Common problems

The rooms people ask about most.

Each of these explains what is actually going on, works a typical example right through, and gives you every route to fixing it with the areas involved. Then you can do the same for your own room.

Echo in a church hall

Why church halls echo, what it costs you, and how much absorption a typical hall needs — with areas, vendor-neutral. Check your own hall in about a minute.

Read it →

A restaurant nobody can talk in

Why hard-surfaced restaurants get unbearably loud, what it costs in covers, and how much absorption a typical dining room needs. Check yours in about a minute.

Read it →

A sports hall you cannot teach in

Why sports halls echo so badly, what it does to PE lessons and staff voices, and how much absorption a typical hall needs. Check yours in about a minute.

Read it →

A classroom nobody can concentrate in

Why classrooms echo, what it does to attainment and teacher voices, and how much absorption a typical classroom needs. Check yours in about a minute.

Read it →

An open-plan office nobody can take a call in

Why open-plan offices get impossibly loud, what it costs in focus and calls, and how much absorption a typical floor needs. Check yours in about a minute.

Read it →

A hotel lobby you can't check in at

Why hotel lobbies and bars get uncomfortably loud, what it costs in reviews, and how much absorption a typical space needs. Check yours in about a minute.

Read it →

A waiting room where nobody feels comfortable

Why hard-surfaced waiting rooms feel harsh and carry sound too far, and how much absorption a typical room needs. Check yours in about a minute.

Read it →

A shop floor where staff can't hear customers

Why big hard-floored retail units get loud enough to hurt trade, and how much absorption a typical store needs. Check yours in about a minute.

Read it →

A co-working space nobody can take a call in

Why co-working spaces with exposed brick and concrete get impossibly loud, and how much absorption a typical floor needs. Check yours in about a minute.

Read it →

Same room, both ways

Every fix, worked through the same way.

Before

After

About this page: the fix pages are organised by problem, not by product. Pick the situation that sounds like yours, such as an echoey restaurant, a noisy open-plan office or a classroom where speech is hard to follow, and you get the usual causes, the kinds of treatment that help and what to check first. When you are ready, Echo checks your own room.