Welcome to Audio Data Lab
Audio and Acoustic consultants
Over 40 years of experience in music and recording studio design
Audio & Acoustic Experts
Field-tested solutions
Reliable results & delivery
Audio and Acoustic consultants
Over 40 years of experience in music and recording studio design
Audio & Acoustic Experts
Field-tested solutions
Reliable results & delivery
audiolab.se
We have designed hundreds of studios and control rooms for film scoring, foley sessions, music production, music mastering, voice-overs and live broadcasts.
We have done several of the Nordic region's largest Multiplex Cinema Venues (Dolby Atmos/IMAX theatres) as well as smaller VIP rooms and Private/Home Theatre Cinemas.
We help clients assess and perfect the acoustics and electro-acoustics of large and small venues, such as stages, theatres, performance rooms and black-boxes.
We also help clients with general room and building acoustics in offices, schools, shopping malls, churches, gyms and several other places where people need to reduce background noise, improve sound insulation and optimize speech intelligibility.
Our company has over 40 years of experience in music studio design. Many of our clients are producers, video game studios, mastering facilities, musicians and other audio professionals who need superior sound insulation and room acoustics.
We have done a large variety of rooms dedicated to audio and music - the most common being control rooms, studios, V.O. booths, radio/pod studios, foley rooms and general editing/listening rooms.
Many of our clients approach us when they need to upgrade their current location. A common request is new room treatment and improved sound insulation to comply with contemporary demands. Another common situation is when clients are moving to a new location and need our help to design a new facility.
Many clients prefer to use absorbers and diffusers as a visible design element, usually further highlighted with spotlights and LED-strips. Other clients want a more clean look and prefer to hide the room treatment behind acoustical transparent fabric.
Even if the design requirements very we always develop a design togheter with the client to ensure a suitable room and a comfortable environment.
Clients approach us with a project or location in mind. Usually some kind of idea of a room layout and usage is presented at this stage.
We visit the location and evaluate the existing structure, we perform sound measurements and assess the existing construction to ensure that the structure can meet the requirements of a studio.
Once the location is deemed suitable the general design process can start. At this stage more fixed room dimensions and studio layout is finalized to handle building acoustics and sound insulation requirements. Initial design concepts and room acoustic solutions are then presented, discussed and tweaked to meet client wishes.
During this stage the room acoustics is further optimized using computer calculations. Low frequency performance (modes/resonances) as well as general reverberation decay/times of each room are calculated using FEM-analysis and 3D-raytracing software. The output from these tools help us design and tune absorbers & diffusers for the best result. For control rooms we evaluate speaker placement and optimal listening positions to reduce problems with image-shift and low-frequency cancellations. The calculation stage is where most of our long expertise of proven and tried solutions help us design optimal rooms for our clients.
Using BIM-tools we create full 3D-geometries and 2D-drawing exports and documentation of the final room design. This data can be exchanged with other consultants and experts for an efficient design process. The final 2D-drawings can be passed on to a studio contractor to be used for accurate pricing and physical construction.
During the physical construction of a studio complex we make sure to meet up on site to perform validating sound measurements at critical stages of the construction phase. This help us ensure that floating constructions are done correctly as well as all sound insulation and background noise demands can be met.
Final acoustic performance is certified with several sound measurements. Control rooms are evaluated further and speaker system setups are trimmed and equalized to compensate for reflections caused by furniture/equipment placement and other added room design elements.
Our long experience and expertise in room and building acoustics has helped us design cinemas with optimal room and building acoustics. Most of the Nordic region's largest multiplex cinema venues have been designed by us.
We have also done a lot of smaller theatres for public museums & offices as well as private VIP-listening and screening rooms for industry professionals and rooms for multi-entertainment usage in private residences.
A small VIP cinema theatre or listening room usually needs these design parameters discussed further:
Commercial multiplex cinemas are always designed to meet the stringent requirements of THX, IMAX, Dolby Atmos and other industry standards. Smaller projects, such as residental spaces and VIP-rooms usually require a bit more leeway due to client requirements and physical limitations. Typically such rooms are not done as floating / vibrationally decoupled structures and may feature other speaker setups and surround solutions. Regardless of the size of the project our aim is to always optimise the acoustics for the location and the required usage, in order to help our clients create the best rooms possible.
Cinema Calibration Measurement
If you are interested in integrating a cinema or VIP-listening room into your home, office or exhibition space, please contact us.
Designing a new venue or redesigning an existing venue to fit modern requirements needs a careful analysis of client demands and a thorough investigation of the location to ensure that all expectations can be met.
