Critical distance is the point where direct and reverberant sound levels are equal.

Evidence

The distance at which the reverberant level equals the direct sound-the critical distance-can also be calculated using these equations. At the critical distance the intensity due to the direct field and the power in the reverberant field at a given point are equal, so we can equate Equation 6.1 and Equation 6.8 to give: Equation 6. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1790

Categorization

• DEFINE: Names and formally defines the critical distance, the central concept of this chapter.