5 ms·
Adding more sound absorption is a one-way street, it reduces reverb. This could (theoretically) take an overly muffled room and give it the reverb of Carnegie
by stolio 12y ago
Adding more sound absorption is a one-way street, it reduces reverb. This could (theoretically) take an overly muffled room and give it the reverb of Carnegie Hall, or a jazz club, or whatever sound profile you have in your computer. And then you can change it back.
Nothing will match a naturally good sounding room but could you use this to benefit an awful sounding room? Maybe. Digital reverb has a bit of an uncanny valley that you have to make it across.
- dredmorbius 12y agoIt depends on how and where you add the absorption, and how it combines with reflected sound. A tremendous number of public places are presently virtually nothing _but_ reflective surfaces: concrete or tile floors, steel and glass fittings and windows, hard walls. Often lacking in even carpets or table linens. A mix of reflection and absorption can create an ambient background without the roar so often encountered.
- stolio 12y agoI think you missed my point. In room X you only have so many things you can do with the reverb. Period. With an active sound system like the one in the article you would have new options that would be physically impossible otherwise. There's no reflective/absorptive setup that will make a room with a 10ft ceiling sound like it has a 20ft ceiling. With enough microphones, speakers and computing power you could do exactly that - you could effectively change the sonic shape of the room. If it works...
- dredmorbius 12y agoLook at concert-hall acoustics. Total reverb isn't the only factor at play. You want to balance reflection and absorption. You also need to account for the difference in sound between an empty house and one that's filled. Even the thermal properties of parking a bunch of 100W thermal units along the floor, radiating heat upward (we call those "audience members"). Some reflection of the sound you do want to amplify, along with damping that you don't, and accounting for different reflections, comes into play.