San Diego County, California · Founded 2000
Acoustical consultants
Specialists in acoustics, noise and vibration: architectural and environmental acoustics, vibration monitoring and control, and underwater acoustics, with expert witness services, for architects, developers, school districts and public agencies in San Diego County.
Consulting services
We cover the spectrum
Architectural Acoustics
The firm measured ambient noise, STC and RT60 with a Larson-Davis 824 sound level meter and real time analyzer and recommended treatments such as absorption and barriers. STC and IIC rate how well a wall or floor stops airborne and impact sound; RT60 is the time a sound takes to decay by 60 decibels. Listed projects included San Diego City Schools, Poway Unified School District and churches.
Environmental Acoustics
The firm prepared community noise surveys and CEQA/NEPA technical noise impact studies, with mitigation recommendations such as sound barrier design. Title 24 analyses check that outdoor noise is reduced to the indoor levels required by California's building code. Listed infrastructure projects included the Moreno-Lakeside Pipeline, Plaza Blvd Road Widening and Caltrans Hwy 210/30.
Vibration Monitoring and Control
The firm offered vibration analysis, data acquisition, machinery diagnostics, condition based monitoring programs and damping treatments. The principal's earlier U.S. Navy work included machinery and hull vibration monitoring and noise and vibration monitoring of the submarine fleet.
Underwater Acoustics
Underwater acoustics covered radiated noise, structureborne noise, airborne noise and hearing conservation, sonar self-noise and vibration control. It drew on the principal's earlier U.S. Navy work on ship and submarine silencing at NAVSEA and Mare Island Naval Shipyard.
Also: expert witness services. All consulting services
Classroom acoustics
Getting acoustics written into a student's IEP
In 2000, the mother of a profoundly deaf student in the San Diego Unified School District had unoccupied classroom noise of 30 dBA (NC-20) or less and reverberation of 0.4 seconds or less written into her son's IEP. His classroom, speech therapy room and auditorium were treated.
“Acoustical engineers can help educate parents about the importance of improved acoustics in the classroom and supply them with information that could be used in IEP meetings.”
The events described took place between February and October 2000, when the classroom acoustics standard was still only proposed; it was later published as ANSI/ASA S12.60-2002 (35 dBA background noise, reverberation of 0.6 s for classrooms under 10,000 cubic feet and 0.7 s up to 20,000) and revised as S12.60-2010 Part 1 and 2009 Part 2. The interview was published on the firm's website by August 2002.
Read the interview
IEP criteria, written in February 2000
- 30 dBA / NC-20
- Unoccupied classroom noise levels should not exceed 30 dBA or Noise Criteria NC-20 curve
- 0.4 s
- Reverberation times should not exceed 0.4 seconds
Where acoustics matters
Rooms for speech and music, homes near traffic
Auditoriums, multipurpose rooms, theaters and performing arts centers were listed under room acoustics, with speech intelligibility and reverberation times (RT60) among the topics.
Houses of worship were part of the room acoustics work, and the listed clients included St Stephens Catholic and a Latter-Day Saints Temple.
Corporate meeting rooms and open plan office design were listed under room acoustics, with treatments such as room absorption, low noise HVAC and masking systems.
Environmental acoustics listed transportation noise, multifamily housing and condominiums, and Title 24 exterior to interior noise analyses, with sound barrier design among the mitigation recommendations.
About the firm
Acoustical consultants with a U.S. Navy background
Medlin & Associates was founded in 2000. Before consulting, the firm's principal worked for the U.S. Navy (NAVSEA and Mare Island Naval Shipyard) on ship and submarine silencing, including noise and vibration monitoring of the submarine fleet. The consulting projects listed on the firm's website included new residential developments, multi-family housing, elementary schools, churches, traffic noise studies and interior noise studies. Ambient noise, STC and RT60 were measured with a Larson-Davis 824 sound level meter and real time analyzer. The firm was listed as a DOT (Caltrans) certified WBE/DBE and a California Certified Small Business, as stated on its website between 2002 and 2009.
About us
Photos from the firm's website in 2001, shown at their original size. Ships and submarines from the same page are on the About page.
Clients and projects
Architects, developers, school districts and public agencies
Listed clients and projects included San Diego City Schools and Poway Unified School District; developers such as The Otay Ranch Company and Pacific Scene Homes; the environmental firms EDAW and Urban Crossroads; St Stephens Catholic and a Latter-Day Saints Temple; Fifth Avenue Lofts and Casa La Costa; and the Moreno-Lakeside Pipeline and Caltrans Hwy 210/30.
Our clients and projects