Listener envelopment: effects of changing the sidewall
material in a model of an existing concert hall
Abstract: This master thesis examines how the perception of listener envelopment is
changed when altering the sidewall material in a computer model of a real
concert hall. The research question is based on the lack of information on
how the frequency content of the late arriving sound energy affects listener
envelopment, but also on the conclusion that envelopment is an affect to
large degree of late lateral reflective sounds. A computerized model is used
for the purpose to take the research of listener envelopment into a more
real acoustical situation than before. Alterations of the late lateral
reflections are done by using four side wall materials attaining different
sets of absorptions coefficients. A listening test is used for evaluating
the change of listener envelopment and 21 listeners conducted the test.
Results from earlier research were used to explain the attained results
from the ANOVA tests. Sidewall materials which absorbs high frequencies and
those that are nonabsorbent creates larger sensations of listener
envelopment than materials in which absorbs low, low-mid and mid
frequencies in this particular hall.
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