🏛️ Reverberation Time Calculator
Estimate how long sound lingers in a room (RT60) using Sabine’s reverberation time formula.
What reverberation time measures
Reverberation time (RT60) is how long it takes sound to decay by 60 decibels after a source stops, and it’s a key measure of how ‘live’ or ‘dead’ a room sounds. It’s commonly estimated with Sabine’s formula: RT60 = 0.161 × V / A, where V is the room’s volume in cubic meters and A is the total sound absorption in metric sabins.
How this calculator works
Enter the room’s volume, its total interior surface area, and an average absorption coefficient for the materials in the room (a value from 0, fully reflective, to 1, fully absorptive). The calculator multiplies area by the coefficient to get total absorption, then applies Sabine’s formula to estimate RT60 in seconds.
Real rooms have different materials on different surfaces (walls, ceiling, floor, furniture), so a precise calculation would sum absorption for each surface separately. This tool gives a simplified estimate for general acoustic planning and educational purposes.