TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of Reduced Information in the Performance of Low-Frequency Sound Zones
AU - Cadavid, José
AU - Møller, Martin Bo
AU - van Waterschoot, Toon
AU - Bech, Søren
AU - Østergaard, Jan
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Sound zone techniques enable distinct listening areas in a room, allowing for separate audio playback through use of loudspeaker arrays, multiple control microphones in each zone, and carefully designed control filters. The filters are based on the Room Impulse Responses (RIRs) between each loudspeaker-microphone pair which, in some cases, can be obtained with very short acquisition times. Low frequencies, featuring longer wavelengths, allow for fewer spatial sampling points inside the sound zones, simplifying the setup and decreasing data processing requirements. This study evaluates the effects of reducing RIR acquisition times and sampling points in low frequency sound zones rendering. Different combinations of both strategies and multiple spatial sampling arrangements were explored. Their performance was evaluated in two acoustic conditions under objective metrics, and the area of influence of the system around the sound zones was also studied. Both strategies were found effective to reduce the amount of information included, while performing as good as cases comprising all information available. For instance, under short reverberation time, four microphones and 150-milliseconds acquisition time performed comparably to 15 microphones and 16-seconds acquisition time. Using more sampling points reduced the effects of their arrangement in the performance. Both strategies resulted in faster control filter calculations.
AB - Sound zone techniques enable distinct listening areas in a room, allowing for separate audio playback through use of loudspeaker arrays, multiple control microphones in each zone, and carefully designed control filters. The filters are based on the Room Impulse Responses (RIRs) between each loudspeaker-microphone pair which, in some cases, can be obtained with very short acquisition times. Low frequencies, featuring longer wavelengths, allow for fewer spatial sampling points inside the sound zones, simplifying the setup and decreasing data processing requirements. This study evaluates the effects of reducing RIR acquisition times and sampling points in low frequency sound zones rendering. Different combinations of both strategies and multiple spatial sampling arrangements were explored. Their performance was evaluated in two acoustic conditions under objective metrics, and the area of influence of the system around the sound zones was also studied. Both strategies were found effective to reduce the amount of information included, while performing as good as cases comprising all information available. For instance, under short reverberation time, four microphones and 150-milliseconds acquisition time performed comparably to 15 microphones and 16-seconds acquisition time. Using more sampling points reduced the effects of their arrangement in the performance. Both strategies resulted in faster control filter calculations.
KW - Sound Zones
KW - Room impulse response
KW - Spatial sampling
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1549-4950
JO - Journal of the Audio Engineering Society
JF - Journal of the Audio Engineering Society
ER -