Mounting verification with an acoustic camera
In a laboratory sound insulation test, what is measured is the specimen together with the way it was fitted into the test opening. A gap of a millimetre around a perimeter seal can cost several decibels in the upper bands. That is our installation showing up in your number, and it would understate what your product actually achieves.
So before the official measurement, we scan the installed specimen with an acoustic camera. The camera images where sound is actually passing through the assembly, which makes leakage at the perimeter immediately visible rather than a matter of inference. If we find any, the specimen is re-installed and re-scanned. Only then do we measure.
The purpose is narrow and deliberate. This confirms the specimen is properly mounted, so the result reflects your product rather than our aperture. It is laboratory quality control, carried out by us, on our own installation work.
- Specimen received and inspected
- Specimen installed in the test aperture and sealed
- Source room excited
- Acoustic camera scan of the installed assembly
- Leakage found: specimen re-installed, then re-scanned
- Official measurement, once the mounting is confirmed sound
What this scan is not
This looks at the mounting, not at your product. We do not use it to advise you on how your product is designed, sealed or built, and we do not report on design leakage. Where a product has an inherent weakness it will appear in the measured transmission loss like any other property, and interpreting that is a matter for you or an independent consultant of your choosing, not for us. The check sits entirely inside our own quality control and raises no question of impartiality.
Why it matters commercially
- A poor result caused by installation costs you twice: once for a test that measured our seal, and again for the retest.
- Perimeter leakage attacks the upper bands hardest, which is exactly where the STC and Rw reference contours are most sensitive. A small leak moves the single-number rating more than most people expect.
- Without the check, neither party can tell whether a disappointing figure came from the product or from the fit. With it, that ambiguity is removed before the measurement starts.
- Included as standard in laboratory sound insulation testing. It is not an optional extra and it is not billed separately.
Last updated: 2026-08-12