A theory for individual preference of designing the sound field in a concert hall.

Abstract

The scale value S [Y. Ando, ConcertHallAcoustics (Springer-Verlag, New York, 1985)], which is obtained by the law of comparative judgment and confirmed by the test of goodness of fit, may be inversely transformed into the original probability P(B≳A). Consider first of all the simplest case consisting of only two kinds of sound fields A and B in a concert hall, and if S=−1.0, then P(B≳A)=0.84 and P(B<A)=0.16. This means that 84% of listeners judge that sound field B is preferred over A, and 16% of listeners judge A as more preferred. For the purpose of obtaining preferred conditions for different listeners, such a relationship should be satisfied by the number of seats. In order to determine the number of seats in reference to that of the most preferred condition, for the majority of listeners, probability index (PI) is defined by PI=P(B<A)/P(B≳A), 0≤PI≤1.0. If P(B≳A)=0.5, then PI=1.0, which implies the most preferred condition. After construction of the concert hall, a seat selection system for each listener is used to enhance the listener’s satisfaction.