Signal Processing and Speech Communication Laboratory
hometheses & projects › Specification of a Standardized Listening Room for an Expert Listening Panel

Specification of a Standardized Listening Room for an Expert Listening Panel

Status
Finished
Type
Master Project
Announcement date
01 Jan 2009
Student
Andrea Sereinig
Mentors
  • Maria Fellner
Research Areas

Abstract

Within this work a listening room was specified which fulfils one of the current standards for the assessment of audio systems. The aim of this work was to determine the inner life of the target room to meet the requirements of the chosen standard. First, former similar listening room projects were searched for. Subsequently, the major currently existing standards for the assessment of audio systems and sound material were quoted and compared, thereupon the most suitable was chosen. The choice that was taken was the ITU-R BS 1116-1 standard because of the small floor area of the existing target room at the JOANNEUM RESEARCH site in Schießstattgasse 14b/I, 8010 Graz, Austria.

To be able to simulate the room’s acoustics, the its geometry was implemented in the commercially available software CATT Acoustic®. The calibration of the simulation was then accomplished with values obtained by a thorough measurement of the empty target room by employing the commercially available software WinMLS. Afterwards, the optimization process could be started. The chosen standard, however, primarily defines the reverberation time of a listening room. Thus the virtual room was equipped in order to attenuate the sound field in accordance with the standard’s requirements.

As a result, two solutions for a listening room are presented. One variation was implemented using the existent step in the ceiling. The second variation omits the step. Both approaches yielded quite good reverberation time results when using slightly different material for each of the rooms. In addition, a list of the required acoustic material, furniture and sound system is given along with exact planing on how and where to place them. Moreover, an estimate of the costs for the entire fixture is presented.

Full Text and additional Material

You can download the full version of the diploma thesis here.

Notice

As in 2011 the Acoustics and Audio Group moved from the Institute of Broadband Communications (IBK) to the Signal Processing and Speech Communications Laboratory (SPSC), the puplishing location of this thesis also was transfered from the IBK to the SPSC-website.