Mediaspace scheduled maintenance: Aug 25, 2026 07:00 - 12:00 AM. During this time, videos will be temporarily unavailable. Check status updates.

Lecture

Reverberation Time Measurements

In course

EE-548: Audio engineering

This lecture is oriented towards the study of audio engineering, room acoustics, sound propagation, and sound radiation from sources and acoustic antennas. The learning outcomes will be the techniques for microphones and loudspeaker design, as well as room ...

Description

This lecture covers the measurement of reverberation time in rooms using pink noise and microphones, the Schroeder method, and absorption factors calculations based on Sabine's formula. It also discusses the impact of background noise on measurements.

Instructor

Hervé Lissek

Official source

Related concepts (25)

Pink noise

Pink noise, noise or fractal noise is a signal or process with a frequency spectrum such that the power spectral density (power per frequency interval) is inversely proportional to the frequency of the signal. In pink noise, each octave interval (halving or doubling in frequency) carries an equal amount of noise energy. Pink noise sounds like a waterfall. It is often used to tune loudspeaker systems in professional audio. Pink noise is one of the most commonly observed signals in biological systems.

Acoustics

Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician while someone working in the field of acoustics technology may be called an acoustical engineer. The application of acoustics is present in almost all aspects of modern society with the most obvious being the audio and noise control industries.

Architectural acoustics

Architectural acoustics (also known as building acoustics) is the science and engineering of achieving a good sound within a building and is a branch of acoustical engineering. The first application of modern scientific methods to architectural acoustics was carried out by the American physicist Wallace Sabine in the Fogg Museum lecture room. He applied his newfound knowledge to the design of Symphony Hall, Boston.

Room acoustics

Room acoustics is a subfield of acoustics dealing with the behaviour of sound in enclosed or partially-enclosed spaces. The architectural details of a room influences the behaviour of sound waves within it, with the effects varying by frequency. Acoustic reflection, diffraction, and diffusion can combine to create audible phenomena such as room modes and standing waves at specific frequencies and locations, echos, and unique reverberation patterns.

Colors of noise

In audio engineering, electronics, physics, and many other fields, the color of noise or noise spectrum refers to the power spectrum of a noise signal (a signal produced by a stochastic process). Different colors of noise have significantly different properties. For example, as audio signals they will sound differently to human ears, and as they will have a visibly different texture. Therefore, each application typically requires noise of a specific color.

Related lectures (34)

Can One Hear the Shape of a Room

Explores sound propagation in rooms, room impulse responses, and reconstructing room shapes.

Perception of Sound and Room Acoustics: Electroacoustics and Audio Engineering

Explores sound perception, room acoustics, and electroacoustics, covering physical principles and practical applications.

Room Acoustics: Resonance Frequencies and Modal Decay Time

Explores resonance frequencies, transfer functions, and modal decay times in room acoustics.

Geometrical Acoustics: Simulation and Criteria

Explores applications and criteria of geometrical acoustics in audio engineering.

Electroacoustics: Notions of Acoustics