Consulting applications for an acoustical simulation room.

Abstract

An acoustical simulation room was constructed for acoustical consulting use. The design criteria called for a space that could simulate the background noise, reverberation, spectral, time based, and directional response of proposed and existing spaces. Readily available professional audio and acoustical products were utilized for implementation into a dedicated space. These include programmable delays, reverberation processors, equalizers, and mixers as well as numerous amplifiers and loudspeakers. Significant use of digital audio interfacing was utilized to maximize system signal-to-noise ratios. Applications have included simulation of the acoustical response to architectural spaces and mechanical system noise for subjective evaluation; simulation of diffuse sound fields for attentuation evaluations; and simulation of a sound reinforcement system and masking response for intelligibility studies and subjective evaluation. Binaurally recorded demonstrations of the Orfield Associates Acoustical Simulation Room will be available at the end of the session.