Detailed early-reflection structure matters as much as reverberation time for perceived acoustics

Evidence

A major advance in acoustical design for listening to music has arisen from the realization that as well as reverberation time, the time evolution of the first part of the sound energy buildup in the room matters, that is, the detailed structure and level of the early reflections, as discussed in Chapter 6. As it is mostly the energy in the sound that is important as regards perception, the detailed evolution of the sound energy as a function of time in a room matters. Also, there are now acoustic measurement systems that can measure the energy–time curve of a room directly, thus allowing a designer to see what is happening within the room at different frequencies rather than relying on a pair of “golden ears.” — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2272

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces the energy–time curve as the central object of room acoustics design.
• XREF: Builds directly on the early-reflection perception material in Chapter 6.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2272