The effect of diffuse reflections on spatial discrimination in a simulated concert hall

Robinson, Philip W.; Pätynen, Jukka; Lokki, Tapio

doi:10.1121/1.4798648

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 17 publications

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“…In other words, the experiment revealed that discriminating the lateral arrangement of two speech sources is possible at narrower separation angles when reflections come from flat or absorptive rather than diffusive surfaces. With the simulated hall all 11 early reflections were treated with measured or simulated diffusors, and again the result was the same, the separation of male and female speakers was easier when the reflections were from the flat surfaces and diffusors hinder the subjects' ability to hear which one of the speakers was on the left (Robinson et al, 2013a).…”

Section: The Quality Of Early Reflectionsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Auditory Spatial Impression in Concert Halls

Lokki

Pätynen

2020

Modern Acoustics and Signal Processing

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This chapter discuss acoustics of concert halls, in particular from the viewpoint of binaural perception. The early reflections have a crucial role in the quality of sound, perceived dynamics, and timbre. In particular, the direction from which these reflections reach the listener is important due to the properties of human spatial hearing. The chapter has strong links to psychoacoustical phenomena, such as the precedence effect and binaural loudness. We discuss which aspects of a concert hall give listeners an impression of intimacy and a perception of proximity to the sound. Moreover, it is explained why a concert hall could change the perceived dynamics and spaciousness. Examples are presented with the measured data from real concert halls.

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Section: The Quality Of Early Reflectionsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Auditory Spatial Impression in Concert Halls

Lokki

Pätynen

2020

Modern Acoustics and Signal Processing

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The role of diffusive architectural surfaces on auditory spatial discrimination in performance venues

Robinson

Pätynen

Lokki

et al. 2013

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

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In musical or theatrical performance, some venues allow listeners to individually localize and segregate individual performers, while others produce a well blended ensemble sound. The room acoustic conditions that make this possible, and the psycho-acoustic effects at work are not fully understood. This research utilizes auralizations from measured and simulated performance venues to investigate spatial discrimination of multiple acoustic sources in rooms. Signals were generated from measurements taken in a small theater, and listeners in the audience area were asked to distinguish pairs of speech sources on stage with various spatial separations. This experiment was repeated with the proscenium splay walls treated to be flat, diffusive, or absorptive. Similar experiments were conducted in a simulated hall, utilizing 11 early reflections with various characteristics, and measured late reverberation. The experiments reveal that discriminating the lateral arrangement of two sources is possible at narrower separation angles when reflections come from flat or absorptive rather than diffusive surfaces.

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Echo thresholds for reflections from acoustically diffusive architectural surfaces

Robinson

Walther

Faller

et al. 2013

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

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When sound reflects from an irregular architectural surface, it spreads spatially and temporally. Extensive research has been devoted to prediction and measurement of diffusion, but less has focused on its perceptual effects. This paper examines the effect of temporal diffusion on echo threshold. There are several notable differences between the waveform of a reflection identical to the direct sound and one from an architectural surface. The onset and offset are damped and the energy is spread in time; hence, the reflection response has a lower peak amplitude, and is decorrelated from the direct sound. The perceptual consequences of these differences are previously undocumented. Echo threshold tests are conducted with speech and music signals, using direct sound and a simulated reflection that is either identical to the direct sound or has various degrees of diffusion. Results indicate that for a speech signal, diffuse reflections are less easily detectable as a separate auditory event than specular reflections of the same total energy. For a music signal, no differences are observed between the echo thresholds for reflections with and without temporal diffusion. Additionally, echo thresholds are found to be shorter for speech than for music, and shorter for spatialized than for diotic presentation of signals.

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The effect of diffuse reflections on spatial discrimination in a simulated concert hall

Cited by 4 publications

References 17 publications

Auditory Spatial Impression in Concert Halls

Auditory Spatial Impression in Concert Halls

The role of diffusive architectural surfaces on auditory spatial discrimination in performance venues

Echo thresholds for reflections from acoustically diffusive architectural surfaces

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