ABSTRACT
The seat-dip effect (SDE) occurs when low-frequency sounds propagate through the seating area of a performance space. The physical aspects governing the effect still puzzle acousticians mostly due to the large variety of seating configurations. In this study, the SDE is investigated in three parameterized hall models using the finite-difference time-domain method to simulate a large number of seat configurations in order to quantify the contribution of different geometric properties related to the seating area. The results show that the step size defining the inclination angle of the seating area and the opening underneath the seats (or underpass) are significant factors contributing to the SDE, whereas the stage height and the source position are found to be less important. The results also demonstrate that with an underpass greater than the step size, the first frequency dip occurring between 80 and 100 Hz is mitigated regardless of the hall type considered. The phenomenon is also found to be predominant in the early part of the room response. Visualizations of spatial and time-frequency evolution in the halls are also provided for the cases where the seat properties are found to visibly affect the magnitude spectrum.
ABSTRACT
Finite-difference time-domain method has gained increasing interest for room acoustic prediction use. A well-known limitation of the method is a frequency- and direction-dependent dispersion error. In this study, the audibility of dispersion error in the presence of a single surface reflection is measured. The threshold is measured for three different distance conditions with a fixed reflection arrival azimuth angle of 54.7°. The error is placed either in the direct path, or in the reflection path. Additionally a qualitative follow-up experiment to evaluate how the measured thresholds reflect the audibility of error in short room responses is carried out. The results indicate that the threshold varies depending whether the error is in the direct path or in the reflection path. For transient signals the threshold is higher when the error is located in the direct path, whereas for speech signal, the threshold is higher when it is located in the reflection path. Evidence is found that the error is detectable in rendered room responses at the measured threshold levels.
ABSTRACT
Time-domain simulation methods allow the observation of the state of the simulation domain at each discrete time step. In this work an approach to analyze the progress of the sound field in the simulation domain using time-windowing and spectrum analysis is presented. The method makes it possible to analyze the effect of geometric structures into the spatiotemporal distribution of energy in the domain at a frequency range of interest. Several examples are presented.
ABSTRACT
Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation has been a popular area of research in room acoustics due to its capability to simulate wave phenomena in a wide bandwidth directly in the time-domain. A downside of the method is that it introduces a direction and frequency dependent error to the simulated sound field due to the non-linear dispersion relation of the discrete system. In this study, the perceptual threshold of the dispersion error is measured in three-dimensional FDTD schemes as a function of simulation distance. Dispersion error is evaluated for three different explicit, non-staggered FDTD schemes using the numerical wavenumber in the direction of the worst-case error of each scheme. It is found that the thresholds for the different schemes do not vary significantly when the phase velocity error level is fixed. The thresholds are found to vary significantly between the different sound samples. The measured threshold for the audibility of dispersion error at the probability level of 82% correct discrimination for three-alternative forced choice is found to be 9.1 m of propagation in a free field, that leads to a maximum group delay error of 1.8 ms at 20 kHz with the chosen phase velocity error level of 2%.
ABSTRACT
The finite-difference time-domain method has gained increasing interest for room acoustic prediction use. A well-known limitation of the method is a frequency and direction dependent dispersion error. In this study, the audibility of dispersion error in the presence of air absorption is measured. The results indicate that the dispersion error in the worst-case direction of the studied scheme gets masked by the air absorption at a phase velocity error percentage of 0.28% at the frequency of 20 kHz.
ABSTRACT
Sound visualizations have been an integral part of room acoustics studies for more than a century. As acoustic measurement techniques and knowledge of hearing evolve, acousticians need more intuitive ways to represent increasingly complex data. Microphone array processing now allows accurate measurement of spatio-temporal acoustic properties. However, the multidimensional data can be a challenge to display coherently. This letter details a method of mapping visual representations of acoustic reflections from a receiver position to the surfaces from which the reflections originated. The resulting animations are presented as a spatial acoustic analysis tool.