It certainly does, in a word yes. Plain face foam and profile foam have both pros and cons.
Let us first discuss the plain acoustic foam tiles. Because foam does not have a profile, the absorption properties of foam are in some cases higher than those of the profiled foam tiles. This is because there is no foam removed from the tile resulting in more acoustic foam per square metre or square foot compared to, say, wedge-shaped tiles of the same thickness. The more foam there is to absorb the sound waves, the better the results you will get. So the opposite is true of the profiled foam, in some cases the more complicated the profile the worse the performance will be. This will mean that, if the room has poor acoustics, perhaps thicker tiles will have to be installed. Just think of acoustic foam as a sponge. Take a piece of foam that’s 2 “thick and doesn’t have any shape, but it’s just a slab of foam. That piece of foam will be able to soak up more water than a piece of foam that has valleys and troughs in it.
Acoustic tiles that have no foam removed from the foam face also show improved low-frequency performance compared to profile foam. This obviously depends on the thickness of the foam, but this is generally the case. Low frequencies have longer and longer wavelengths. This means that more foam is needed to be able to absorb those low frequencies. With the profiled tiles there is simply no foam to be able to absorb those lower, stronger frequencies. Thinking back to the sponge and water example, if you fired a jet of water at the plain foam, less water would leak through the back instead of the profiled acoustic foam.
There are, however, a few downsides to plain acoustic foam. The first one is the surface area. With plain facing tiles, it is impossible to increase the surface area of a room. So if you’ve only set areas where you can place acoustic treatment due to other constraints, plain acoustic foam probably won’t give you the surface area coverage you need. However, by using profiled acoustic tiles, the surface area is increased and the amount of absorption can be increased if you use the correct thickness and profile. Another small nuisance in plain acoustic foam is that it is not always aesthetically pleasing to some. But every person has a taste of his own. This is one of the reasons why we offer a wide range of different profile foams. Whether you need a contemporary look, a modern look or a clean , crisp look, hopefully there will be something in our range that appeals to your taste.
Not all of this is bad for the profiled acoustic tiles. Profiled foam can catch or trap the sound waves that hit it. This reduces the reflections in the room. It will tighten up those high to mid-frequencies and create a room with a much better response and control. Of course, the room will require a bass trap to be able to cope with low frequencies. Those sound waves that are more difficult to treat and absorb.
Another good thing about the profiled tiles is their good look. They ‘re helping to break up the plain looking walls to add another dimension to the room when it comes to looking. An inspiring, looking room, we ‘re sure to translate into inspired music and performance.
In the end, we have a product that suits every situation. Whether you need a lot of absorption, you just need to tighten up the room ‘s response a little or reduce the reflectivity of the room that we have a product that will suit your needs both acoustically and visually.
The best solution, of course, is a combination of flat-faced tiles and profiled tiles. And as usual at Aural Exchange, we have been able to deliver exactly what our customers need. Nankarrow provides both plain face tiles and either convoluted foam tiles with several profiles.
https://www.auralexchange.com/product-category/acoustic-panels/acoustic-absorbers/acoustic-foam-panels/