Theatres and performance rooms require a careful and balanced selection of acoustic treatment regarding reflection, absorption and diffusion properties. Clubs, arenas and live stages put heavy demands on sound insulation and noise control. Common for nearly all kinds of entertainment venues is the need for a high quality speaker system that is setup and tailored to the unique design and acoustics of the room.
A contemporary entertainment venue / "black box" often need to host all kinds of audio related events such as art projects/installations, virtual stages and multi-channel surround. In traditional theatre designs certain types of electronic reverberation systems may need to be installed to support live acts and orchestras that require longer reverberation times. Many arenas and venues also have a need to update their speaker systems in order to host presentations, lectures and corporate events that put higher demands on speech intelligibility and speaker coverage.
Over the years we have worked with a lot of different clients, speaker manufacturers and audio system contractors. Since we are independent and unaffiliated to any manufacturers or resellers we can assure clients a non-biased selection and evaluation of the best and most cost-effective systems and solutions.
Daily we help clients improve their environment. Higher sound insulation gives better privacy, higher speech intelligibility ensures better communication. Low background noise and reduction of noise pollution ensures better concentration and less psychological stress.
Most spaces we encounter need to balance a lot of different requirements. Typically these are aesthetical and economical but also requirements set by law. Using our long experience of real world studio constructions, advanced calculation and simulation tools we can meet these demands while also delivering cost-effective alternatives and solutions, based on real-world data and academic research.
What makes a good work environment and how it should function is an ever-changing process. Lately, technology and work-from-home trends have redefined the "optimal" office space. Clients want collaboration & flexibility but also need to offer secure discussion rooms and silent areas for concentrated work. Fulfilling these demands require a careful integration of room placement/layout, HVAC/Climate control and noise-controlling measures in the form of sound barriers and sound masking installations.
In many projects we create computer simulations of open-plan offices to evaluate the most efficient placement of sound barriers and noise-masking technology to ensure good privacy between desks and workgroups.
Recycling and re-use is also becoming more common, combining plant walls, contemporary furniture as well as re-used materials from previous fit-outs.
Public lectures and teaching situations need a very controlled room acoustic environment to ensure high speech intelligibility. Typically smaller classrooms need carefully designed sound reflectors and diffusors that create support, projection and "reach" for the speaker. A large auditorioum might need assisting technology in the form of wireless microphones and speaker systems to enable sound recording and distribution to all participants.
Example of a project unique absorber / diffusor, made in collaboration with the sculptor Christian Partos for Uppsala Universitet
As consumer trends shift, shopping malls and similar retail environments evolve and adapt in order to meet demands. This means inclusion of more cinemas, entertainment venues, food courts, cafés and informal (live) stages as well as spa/healtchare facilities, gyms and trampoline parks - all with different and complex demands on sound insulation and room acoustics.
In these kind of projects we have to take a multi-project approach, treating each individual tenant as a unique situation, co-located in a retail space, where sound and structure borne sound insulation is of utmost importance.
Churces, temples and similar places of worship need suitable acoustics and high speech intelligibility. Sound insulation and room acoustics needs to be controlled to meet contemporary requirements, while often complying with cultural heritage demands that limits visible alterations. "Invisible" speaker systems are often needed to control the sound coverage in rooms with long reverberation times and most of the room acoustic adjustmends need to carefully integrated into the purposed design and existing structure.
Common to most gyms and sports facilities are long reverberation times and high noise levels. As multi-sport facilities become more common clients need to separate and combine relaxation and meditation rooms with nearby load activities such as MMA, weight lifting, spinning rooms, ball sports and group aerobics classes. Neighbors and national laws also set demands on what kind of SPL-levels and impact noises that can be tolerated.
Water arenas, pools and other water based activites often need room acoustic solutions that are moisture resistant and also efficient in reducing long reverberation times and high background noise levels. Computer simulations in order to help design and place the most efficient absorbers are often needed to optimise proposed solutions.
Excessive sound reflective surfaces
in Enskedehallen (prior to adjustment)
Weight lifting activities usually imply heavy structure borne noise disturbances. Specially built-up podiums and similar decoupling structures are often required to reduces low frequency noise in nearby locations.
During the years we have helped to control noise and room acoustic problems in a large variety of rooms, spaces and locations. If you are facing an audio or acoustic problem there's a good chance we have done something similar in the past or already know of a good solution, please contact us and we will try our best to help you.
Ingemar Ohlsson
Senior Acoustician, AES Member & Fellowship Award 2020
070-644 58 69
ingemar
Jonas Murman
Senior Acoustician, AES Member, M.Sc.
0730-43 66 01
jonas
Postal Address & Office Location
Audio Data Lab Stockholm AB
Katarinavägen 22
SE-116 45
Stockholm, Sweden
08-644 58 65
audiolab.se
