Entertainment venue / Acoustic camera
Finding where a live-music venue leaks sound, with the acoustic camera
A live-music venue in Chonburi needed to know which parts of the building envelope were letting sound out before spending on remediation. We scanned 12 positions around the building with the 128-microphone acoustic camera during a real performance and identified two leakage paths out of twelve: a door that did not seal, and a vibrating roof panel.
The problem
With 95–100 dBA inside during a performance, the operator and its noise-control contractor needed to know which envelope elements were actually radiating, so that money went to the right places rather than to cladding the whole building.
Our approach
- 1Scanned 12 envelope positions (glazing, doors, walls, roof) with a Norsonic Nor848B Hextile 128-microphone array during a live performance, 10:30–12:30
- 2Read the Beam SPL of each surface (surrounding noise cancelled) against the Omni SPL (total), isolating what each surface itself contributed
- 3Applied a spread criterion across positions on the same surface: a sound envelope element varies by 1 dB or less, a leak shows 2–3 dB
- 4Reported the acoustic images with leak positions marked on the building plan, with remediation limited to the identified points
Standards applied
Key numbers
12 around the building
Positions scanned
2 (door P7, roof P12)
Leaks identified
95–100 dBA
Level inside during the scan
Outcome
Ten of the twelve positions showed a uniform Beam SPL across the surface (spread of 1 dB or less, at 44–57 dBA), ruling out localised leakage. Two leaks were found: P7, a glazed door with more than 2 dB between panel and frame, indicating an incomplete seal; and P12, the lower roof panel with a spread of about 3 dB caused by roof vibration where the structure connects to the sound system's support. Remediation was therefore limited to the door seal and an inspection of the roof connections, rather than additional sound insulation across the whole building.