Room reverberation equilibrium mirrors a leaky bucket’s steady-state water level

Evidence

If a steady tone, such as an organ note, is played in the space then after a period of time the reverberant sound will reach a constant level because at that point the sound power input balances the power lost by absorption in the space. This means that the steady-state level will be higher in rooms that have a small amount of absorption, compared with rooms that have a lot of absorption. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1781 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

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 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Room absorption determines the steady-state level of reverberant sound — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1781; Low absorber rooms raise overall sound level because reverberant energy persists longer — 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
• Low absorber rooms raise overall sound level because reverberant energy persists longer #corroborates (0.80) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1756