Professional Documents
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Electro Acoustic Handout
Electro Acoustic Handout
Electro Acoustic Handout
Sound Reinforcement
What is sound ?
pressure [bar]
1.5
1
0.5
time
amplitude
Temp. C
C [m/sec.]
1/c [ms/m]
- 10
324
3.09
330
3.03
10
337
2.97
20
343
2.92
30
349
2.86
40
355
2.81
cold air
(2.0E)
Page 2 - 8
1 kHz
2 kHz
4 kHz
8 kHz
0.35
2.5
F [Hz]
31
11.0 m
63
5.49 m
125
2.74 m
250
1.37 m
500
69 cm
1000
34 cm
2000
17 cm
4000
8.6 cm
8000
4.3 cm
16000
2.1 cm
Damping
Even with undisturbed propagation in air the sound wave will lose energy. The loss is proportional to the covered distance and increases with
the frequency. Remote sources therefore suffer a level drop at high frequencies (in addition to the distance related level drop). With high humidity this effect increases.
Reflection, diffraction and absorption
The size of the wavelengths is typically close to that of the objects in our
surroundings. When a sound wave hits a hard surface, different effects
occur, depending on the relationship of wavelength to the size of the
object.
Reflection
If the wavelength is very small compared to the object, the sound wave
will be reflected by the object. A flat surface will reflect the sound wave
like a mirror reflects light. Uneven surfaces will produce a diffuse reflection.
Diffraction
Diffraction describes the phenomenon whereby the original direction of
the sound wave is 'bent' by an object. Diffraction occurs when the object and the wavelength are approximately the same size.
Objects considerably smaller than the wavelength of the sound do not
have much effect on the propagation of the wavefront. The sound
wave does not 'notice' the object.
Diffraction by a gap
Diffraction by horn and cabinet
Absorption
If a sound wave hits a soft, elastic or porous object it will be absorbed
to a greater or lesser extent. The absorption factor is frequency dependent and describes the percentage of sound energy (not pressure)
which is absorbed by the surface. The rest will be reflected. Again the
size of the object is relevant. A small absorber cannot eliminate low frequencies.
(2.0E)
Page 3 - 8
Surface
125 Hz
250 Hz
500 Hz
1 kHz
2 kHz
4 kHz
Concrete
1.5
Wood floor
15
11
10
30
25
20
17
15
10
15
27
63
91
100
100
26
60
95
100
100
100
Ratio
dB
0.1
- 20
10
+ 20
100
+ 40
+6
+ 10
+ 14
Distance
dB-Level relative to 1 m
2m
-6
3m
- 10
5m
- 14
10 m
- 20
20 m
- 26
30 m
- 30
50 m
- 34
sound pressure
0.00002 Pa
(2.0E)
Page 4 - 8
120 dB
2 x 120 dB = 126 dB
126 dB
100 W
2 x 100 W = 200 W
400 W
Coherent signals
Say you have two sound sources producing the same signal with
identical phase relation and amplitude. If the distance between the
sources and their size is considerably smaller than the wavelength (by a
factor of at least 2 or 3), a 6 dB increase in level will be achieved in all
directions (twice the sound pressure). This relation is valid if two subwoofers are placed side by side or directly above each other. If the
overall size of the cluster is say 1.2 m the efficiency of the system is
doubled below about 100 Hz (wavelength 3.4 m).
The summation of levels is done according to the dB table; three equal
sources will give an increase in SPL of 10 dB, four sources will give +12
dB etc.
Larger arrays will produce a certain amount of directivity, because only
in the plane at right angles to the column do all speakers produce in
phase signals. As you go off that plane, there will be cancellation to a
certain extent. For example a vertical column will have narrower vertical and broader horizontal dispersion. The frequency above which a
useful directivity may be expected is:
F = 250 / column length in meters
When the systems are placed on a hard surface (floor), the effective
vertical extension of the array is doubled by the mirror sources.
