Odium Seoul Review 2026: Tips for Booking the Sound Museum

Located in Seocho-gu, the world's first museum of sound,

Audium, a blend of 'audio' and 'museum'.

Recently, at the UNESCO-sponsored

Prix Versailles,

it even won a special internal award in the

'World's Most Beautiful Museum' category!

Ever since it opened in 2024,

I've been absolutely itching to visit,

but bookings were so competitive that I couldn't even bring myself to try.

Recently, I finally succeeded,

so I'm here to share my review!

To cut to the chase,

it was absolutely fantastic,

and even considering how difficult it is to book,

I felt it was definitely worth a visit –

a truly one-of-a-kind experience that's a feast for both your eyes and ears.

How to Book Your Visit to Audium Museum

Currently, Audium offers

two programs:

its inaugural exhibition, <Jeongeum: A Journey of Sound>, and

the lecture <Audio Concert>.

Both are free exhibitions,

but individual viewing is not possible.

They are conducted as docent-led tours,

meaning you can't visit without a prior reservation.

Since it was my first time visiting Audium,

I wanted to book the inaugural exhibition,

which offers a comprehensive tour of the museum!

To preserve the vintage speakers,

the museum operates only three days a week: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Reservations open every two weeks,

and the competition is incredibly fierce!

Even though I logged in right when bookings opened,

there was already a waiting list of around 500 people!!

I was lucky enough to succeed in booking in early February!

I was too focused on booking to even think about taking screenshots haha.

When I checked back around 2:05 PM,

all spots were already fully booked.

Available booking times are:

10:00 AM, 11:00 AM,

1:30 PM, 2:30 PM, and 3:30 PM —

a total of 5 slots.

When I went there, I found that

the capacity for each session is 24 people.

No wonder it's so competitive!

If you're interested,

be sure to set up notifications and

I hope you succeed in booking your spot! :)

How to Get to Audium in Yangjae

Audium, located in a quiet, secluded area of Seocho-gu,

near Cheonggyesan Entrance,

has an incredible presence from its architecture alone.

Whenever I see such artistic architecture,

I always wonder who built it and why.

Audium was

built with the legacy of the late honorary chairman Jeong Sang-young, founder of KCC, and

private funds from KCC Chairman Chung Mong-jin,

designed by architect Kengo Kuma.

It is currently operated by the Seojeon Cultural Foundation, I've heard!

Location:

6 Heonlleung-ro 8-gil, Seocho-gu, Seoul

(20-minute walk from Cheonggyesan Entrance Station,

bus recommended)

Operating Hours:

Thurs, Fri, Sat 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

(Closed Sun-Wed)

Reservations:

Available on the Audium website

(Ages 14 and up)

As you'd expect from a museum dedicated to sound,

how fitting that its exterior is modeled after

a pipe organ!

Getting a closer look, those pipes seemed like they were about to spill down –

truly a magnificent sight.

And get this – this building is actually the first masterpiece by

Kuma Kengo to be unveiled in Korea :)

Funnily enough, the grand facade you see upfront

isn't actually the entrance.

Instead, head down the stairs and you'll discover the Odium Main Entrance.

After passing a striking sculpture designed to embody Odium's logo

and descending one more floor via the stairs,

the real entrance finally reveals itself :)

The main entrance is located on B2 (Basement 2),

where you'll find the information desk and an art shop.

The captivating exhibition spaces are spread across floors 1 through 3.

Your journey through the exhibition kicks off right at the art shop entrance on B2,

and you can pick up your tickets starting 20 minutes before your scheduled tour time.

Once your reservation is confirmed, you'll get a QR code

delivered right to your messaging app.

Simply present this QR code to redeem your physical ticket.

Not only can you pick up your ticket, but you can also store your belongings,

and since the docent tour clocks in at around 110 minutes,

they strongly recommend a quick restroom visit beforehand.

Even Odium's restrooms boast a continuous design theme,

seamlessly extending the building's exterior pipe motif,

making the washbasin design particularly eye-catching!

Exploring the Odium Exhibition

My Review of <Jeongeum: A Journey of Sound>

After a quick restroom break

and grabbing my Odium brochure and ticket,

I waited for a moment in the spacious waiting area, the auditorium,

until the tour began.

In this space, you could delve into the vision behind Odium, watching a video about

**Kuma Kengo**'s architecture

and **Kenya Hara**'s captivating branding design.

