Room compensation for loudspeaker reproduction using a supporting source

Room compensation aims to improve the accuracy of loudspeaker reproduction in reverberant environments. Traditional methods, however, are limited to improving only spectral (timbral) and temporal accuracy, neglecting the spatial accuracy of loudspeaker reproduction. Proposed is a method that compensates for both spectral and spatial properties of loudspeaker reproduction, by adding energy to the perceived reverberant sound field in a frequency-selective manner using a delayed secondary supporting source. This approach allows for the modification of the direct to reverberant ratio as a function of frequency, altering spatial and spectral reproduction. The proposed method is perceptually evaluated, demonstrating its ability to alter the perception of a primary loudspeaker without the listener perceiving the supporting source. The results show that the proposed method performs comparably to a well-established commercial room compensation algorithm and has several advantages over traditional room compensation methods.

Room impulse response prototyping using receiver distance estimations for high quality room equalisation algorithms

Room equalisation aims to increase the quality of loudspeaker reproduction in reverberant environments, compensating for colouration caused by imperfect room reflections and frequency dependant loudspeaker directivity. A common technique in the field of room equalisation, is to invert a prototype Room Impulse Response (RIR). Rather than inverting a single RIR at the listening position, a prototype response is composed of several responses distributed around the listening area. This paper proposes a method of impulse response prototyping, using estimated receiver positions, to form a weighted average prototype response. A method of receiver distance estimation is described, supporting the implementation of the prototype RIR. The proposed prototyping method is compared to other methods by measuring their post equalisation spectral deviation at several positions in a simulated room.

Reverberant sound field equalisation for an enhanced stereo playback experience

The topic of room equalisation has been at the forefront of research and product development for many years, with the aim of increasing the playback quality of loudspeakers in reverberant rooms. Traditional room equalisation systems comprise of a number of filters that when applied to the primary loudspeakers, additional room colouration is compensated for. This publication introduces a novel equalisation technique where gammatone filter band energy is added to the reverberant sound field via two surround loudspeakers, leaving the direct sound from the primary loudspeakers unaltered, but the sum of direct and reverberant energy is equalised at the listening position. Unlike traditional systems, this method allows the target function of the direct sound to differ from the reverberant sound field. The proposed method is motivated by the different roles direct and reverberant sound components play in humans perception of sound. Along with introducing the proposed method, results from a subjective listening test are presented, demonstrating the preference towards the proposed technique when compared to a traditional room equalisation technique and stereo playback.