12
0
12
24
36
48
12
0
B
A
12
24
36
48
12
0
12
24
36
48
(2.0E)
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Power ratio
dB
+3
+5
+7
10
+ 10
100
+ 20
110 dB/1 m
-30 dB
-6 dB
2m
30 m
24 dB
104 dB
80 dB
110 dB/1 m
-18 dB
8m
Vertical directivity
Taking into account the vertical dispersion of the speaker system, the
level distribution can be improved significantly. In the following example
the loudspeaker is just 2 m above the audience (compared with 8 m in
the last example) and has a level drop of -12 dB at 40 off axis. This is
roughly the behaviour of a system with a nominal 40 vertical dispersion (-6 dB at +/- 20)
-30 dB
2m
30 m
12 dB
92 dB
80 dB
110 dB/1 m
40
2m
-10 dB
-30 dB
2m
sphere:
40 system:
30 m
100 dB
20 dB
80 dB
88 dB
8 dB
80 dB
Horizontal coverage
The horizontal coverage angle of the loudspeakers used should not be
larger than that necessary to cover the audience area. Sound radiated
in other directions puts energy into the diffuse sound field which will
make speech intelligibility worse.
If a single system does not provide enough coverage, more cabinets
can be put together in an array. This requires good constant directivity
characteristics in the single loudspeaker, to keep the overlap regions as
small as possible without causing any coverage gaps.
When a horizontal coverage of 90 is required, it can be achieved with
a single 90 system (-6 dB at +/- 45) or with three 35 systems with a
30 angle between the cabinets. The latter solution gives clearly more
sound pressure and a sharper level drop at the edge of the covered
area. The disadvantage is the comb filtering around the centre axis
between two cabinets in the array. In these areas there cannot be perfect coherent addition of the sources (this is the reason for the angle
between two cabinets being smaller than the nominal coverage angle
of the single systems).
(2.0E)
Page 6 - 8
The better the constant directivity design of the cabinet, the less the
comb filtering.
35
90
Speech intelligibility
35
The speech intelligibility at a particular listening position is mainly determined by the ratio of direct sound to diffuse sound, diffuse sound being the combined room reflections or reverberation.
While direct sound is decreasing with the distance from the source, the
diffuse sound level is almost constant in the whole room. An acceptable
speech intelligibility is ensured when the direct sound is no more than
10 dB below the diffuse level.
35
-6 dB
-45
+45
diffuse sound
-6 dB
-45
+45
excellent
direc
level
speech intelligibility
good
fair
bad
t sou
nd
diffuse sound
10 dB
distance
diffuse field
free field
critical distance
110 dB/1 m
2m
110 dB/1 m
-24 dB
-10 dB
2m
without delay: 100 dB
+diffuse sound: 86 dB
100 dB
with delay: 100 dB
+diffuse sound: 89 dB
100 dB
15 m
30 m
13 dB
80 dB
86 dB
87 dB
9 dB
86 dB
89 dB
91 dB
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Page 7 - 8
90
120
60
150
30
180
210
330
240
300
270
Polar diagram
Q-factor
Q factor describes the directivity of a device at a given frequency, but
does not distinguish between horizontal and vertical directivity. It is the
ratio of sound power radiated on axis to average sound power radiated in all directions. A high Q means high directivity.
Nominal dispersion angle
The horizontal and vertical angle at which the level is -6 dB relative to
the on axis level, e.g. 60 x 40 for a 602-LS. It can also be displayed
against frequency (dispersion against frequency plot or isobar
diagram).
Isobar diagram
Horizontal scale is frequency, vertical scale is degrees off axis, and the
isobar lines represent -6 dB and -12 dB. Constant directivity behaviour
can be shown by parallel isobaric lines. The example shows the dispersion of the d&b C4-TOP cabinet (35 x 35 nominal dispersion).
d&b audiotechnik GmbH, Eugen-Adolff-Str. 134, D-71522 Backnang, Germany, Phone: +49-71 91-96 69-0, Fax: +49-71 91-95 00 00
(2.0E)
Page 8 - 8
Level requirements