Sound Reproduction

Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms, Third Edition explains the physical and perceptual processes that are involved in sound reproduction and demonstrates how to use the processes to create high quality listening experiences in stereo and multichannel formats. Understanding the principles of sound production is necessary to achieve the goals of sound reproduction in spaces ranging from home listening rooms to large cinemas. This revision brings new science-based perspectives on the performance of loudspeakers, room acoustics, measurements, and equalization.

"An excellent exploration of the topics and complexity involved in presenting recorded audio in a room to the human ear.[This book]is also an essential stepping stone into additional topics through the extensive references section provided from the research done by Toole and the industry community at large." - Brian Long, Journal of the Audio Engineering Society

Autorentext

Floyd E. Toole is a consultant for Harman and a Fellow of the AES, the Acoustical Society of America and CEDIA, and is in the Consumer Technology Hall of Fame.

Inhalt

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1: Sound Production vs. Sound Reproduction

1. Live Classical Musical Performances

2. Live Popular Music Performances

3. Reproduced Sound - The Audio Industry

4. Preserving the Art - The Circle of Confusion

5. Music and Movies - the State of Affairs

6. The Role of Loudspeakers and Rooms

7. Human Adaptation, a Reality the Cannot be Ignored

8. Human Suggestibility
   Chapter 2: A Scientific Perspective on Audio

9. Requirements for Scientific Investigations ** Chapter 3: Subjective Measurements - Turning Opinion into Fact

   Is Blind Listening Necessary?

   Hearing Ability and Listener Performance

   Stress and Strain

   How Many Channels?

   Controlling the Variables in Subjective Evaluations

   Controlling the Physical Variables

10. The Listening Room - Making Tests Blind

11. Real-time Loudspeaker Comparison Methods

12. Binaural Record/Replay Loudspeaker Comparisons

13. Listener Position and Seating

14. Relative Loudness

15. Absolute Loudness - Playback Sound Levels

16. Choosing Program Material

17. Power Amplifiers, Wire and So Forth

    Controlling the Psychological Variables

    How to do the Test

18. Is it preference or accuracy that is evaluated? **

    Chapter 4: The Perceptual and Physical Dimensions of Sound

    The Frequency Domain

    The Amplitude Domain

    Amplitude and Frequency Together: Frequency Response

    Amplitude and Frequency Together: Equal-Loudness Contours

19. Loudness Controls and Tone Controls - Do They Work, Are They necessary?

    The Boundaries of What We Can Hear

20. What Is Acceptable Background Noise?

    Linear Distortions: Amplitute and Phase vs. Frequency

21. Spectral Tilt

22. Resonances Viewed in Frequency and Time

23. Finding and Fixing Resonances

24. A Persistent Problem: Differentiating Between Evidence of Resonances and Acoustical Interference

25. Critical bands, ERBNs, and the "resolution" of the hearing system

    Amplitude, Frequency and Time Together: Waterfall Diagrams

    Phase and Polarity - Do We Hear Waveforms?

26. The Audibility of Phase Shift and Group Delay

27. Phase Shift at Low Frequencies: a Special Case

28. The Audibility of Absolute Polarity

    Non-Linear Distortions

    Wavelength, the Key to Understanding Much in Audio

29. Loudspeaker Directivity

30. Room Resonance Basics

31. Resistive/Porous Absorbers and Membrane/Diaphragmatic Absorbers

32. Diffusers and Other Sound Scattering Devices ** Chapter 5: Characterizing Loudspeakers - Can We Describe What is Good?

    The Wisdom of the Ancients

    Identifying the Important Variables - What do we Measure?

    Anechoic Measurements - the Spinorama Evolves

    Total Sound Power as a Measured Parameter

    Why do we measure what we do? Are there better ways?

    Predicting Room curves From Anechoic Data - An Exercise in curve Matching.

33. A Message About Sound Absorption and Scattering

34. Why Do We Care About Room Curves?

    Closing the Loop Predicting Listener Preferences From Measurements

35. The Olive Experiments - Part One

36. The Olive Experiments - Part Two

37. The Olive Experiments - Part Three

    Loudspeaker Resonances - Detection and Remedies

    Summary and Discussion ** Chapter 6: Loudspeaker/Room Systems - an Introduction

38. One Room, Two Sound Fields - The Transition Frequency

39. A Brief History of Loudspeaker/Room Interactions

40. Timbral and Spatial Effects Attributable to Rooms ** Chapter 7: Above the Transition Frequency: Acoustical Events and Perceptions

    The Physical Variables: Early Reflections

41. Problems with the Stereo Phantom Center Image

    The Physical Variables: Loudspeaker Directivity

    The Physical Variables: Acoustical Surface Treatments

42. Absorbers

43. Engineered Surfaces and Other Sound Scattering/Diffusing Devices

    Subjective Evaluations of Physical Variations

44. Side Wall Treatment: Reflecting or Absorbing -Kishinaga et al. (1979)

45. The Effect of Loudspeaker Directivity - Toole (1985)

46. Loudspeaker Directivity and Wall Treatment Together - Choisel (2005)

47. The Nature of the Sound Field - Klippel (1990)

48. Observations of an Audio Enthusiast - Linkwitz (2007)

49. Observations of an Audio Enthusiast - Toole (2016)

50. Floor Reflections: A Special Case?

    Professional vs. Recreational Listening

51. Hearing Loss is a Major Concern

52. Discussion

    Perceptual Effects of Room Reflections

    Adaptation and Perceptual Streaming

    The Effect of Rooms on Loudspeaker Sound Quality

    The Effect of Rooms on Speech Intelligibility

    Sound Localization in Reflective Spaces The Precedence (Haas) Effect

    Bringing the Precedence Effect into the Real Acoustical World

53. Ceiling vs. Wall Reflections

54. Real vs. Phantom Images

55. Speech vs. Various Musical Sounds

    Meaningful Measurements of Reflection Amplitudes ** Chapter 8: Below the Transition Frequency: Acoustical Events and Perceptions

    The Basics of Room Resonances and Standing Waves

56. Optimizing Room Dimensions - Does an "Ideal" Room Exist?

57. Are Non-Rectangular Rooms the Answer?

    Solutions for the Real World

58. Deliver Energy to the Modes and Dissipate Some of That Energy with Absorbers

59. Deliver Energy to the Modes and Reduce the Coupling of That Energy to the Listener By Optimizing the Listening Location - "Positional" Equalization

60. Reduce the Energy Delivered to a Bothersome Mode by Optimizing the Loudspeaker/Subwoofer Location

61. Reduce the Energy Delivered to a Bothersome Mode by Using Parametric Equalization

62. Reduce the Energy Delivered to a Bothersome Mode by Using Simple Mode-Manipulation Techniques

63. Selective Mode Activation in Rectangular Rooms Using Passive Multiple-Subwoofer Mode Manipulation

64. Mode Manipulation for Rectangular Rooms Using Multiple Subwoofers and Signal Processing

65. Mode Manipulation For Any Room Using Multiple Subwoofers and Signal Processing: Sound Field Management (SFM).

66. Revisiting Room Resonances in Time and Space

    Do we Hear the Spectral Bump, the Temporal Ringing, or Both?

    Stereo Bass: Little Ado About Even Less

    Bass Management Makes it all Possible.

    Summary and discussion ** Chapter 9: Adjacent boundary and loudspeaker mounting effects

    The effects of solid angles on the radiation of sound by omnidirectional sources

    Classic adjacent-boundary effects

67. Alleviating adjacent-boundary effects

    Loudspeaker mounting options and effects

68. An example of adjacent-boundary interferenc…