I had an 11 AM reservation,

and arriving around 10:45 AM seemed perfectly timed :)

As the docent tour commences,

you'll first ascend via elevator to Exhibition Hall 1 on the 3rd floor to begin your journey.

The <Jeongeum: A Journey of Sound> exhibition poses the profound question, 'What defines good sound?'

and answers it by introducing 'Hi-Fi' – the faithful reproduction of original sound.

To illustrate this, the exhibition starts with Odium's most recent acquisitions –

speakers from the 1950s-60s –

before traveling back in time to showcase

the oldest collection from the 1890s.

1. Home Hi-Fi from the 1950s-60s

Can you imagine? In the 1950s,

a groundbreaking innovation allowed **hi-fi sound**,

which was previously only available in movie theaters,

to be produced for home speakers.

Pioneering brands of that era included

**JBL, McIntosh, and Marantz**—

all historic names that continue to operate

in the audio industry even today.

When they first launched,

these products were incredibly expensive,

costing almost as much as an entire house in Korea back then..!

2. The Two Pillars of 1930s-40s Cinema Sound Systems: The U.S. and Germany

Moving into the next exhibition room,

we travel back in time slightly

to encounter the **audio systems of the 1940s**—

a turbulent period marked by World War II.

At that time, American and German brands

formed the two leading forces

in theater sound systems.

On the left, we have the American **Western Electric**,

and on the right, the German **Klangfilm**!

I had the chance to listen to music through both speakers,

and there were subtle differences, don't you think?

Even experts are divided on which is better,

so make sure to listen closely! :)

(Personally, I leaned towards Western Electric!)

It was amazing how superb the sound quality

of these almost 100-year-old speakers still is today.

The exhibition hall's lighting was dimmed

to help us focus on the music,

and everyone stood quietly, listening intently.

It was a truly wonderful experience.

3. Heading to the Origin

In the next exhibition room,

we learned about the **sources** and **speakers**

that are fundamental to the hi-fi system, from beginning to end.

**Source** = A device or medium that generates frequency signals

**Speaker** = A device that outputs signals so they can be heard

Here's an early 1930s speaker

from the German brand Klangfilm,

which we also saw in Exhibition Room 2.

At that time, with the innovation of **talkies** (sound films),

projectors and speakers evolved hand-in-hand,

leading to an explosion in demand for speakers in movie theaters.

Conversely, the cutting lathe, a more advanced piece of equipment

for **sources** (input devices) from a later era, was also fascinating.

I remember using CDs until about elementary school,

and it turns out the phrase '**burning a CD**' (굽는다) to copy music onto it

comes from this very process, haha!

To think of directly recording sound onto a medium—

it's still amazing to see today, so imagine how immense

that technological innovation must have been back then!

4. Studio Monitors

In the fourth exhibition room,

we had the chance to directly experience listening through

**loudspeakers** used in radio stations and recording studios.

These are said to reproduce sound accurately and impartially,

serving to help audio professionals evaluate recordings.

Here, we listened to The Beatles' 'Yesterday,'

and it's said that a surprising five instruments were used in this song!

With regular speakers, the sound often blends together,

making most people think it's just a violin.

But listening through the loudspeaker, I distinctly heard a

**string quartet** – what an incredible, goosebump-inducing experience!

5. Recording and Playback

After finishing our tour of Exhibition Room 4,

Via the escalator,

we made our way up to the second floor.

Through the glass windows and between the pipes,

natural light streamed in,

making the journey itself

quite a spectacle!

In the second-floor hall, we traveled a little further back in time,

and got to see a phonograph

that was used until the early 1900s :)

What was particularly amazing was that we actually got to listen to it!

Of course, the sound quality isn't comparable to modern speakers,

but it's absolutely fascinating that this phonograph

is still working perfectly!

At the end of the exhibition hall, there was a jukebox-style phonograph

where you could choose from 24 songs,

and I initially thought it was a wall clock!

These kinds of large phonographs,

which operated by inserting coins for a fee,

were reportedly used more for commercial purposes than for household use,

in places like restaurants, bars, and amusement parks :)

6. 1920s-30s Western Electric Horn Speakers

In the next exhibition room,

we got to see straight horn speakers

from Western Electric's early days, along with a variety of other horns.

