Multiple-point equalization of room transfer functions by using common acoustical poles

Abstract

A multiple-point equalization filter using the common acoustical poles of room transfer functions is proposed. The common acoustical poles correspond to the resonance frequencies, which are independent of source and receiver positions. They are estimated as common autoregressive (AR) coefficients from multiple room transfer functions. The equalization is achieved with a finite impulse response (FIR) filter, which has the inverse characteristics of the common acoustical pole function. Although the proposed filter cannot recover the frequency response dips of the multiple room transfer functions, it can suppress their common peaks due to resonance; it is also less sensitive to changes in receiver position. Evaluation of the proposed equalization filter using measured room transfer functions shows that it can reduce the deviations in the frequency characteristics of multiple room transfer functions better than a conventional multiple-point inverse filter. Experiments show that the proposed filter enables 1-5 dB additional amplifier gain in a public address system without acoustic feedback at multiple receiver positions. Furthermore, the proposed filter reduces the reflected sound in room impulse responses without the pre-echo that occurs with a multiple-point inverse filter. A multiple-point equalization filter using common acoustical poles can thus equalize multiple room transfer functions by suppressing their common peaks.