Absorbing first reflections cascades to attenuate the whole reflected sound field

Evidence

The amount of sound energy available for contribution to the reverberant field is also a function of the absorption, because if there is a large amount of absorption, there will be less direct sound reflected off a surface to contribute to the reverberant field-remember that before the first reflection, the sound is direct sound. The amount of sound energy available to contribute to the reverberant field is therefore proportional to the residual energy left after the first reflection, Reverberant level is that which allows input to equal output FIGURE 6. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1763 (#expands, via linked claim)

The decay of the reverberant field level: When a tone in the space stops, or after a transient, the reverberant sound level will not reduce immediately but will instead decay at a rate determined by the amount of sound energy that is absorbed at each reflection. Thus in spaces with a small amount of absorption, the reverberant field will take longer to decay. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1743 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Nearby reflecting surfaces constructively pile up wave reflections to amplify sound; Anti-reflection coatings work by breaking impedance mismatch into graded steps; Real reflections are attenuated enough to tame comb filtering drastically (+4 more)

Related

• Absorption coefficients reduce reflected intensity by their proportion (similarity 0.95)
• Higher absorption reduces the first-reflection energy that feeds the reverberant field (similarity 0.94)
• Absorption at each reflection governs how fast reverberation decays (similarity 0.94)
• Surface absorption weakens early reflections below inverse-square-law predictions (similarity 0.94)
• ASW depends most on mid-frequency reflections within the first 80 ms (similarity 0.90)
• A reverberant field requires roughly twenty or more reflections to exist. (similarity 0.89)
• Redirecting reflections creates uneven hot spots while absorption shortens reverberation (similarity 0.88)
• Reverberation time depends on both surface absorption and time between reflections (similarity 0.87)
• Reflected sound intensity is reduced in proportion to the absorption coefficient (similarity 0.87)
• Reflected sound obeys an inverse square law in addition to surface absorption losses (similarity 0.87)
• Low absorption levels increase reverberant field level by sustaining sound energy (similarity 0.86)
• Reverberant sound level stays constant with listener position because reflections arrive from all directions (similarity 0.85)
• Physical sound absorption can be strong enough to measurably alter room reverberation (similarity 0.85)
• A large low-absorption area can outweigh a small high-absorption one in a room (similarity 0.85)
• Reflected sound fields dominate at low frequencies for almost all sources (similarity 0.84)

Broader Connections

• Higher absorption reduces the first-reflection energy that feeds the reverberant field #expands (0.92) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1763
• Absorption at each reflection governs how fast reverberation decays #expands (0.75) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1743