At the time, I was so captivated by other exhibits that I actually

didn't get a chance to photograph the Western Electric speakers.

So, the image on the left was brought from Audium's official website.

7. 1920s-30s Curve Horn Speakers

In the final exhibition room,

we were able to enjoy music

through a curve horn speaker that was made in the 1920s.

The curve horn speaker was designed with a snail-like curved shape

reportedly to maximize the bass frequencies in music.

This speaker also holds a significant piece of history:

it was around when the talkie film <The Jazz Singer> premiered in 1927,

famously heralding the end of silent films.

Perhaps because I listened to the explanation and then the music,

I felt the weighty depth of the bass

was really well conveyed.

Special Exhibition: Collection and Record

Next up, a special exhibition unfolded.

The first one we encountered, <Collection and Record>, was

a special exhibition featuring photographs by Daiki Fukao,

who archived Audium's collection

by capturing it from various angles.

Special Exhibition: Music Box

This was the exhibition hall that left the biggest impression on me!

The second special exhibition showcased the ancestors of automatic pianos and phonographs.

It beautifully showcases the history of music boxes.

Here in Korea, perhaps due to Japanese influence,

we often refer to them as 'jukeboxes.'

But did you know that these fascinating mechanical instruments,

which first started developing in Europe around the 17th century,

were originally called music boxes?

While today they might seem like simple mechanisms,

often used for decorative purposes much like an orge,

isn't it incredible how the desire to play and cherish music

has remained so constant, whether hundreds of years ago or right now?

It really felt fresh and utterly fascinating,

almost like witnessing the very origins of humanity's longing for music! :)

And getting to personally hear the music played from one of those grand,

large music boxes was incredibly impressive –

truly a moment to remember!

Audium Lounge

Finally, we made our way back down to the 2nd basement floor and

stepped into the Audium Lounge.

The moment I walked in, I was genuinely taken aback by a space

that had a completely different vibe – talk about a pleasant surprise!

What greeted me right in front was, astonishingly,

a massive music box!

And get this – they said it was a piece actually used in Denmark back in the day!

However, being such a beautiful vintage piece, it apparently breaks down quite often

and is currently in need of repair,

so, sadly, I didn't get to hear it play live.

They mentioned it would likely be after May or June

for the repairs to be fully completed 😅 A little bummer, but understandable for such a relic!

But across the room, on the opposite wall, was an LP collection

said to be one of the largest in the world!

It's a treasure trove featuring masterpiece albums with truly top-tier performances.

We even had a 'last chance' listening session

to truly experience these LP masterpieces ourselves,

and let me tell you, the curation of records they played was absolutely superb! 👍

Apparently, the playlist varies slightly depending on which docent you have,

but I was so captivated by the song 'When October Goes' by jazz singer

Kevin Mahogany that I just had to jot it down.

It was simply beautiful!

Audium Art Shop

After soaking in all the exhibits, my final stop was a browse through the art shop,

It's not huge, so it's a wonderfully relaxed space

to just wander and discover.

And guess what was located right behind the cashier?

A 'Little Jammer' jazz figure music box –

the very one that made an appearance in the hit show, Squid Game!

How cool is that?

The museum shop also featured

books by renowned designers Kenya Hara and Kengo Kuma,

alongside Audium merchandise like notebooks, eco-bags, and pencils,

all with a wonderfully luxurious and clean aesthetic.

Starting our journey at 11 AM and finally stepping out of Audium around 1 PM,

those 110 minutes absolutely flew by –

I honestly lost all track of time!

It truly was an incredible journey, traversing both time and space!

From WWII-era America to Edison's very own office where the phonograph came to life,

and all the way to charming European bars where people savored music boxes,

it was a quest for nothing short of <good sound>.

More than just a straightforward exhibition,

with the added bonus of actively listening to so much incredible music,

it felt like I had truly stepped right into

a captivating music documentary film. What an immersive experience!

I feel like this post has only captured

less than half of the actual space,

and it's a first for me...!

It was such a memorable place that

next time, I'm planning to try

booking a lecture as well!

Odium Museum

Wellness Archive Index

A unique journey through time and space to discover and experience beautiful sounds.

Pre-trip (Expectation): ★★★★★

During trip (Experience): ★★★★★

Post-trip (Memory): ★★★★★

*What is the Wellness Archive Index?