What Is NRC? ( Noise Reduction Coefficient )

The Noise Reduction Coefficient, commonly known as the NRC for a material is simply a measure of how much sound, or acoustic energy, a material can absorb. The below formula will help us interpret what a materials NRC tells us.

NRC = decibles absorbed / decibles reflected

The NRC will be in decimal format. For example, let's say a material has an NRC of 0.30. What we are saying is that the material absorbed 30% of the acoustic energy and reflected 70%.

Materials will often have different NRC ratings throughout the frequency spectrum. The overall NRC of a material is calculated by averaging the individual absorption ratings for four of the frequency bands. 

How Do You Calculate NRC?

The table below shows the NRC values for our acoustic foam panels. As you can see, the thicker the acoustic foam, the higher the NRC. Also, notice that thinner 1 inch and 2 inch thick panels are great for absorbing high end frequencies while thicker foam and bass traps are preferred for absorbing low end acoustic noise and bass tones.  

Check out our sound absorbing acoustic foam HERE.

Please contact us with any questions about your recording space! We would love to help you out!

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