Acoustic plasterboard or acoustic drywall – what does it mean?

When dissecting the terms acoustic plasterboard and acoustic drywall, we come to conclusion that it can mean several things:

Plasterboard or drywall as it is often called is commonly used in construction. Quite a lot of ceilings consists of a suspended plasterboard ceiling with mud on the joint lines, sanded smooth and then painted, giving a smooth, seamless, elegant appearance. On the negative side, it does not absorb sound very well, so the sound environment might not be so good, with long reverberation times and poor speech intelligibility, giving a low Speech Transmission Index (STI). As this induces a need to add sound absorbing materials to the room and preferably without changing the initial design too much, it is not so strange to explain ones need by stating “I want it to look like plasterboard, but it should absorb sound”.  Possibly one thing lead to another and this developed into a short version which is “acoustic plasterboard” or in some cases “acoustic drywall”.

In addition to this, we have seen that this terminology is often used to describe the type of acoustic ceiling products which are easy enough to be installed if you have previous experience of installing plasterboard/drywall, like for instance the Styjl Straight Up acoustic ceiling. The modus operandi for Styjl Straight Up or other acoustic drywall products is in large part similar to installing plasterboard, unlike traditional acoustic plaster systems like Fellert Even Better, where special skills are needed and the work is normally performed by companies specialized in acoustic plaster.

Acoustic drywall or acoustic plasterboard products are usually easier and quicker to install and comes with a lower price compared to traditional seamless acoustic ceilings, but with fewer options to individually select color or texture. sometimes they are also limited in shape or form. The attractive price however, opens upp for a broader use, and when you come to think of it, most ceilings out there are actually flat and white.