Acoustic composite

A method of absorbing sound in an area, said method comprising the steps of surrounding at least a portion of the area with an acoustic composite comprising:

• at least a first acoustically coupled non-woven composite and a second acoustically coupled non-woven composite, wherein each acoustically coupled non-woven composite comprises:
• a non-woven layer having a first surface and a second surface, wherein the non-woven layer comprises a plurality of binder fibers and a plurality of bulking fibers, wherein the non-woven layer comprises:
• a binder zone extending from a binder outer boundary to a binder inner boundary, wherein the binder outer boundary forms the first surface of the non-woven layer, wherein the binder zone contains a portion of both the bulking fibers and the binder fibers with a higher portion of binder fibers than bulking fibers, wherein the concentration of binder fibers is greater near the binder outer boundary than at the binder inner boundary, wherein a majority of the binder fibers in the binder zone are oriented approximately parallel to the binder outer boundary, wherein at least a portion of the binder fibers are adhered to the bulking fibers, and wherein at least a portion of the binder fibers are adhered to the other binder fibers,
• a bulking zone extending from a bulking zone outer boundary to a bulking zone inner boundary adjacent to the binder inner boundary, wherein the bulking zone outer boundary forms the second surface of the non-woven layer, wherein the bulking zone contains a portion of both bulking fibers and the binder fibers with a higher portion of bulking fibers, wherein the concentration of bulking fibers is greater near the bulking zone outer boundary than at the bulking zone inner boundary, wherein a majority of the bulking fibers have a tangential angle of between about 25 and 90 degrees to the normal of the bulking outer boundary measured at the midpoint between the bulking outer boundary and bulking inner boundary, and wherein at least a portion of the bulking fibers are adhered to the binder fibers;
• and,
• a facing layer selected from the group consisting of a woven, non-woven, knit, film, or nano-fiber layer adhered to the first surface of the non-woven layer through the binder fibers, wherein the binder fibers are intimately adhered to the facing layer,
• wherein the facing layer of the second acoustically coupled non-woven composite is adjacent the second surface of the non-woven layer of the first acoustically coupled non-woven composite.