Sound Reinforcement For Designers
Course Overview

Integrates the art and science of room acoustics with
sound system design.

A sound system is no better than the room that it is placed in. This course is designed to emphasize the codependence of room acoustics and sound system design.

Although Sound Reinforcement for Operators and Sound Reinforcement for Technicians are not required course prerequisites, they do provide a beneficial structure to build upon. It is important the attendees have a similar knowledge level as those that have attended our other seminars.

Day one and two cover the measurement of the acoustic performance of enclosed spaces. The course is built around the aquisition and interpretation of the impulse response and using it to derive the room metrics of interest to sound system designers. Topics like convolution demonstrate how to integrate listening into the evaluation process. A wireless personal listening system is used for demonstrations and exercises.

Attendees need to bring a personal computer to do the exercises (click here for software requirements). The measurement data is distributed on a CD, and can be opened with any measurement program that supports .wav files.

Days three and four are devoted to a Sound System Design process that is based on the room's acoustics. This part of the course builds on day one by teaching how to manipulate the sound field ratios in a space by loudspeaker selection and placement. The attendee leaves with a good exposure to the underlying theory behind what we hear when we listen in a room and how to manipulate it by understanding the radiation characteristics of loudspeakers and arrays. Regardless of what measurement and prediction tools are use, this course will help you get more out of them.

Seminar Highlights

Room Acoustics

Fundamentals of Acoustics The impulse response and its role in system design is explored. The IR is at the heart of audio and acoustic measurements.

Acoustic Metrics Once acquired, the IR can be scored with a variety of Standard methods. These serve to quantify the room/system and the quality of sound reproduction.

Acoustic Measurements A number of methods of gathering the IR are explained and demonstrated. Software tools for gathering the IR are provided as part of the course materials. Commercial measurement programs are also used extensively.

Advanced Techniques The most powerful method of IR analysis is convolution. This lets one hear the IR and how it affects speech and music. Software tools to perform convolutions are provided.

Sound System Design

Sound Radiation Basics The principles of sound sources are presented.

Loudspeaker Parameters Loudspeaker specifications that are important to the system designer are explained. Software tools and example device files are provided.

Direct Field Coverage Methods The selection and placement of loudspeakers is demonstrated with the aid of software tools.

Distributed Loudspeaker Systems The design principles of high density distributed loudspeaker systems - software tools provided.

Acoustic Predictions Room modeling programs are used to predict coverage and energy ratios to estimate the performance of the sound system during the design phase of the project.

Case Studies Relevant case studies are used to tie it all together.

Cost: $1,100