A space should maintain a healthy balance between sound absorption and sound diffusion. Absorption eliminates excessive sound energy, like echoes and reverberations, which can make the room sound muddy and speech unintelligible. While absorption is crucial, complete absence of sound reflection can be unnerving. People who spend time in professional anechoic chambers often experience claustrophobia, as hearing only one's heartbeat and brain activity can be overwhelming. Therefore, it's important to incorporate a measure of sound reflection, ideally coupled with sound diffusion, to create a natural soundscape. This mirrors the acoustic environment our ancestors experienced in nature, where irregular surfaces like leaves, dunes, and rocks naturally scattered sound.
One possible analogy with clear distinction between absorption and diffusion is the following:
Sound Reflection
Sound reflection can be likened to playing catch with a ball in an open field versus playing against a wall. In the open field, the ball is caught and held, similar to how sound absorption works: sound energy is caught and not reflected back. However, when you throw a ball against a wall, it bounces back to you with almost the same force. This is akin to sound reflection, where sound waves hit a hard surface and are reflected back into the space, maintaining much of their original energy. Just as the ball retains its speed and direction when it bounces off the wall, sound waves preserve their intensity and form, contributing to effects like echoes and amplification in an enclosed area. Undesireable.
Sound Diffusion
Imagine throwing a ball into a room where the walls are covered with an array of cones and pyramids. Instead of striking a flat surface and bouncing back straightforwardly, the ball hits these protruding shapes and deflects in unpredictable directions. This scenario exemplifies sound diffusion, where sound waves interact with the cones and pyramids, scattering broadly across the room. The cones and pyramids, with their varied angles and surfaces, disperse the sound energy, preventing it from concentrating in specific areas. This diffusion helps to even out the sound within the space, reducing echo and enhancing the overall acoustic quality by distributing sound waves more uniformly.
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