Acoustics sound systems for baseball

Abstract

Acoustic considerations impact the design of sound systems for baseball stadiums in several important ways. Intrusion by the sound system into adjacent residential communities must often be minimized. Excess attenuation greatly increases the required high frequency component of acoustic power for sound travelling long distances, while wind and temperature gradients modify the effective coverage patterns of loudspeaker systems, and exacerbate community noise problems. These atmospheric effects can vary radically from moment to moment. These considerations tend to favor use of distributed systems, at the same time architectural considerations make them more difficult to implement. And especially with distributed systems, the timing of sound arrivals at each listener’s ear is often more important than the overall amplitude of the sound field. In modern stadiums, other auxiliary systems are required. Crowd mics fed to distributed loudspeakers must bring the crack of the bat and the ‘‘smell of the crowd’’ into private suites which are often enclosed. That crowd noise, along with the public address announcer, must also be fed to broadcast media for their use. Timing is also an issue with these systems. This paper addresses both design challenges and practical solutions.