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Acoustic Panels

Acoustic panels are thin, discreet wall panels typically made of foam or wool that are used to absorb sound. Because soundwaves easily bounce off hard surfaces, which can cause unwanted reverberation, acoustic panels help reduce the number of rebounding waves and dampen unwanted echoes.

Acoustic panels can range in density to absorb more sound or less sound, depending on your unique needs. It’s important to find a balance as too much absorbed sound can create a dead space.

Acoustic panels can also blend with your room décor or look like artwork on your walls. While they may be in full view, you and your guests won’t even notice them as acoustic treatments.

Diffuser Panels

Like we mentioned earlier, absorbing too much sound creates an eerily quiet space, which can be just as bad as having too many echoes. Diffuser panels help reduce soundwaves from causing piercing echoes without fully absorbing sound so that you still experience an open and natural soundstage.

Diffuser panels are typically made of wood and are three-dimensional, with pieces that stick out at varying lengths. When soundwaves hit these panels, they disperse and return to your ears at different intervals so that you’re not “slapped” with sound all at once. The result is a better sense of spaciousness in your home theater or listening room.

What Are Room Acoustics?

Simply put, room acoustics describes how sound behaves within a space. Think of how your speech would sound in an empty room with bare walls and tile floors versus a carpeted room with plush furniture and heavy window drapes: piercingly echoey in the first and soft and quiet in the second.

Because the sound that comes from your speakers is a mixture of direct and reflected sound, the surfaces and objects that make up the theater or listening room in your Salt Lake City, UT home can significantly impact how you hear sound in the room—no matter how great your speakers are. If uncontrolled, reflected sound can distort your audio experience.

Problems Caused by Untreated Rooms

If your room hasn’t been designed with sound in mind, perhaps you’ve experienced these problems:

• Harsh high frequencies
• Muddy bass
• Collapsed soundstage
• Poor speech intelligibility
• Imbalanced sound

Even if you can’t put your finger on any outstanding sound issues in your home theater or listening room, you may be settling for an otherwise lackluster auditory experience that could be immensely improved with an acoustic treatment installation.

SEE MORE: How Can You Optimize Your Home Theater Audio?

Whole-Home Audio

What do we mean by whole-home audio? With audio, it means being able to call up virtually any audio or music you want to enjoy in any room or area of your home with consummate ease and control. If you’re ever frustrated by multiple remote controls, inputs, and different audio settings across your house, you might like this concept. Whole-home audio gives you one consistent way to access all your music and sound sources. Pick a music streaming service and artist, album, radio station, or playlist, and pick the rooms you want to play it. Adjust the volume as desired in each area. Mute an area to take a call. Or have each part of your family enjoy what they want in different areas. Let the kids rock out in the game room while you enjoy Norah Jones in the living room.

How is all that magic done? It starts with a powerful Control4 controller like the EA-5 or CA-10. This is the brain that can control your smart home but also has built-in media distribution capabilities. It can route high-resolution music to all parts of your home and has native support for popular streaming services like Pandora, Tidal, and Spotify. If you have your own digital music library on a hard drive, you can access it through the built-in music server, too. Additional inputs let you listen to other sources like a CD player or turntable, or even sound from a TV. For control, you can use the excellent Neeo remote, a Control4 Touchscreen, a smartphone app, and even a wall-mounted keypad.

Smarter, Simpler Automation

Once upon a time, powerful whole-home automation systems had to be programmed for everything. If you wanted saved automation for watching TV, you might have a scene that lowered the shades, dimmed the lights, started the AV system, and set the temperature to a preferred setting. If you wanted to change that, you’d have to call an integrator like us! However, Control4's When >> Then personalization puts the power of sophisticated programming in your hands, with no technical skill needed. Want to kick off a sequence of things when your garage door opens as you arrive? Turn off the security alarm and cameras, turn on the hallway lights and kitchen lights, start a soothing music playlist, and have the garage door close automatically after 5 minutes. Need to fine-tune the sequence? Do it yourself on your laptop; it's that easy but oh so powerful.

SEE ALSO: Set the Lighting Scene for Any Occasion with Control4

Whole-Home Security

When you have one integrated control point for lights, window treatments, climate, AV, and security cameras, every smart asset in your home can participate in keeping it safe. For example, Control4 systems have a feature called Mockupancy, which simulates your activity within your house to give the illusion that your home is occupied while you’re away. Your Control4 system can manipulate lights, sound systems, TV, and motorized window treatments in a randomized yet natural pattern that will keep anyone casing your property guessing. If someone does intrude, your home can go into action. If a smart camera detects motion around one of your entries, all the lights can go on, you can sound a warning that the intruder is being recorded, and an ear-piercing alarm can go off. Your system can inform you too, and you can have the option of calling the authorities.

Beyond Entertainment, Control Devices like Lights, Locks and More

In our last blog, we introduced the Control4 starter package, a one-room entertainment control solution perfect for homeowners who are interested in home automation but want to start small. The starter package consists of one Control4 EA-1 controller, which integrates the AV devices in your entertainment room, and a handheld universal remote for intuitive entertainment control.

While one-room entertainment control is where the EA-1 controller excels, it also offers secure wireless Zigbee and IP control for up to 50 smart devices in and around your home! Step further into the world of home automation by easily integrating everyday devices like lights and locks and controlling them from the same interface you use to control your entertainment room.

Looking to expand your starter system? As a certified Control4 dealer serving the Salt Lake City, UT area, our team recommends integrating the following smart home solutions to boost everyday comfort, convenience, and peace of mind.

Orchestrate All Entertainment Devices in One Room

Most entertainment rooms are cluttered with devices, and each device has its own remote control. Before you know it, you have a basket filled with remotes for everything from the TV to the soundbar to the gaming consoles. Why not consolidate control of everything into one universal remote instead?

You can with this Control4 starter package. The EA-1 controller orchestrates a wide range of entertainment devices, including your TV, Blu-ray player, cable and satellite boxes, and gaming consoles. It also features IP control for Apple TV, Roku, and other network-connected devices. Integrate these devices with the EA-1 and enjoy streamlined control of everything from one Control4 universal remote!

SEE ALSO: How to Integrate Audio, Video, and Everything Else with Control4

Stream Music or Listen to Your Own Library

Along with video content, you can also effortlessly browse and enjoy your favorite tunes using the same interface. The EA-1 controller includes a built-in music server with native support for popular streaming services like Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, iHeartRadio, Pandora, and more.

Easily access and listen to locally stored music files too by connecting the EA-1 to your external hard drive. Plus, play music through AirPlay using Control4 ShairBridge technology, which allows you to stream audio from any AirPlay-enabled mobile device or computer to your Control4 system.