Measurements of the subjective acoustical parameters on orchestra platform

Abstract

This paper deals with the relationship between the subjective room acoustical parameters and the objective properties of the sound field on an orchestra platform. A set of acoustical parameters is investigated and subjective preference tests are conducted both on a real platform and a simulated platform of a concert hall. Parameters EDT, RT, C80, D, Ts, 1-IACC (or LEF) are used for assessments of the quality of the stage acoustics. Advantages and limitations of computer simulations versus field experiments are discussed and both experiments are reviewed, in which the EDT/RT and spatial impressions are investigated. From the subjective preference tests, it is found that musicians form their stage acoustic judgements based on their perception of reverberance, clarity, envelopment, loudness, warmth, brilliance and overall impression. In addition, the relative reverberance EDT/RT is revealed to have high correlation with the subject-averaged judgements and the spatial impression indices.