Distribution of selected monaural acoustical parameters in concert halls

Acoustical parameters calculated from impulse responses are often used to evaluate the characteristics of concert halls. Representative parameters are listed in the Annex of ISO 3382 and the methods of calculation and the minimum number of measurement positions are explained in detail. However, a method for selecting measurement positions is not discussed clearly, because there are wide variations in the characteristics of sound fields. This report provides basic data to solve this problem using spatial distribution characteristics of parameters in halls. Three large-scale measurement campaigns were conducted in which impulse responses were measured at 1427, 180, and 511 locations. Relatively large differences in the obtained parameters compared with well-known difference limens suggest that determining the distributions of parameter values is important. Contour maps are therefore used to display the distributions along with mean values.     

The relation between spatial impression and the law of the first wavefront

In the field of room acoustics, it is popular belief that the early and late reflections contribute to auditory source width (ASW) and listener envelopment (LEV), respectively. However, some papers have demonstrated results not necessarily in agreement with the belief. In this paper, a hypothesis is proposed to clarify the essentials of ASW and LEV from point of view of the auditory phenomenon. The hypothesis is that the components of reflections under and beyond the upper limit of validity for the law of the first wavefront contribute to ASW and LEV, respectively. Two experiments were performed to evaluate the hypothesis. In the first experiment, the results showed directly that the components of reflections under the upper limit of validity for the law contribute to ASW. In the second experiment, four kinds of threshold were measured to evaluate the relation between the effect and LEV: image-splitting which corresponds to the upper limit of validity for the law, LEV, reverberation perception, and reverberation disturbance. The results showed that the threshold of image-splitting coincides with the that of LEV. This suggests that the components of reflections beyond the upper limit of validity for the law contribute to LEV. In conclusion, it seems that the results of experiments shown in this paper favor the hypothesis.     

Overall evaluation for concert hall acoustics

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关于音乐厅响度评价的研究

该文回顾并综述了对音乐厅(包括西洋交响乐厅及中国民族音乐厅)响度评价的研究历程,指出采用乐队齐奏强音标志乐段的平均声压级L_pF作为评价音乐厅响度客观指标的合理性与可行性。文中给出L_pF的计算方法以及对若干厅堂计算值与实测值的比较,并通过主观评价,给出L_pF的初步优选值域。采用L_pF作为响度评价指标的好处不仅在于它能表征听众听到的绝对响度的感受,还在于能预判何种规模的乐队适于在多大规模的音乐厅中演出,以便达到较佳响度效果的问题。     

Using room acoustical parameters for evaluating the quality of urban squares for open-air rock concerts

Sound quality research of urban squares used for open-air (rock) concerts is very scarce. In contrast to the study of (classical) concert halls, little is known about useful design parameters. For the design of the amplification system, the sound engineer currently often takes into account the desired sound pressure level only.In this study, the ability of existing room acoustical parameters to characterize urban squares acoustically is investigated. An independent parameter set is identified for specific use on such squares. Besides the distribution of the sound pressure level over the square, different impulse response related parameters such as the clarity, center time, reverberation time and bass ratio were considered. In addition, binaural measures were included to measure qualities related to human spatial hearing.This study is based on a measurement campaign, performed at five squares in Belgium before and during life rock concerts. Special attention was paid to the signal processing methodology, given the significant amount of environmental noise often found at such squares during measurements. The variation of these parameters is investigated in relation to the square geometry, the amplification set-up and the presence of delay-lines. Parameters like C₈₀, T₃₀, IACC_E3/L3 and ΔL_eq,A/C were shown to be very useful when characterizing the sound field at urban squares.     

Review of objective room acoustics measures and future needs

ISO 3382-1 describes a number of objective room acoustics parameters that are generally accepted as useful for rating some specific aspects of concert hall sound fields. They include measures of decay times, energy ratios, measures of sound strength and several quantities related to the spatial aspects of sound fields. In most cases there are details of the measures, or their application, that raise questions. In general, there has not been a lot of practical research to explore how best to develop and use these objective measures to evaluate conditions in concert halls. For some well established measures such as Early Decay Time (EDT), we are not really sure how best to calculate their values. For other measures such as energy ratios, modifications are often proposed but without the support of subjective evaluations of the proposed changes. In other cases, such as measures of spatial impression, two approaches have been suggested, but their relative merits are not well understood. It is easy to propose ever more complex measures, but it is much more difficult to demonstrate their general utility. On the other hand, some commonly described characteristics do not have accepted related objective measures. Many more important and more general problems relate to the need, for design criteria in terms of each quantity, and for an improved understanding of just noticeable differences for each measure. This paper discusses each measure illustrating particular problems with measurements in various halls.     

厅堂声学测量中不同激励声源的比较

基於脉冲响应积分的音乐厅和剧院观众厅声学特性的测量目前有三种使用不同激励声源的测试方法:人工脉冲声源、伪随机噪声序列(MLS)、以及用正弦扫频信号。这些技术各有其优缺点,在实际应用中为了方便根据具体情况选择不同的激励声源,通过在一个音乐厅现场的实测数据比较丁三种声源的实测结果,发现对混响时间测量三种不同的激励声源给出的结果基本一致,但是对明晰度和一些其他的指标,脉冲声源给出的结果与用MLS和扫频信号给出的结果有较明显的差别。对实际中如何选择具体的技术也做了建议。     

音乐厅音质设计进展述评

本文对近年来音乐厅音质设计中若干问题的进展作一述评。（1）在已建立的众多独立音质参量基础上，如何作出大厅综合评价，就需要考虑到它们的互动性和贡献权，方法学将成为关键。（2）空间感已确认由声源视在展宽度ASW和听者环绕感LEV组成，对于影响两者的诸多复杂因素有了较深入研究，这声场中的细节又将如何与大厅设计相联系亦备受关注。（3）听众及座椅吸声这个老问题有了新的研究成果，对于空、满场的声学关系已积累了更多资料，使大厅音质的估算更为精确可靠。（4）常说扩散对大厅音质很重要，但其主观效应仍然处于玄虚状态，一些新的主观试听实验结果还不足以说明问题。