to closely match the specified curve. Variations in the masking sound can profoundly impact performance, so a specification not only provides a target curve, but also a tolerance that indicates by rcs data how much the sound is allowed to deviate from that curve across the space. Achieving consistency is also important for comfort—a uniform sound fades into the background more easily and occupants come to consider it a natural part of their space.
Historically, tolerance has often been set to ±2 dBA (i.e. plus or minus two A-weighted decibels), giving an overall range of 4 dBA. However, advances in masking technology over the last few decades (described below) allow it to be as low as ±0.5 dBA, or an overall range of 1 dBA.