Room Acoustics

Localization of the direction of the direct sound source and early reflections in a hall

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This application allows the mapping of the direction of incoming early reflections versustime. Early specular reflections influence the perception of a signal in a room, whether it is the sound of a symphony in a large concert hall, a singer in an opera house, or a speaker in a classroom. With a sound pressure microphone a scalar quantity is obtained, which provides no directional information. When the particle velocity is also measured in three directions the 3D intensity can be calculated. Intensity is a vector indicating the direction of energy flow, thus the location of the direct source and early reflections can be determined. Such measurements have been studied as early as 2002, by Meyer sound laboratories.