Low absorber rooms raise overall sound level because reverberant energy persists longer
Evidence
Second, because in the steady state the reverberant sound at any time instant is the sum of all the energy in the reverberation tail, the overall sound level is increased by reverberation. The level of the reverberation will depend on how fast the sound is absorbed in the room. A low level of absorption will result in sound that stays around in the room for longer and so will give a higher level of reverberant field. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1756
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the direct-vs-reverberant field distinction and critical distance in the preceding passage. — connects to: Occupied audiences absorb up to 90 percent of incident sound in a hall; Physical sound absorption can be strong enough to measurably alter room reverberation; Reflected sound fields dominate at low frequencies for almost all sources — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 1213 (+10 more)
- corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1756
Broader Connections
- Room absorption determines the steady-state level of reverberant sound
#corroborates(0.95) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1781 - Room sound energy decays exponentially through repeated surface absorptions
#expands(0.85) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1830 - Smaller rooms produce louder reverberant fields but shorter reverberation times
#qualifies(0.80) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1806 - Reverberation time depends on room volume and surface area, not absorption alone.
#corroborates(0.80) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2476 - Halls vary reverberation time by either adding volume or adding absorption
#expands(0.75)