Padded walls, decor and echos

[Andrew]

I hope you don't mind these questions...

Quite a few clubs have padded walls that I thought were there for sound absorption. Is this decor or a common practise?

Are some clubs anechoic or is some echo encouraged?

Was curious about what sort of materials are used to regulate natural echoes and is this industry practise?

[Baudtender]

Could be for decor, no way to tell without seeing what they're
made of. Could be for sound-shaping, but also could be to
keep sound in the place (to stay within tenant leasehold
agreements and local/state noise ordinances.) So, what you
are describing as padding could be sound-absorbing, sound-
reflecting, or neither. If I recall correctly, one of the mitigating
factors of that R.I. club that went up in flames so quickly was
sound-proofing materials that didn't have the appropriate
fire retardency.

Some club DJ's certainly like to have a bit of spatial enhancement
to the sound. Even if the club were entirely non-sound
reflective (if that were possible,) it's still very possible and
perhaps even desirable to inject certain analog or DSP effects
in the sound booth to totally change the sound-character of the
music and/or building.

Baudtender

[Andrew]

A few years ago I heard about some audio equipment called Aural exciters. I never found out how they really worked. I have searched the Internet and now I am wondering if they are value for money (?)