How are quiet acoustic panels different from normal sound absorbing materials like foams and carpets?
Foams and carpets will absorb some of the sound intensity, but reflect most of it back into the room, so the sound wave must bounce around the room several times before it is completely eliminated. If however, that sound wave runs into another wave exactly opposite in phase to it, they will cancel completely. Quiet acoustic panels silently vibrate at a frequency opposite to the frequency they are designed to cancel.
