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In the Forum: Horn-Loaded Speakers
In the Thread: How to USE “Resonating Oops” in loudspeakers
Post Subject: Ambience speakersPosted by drdna on: 12/9/2007

After thinking about this for a while, I have had a thought that should be relatively easy for anyone motivated to explore and I would be interested to see what others on this forum observe from such experiments.

Fundamentally I think the injection channel and layered sound are different things.  The injection channel is designed simply to compensate for the timbral shortcomings of a particular driver.  However, because of lobing effects, etc. it is never this simple.  There will be overlap into the realm of the Layered Sound effect, which is intended to mix directional sound with omnidirectional sound.

In most recordings, even simple two microphone recordings, there will be source input from several directions hitting the microphone diaphragm.  When we reproduce this unidirectionally with horn speakers it is a compromise.  BUT we cannot reproduce the exact directions of the original input, since this vector information is not recorded, only simply LEFT or RIGHT channel.  We therefore rely on small cues of secondary reflections etc. to clarify the data.  AND we cannot even begin to assess the vast majority of original musical source vibrations that occured at the many areas the microphones were not placed.

Layered Sound attempts to create semi-unidirectional sound to accomodate this.  But without time alignment, etc., really it is just an approximation of infinite reflections in a theoretical acoustic space with infinitely variable surfaces.

Most hall reflection sounds will be lower frequencies of variable localizability.  To approximate this simply, we might try to hook up a mid-woofer speaker in an out-of-phase configuration.  The exact cutoff frequency and loudness amplitude will remain to be determined.  For most of us using high efficiency horns, hooking up a low efficiency dynamic woofer speaker may be sufficient as it will be many dB down.  This also helps to explain why many designs with side or back firing woofers have reasonable sound.  Simply because it creates a simulation of hall ambience we associate with live music.

People using a multi-speaker woofer array may simply consider switching one driver on one side out of phase.

So, I wonder if hooking up a second set of woofers at very low amplitude out of phase in conjunction with the existing directional system may add an element of simulated hall ambience that makes the overall experience more like live music.

I would be very interested to see what other people think if they give it a try.

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