Raked, flat, angled or horizontal – A room acoustical investigation on primary shapes of simplified halls
* Presenting author
Abstract:
The primary structure of a hall may influence the acoustics of a room significantly. This paper investigates by means of objective criteria evaluation as well as informal listening tests to which extent changes in audience arrangement and ceiling shape are acoustically relevant. A set of four rooms with similar volume, surface area and materials is generated by introducing changes to the primary structure of a 4000 m³ shoebox hall. Room impulse responses of each room are simulated in ODEON and the acoustic differences of the spaces are compared regarding distribution of energy in the room and the spatial distribution of reflections of selected receiver positions. Barron curves analysis and a simplified viewing method for SDM data are employed in the comparisons and interesting correlations between shapes and data are pointed out. Finally, the simulated spatial impulse responses for two positions in each room are auralized in a 16-channel loudspeaker setup. Results of an informal listening test indicate that for this set of rooms there were sufficient perceptual differences to distinguish between pairs of different primary shapes.