Talking to AI on Nostr: dave Please rewrite the following text as bulletpoints for a presentation for audio ...
dave (npub1tsg…htk4)
Please rewrite the following text as bulletpoints for a presentation for audio engineering bachelor students
Altered Subjective Perception of Sound
Let’s explore now how auditory masking affects our perception of sound in the context of loudspeaker and subwoofer setups. From the examples and graphs above, we can anticipate that if reproduction levels are set too high in the low to low-mid frequencies, auditory masking will take place and mainly compromise our hearing abilities in the spectrum above the masking tones.
In any PA system, being in a room or outdoor, if a subwoofer is reproducing an excessive level of low frequencies, subjectively the low-mid spectrum will appear muddy, undefined, lacking in clarity and dynamic. The whole musical content over say, a low-mid octave, seems blurred and out-of-focus. Certain instruments’ level are seemingly too low, the audio mix is no longer balanced. Auditory masking will occur, irrespective of the design and quality of the loudspeaker or subwoofer. Your ear/brain loose some part of the information in the low-mid spectrum.
Similarly, the same phenomena can occur with a single loudspeaker if it is placed, for example, in a corner of a room, close to two solid hard walls, without any attenuation of its low frequencies. These room boundaries will change the acoustic radiation space for the loudspeaker and a bass boost of up to 12 dB will occur below 200 Hz in the loudspeaker’s response. That’s quite a bit of extra level, and this will induce compromised sound perception in the low-mid spectrum, again.
Minimizing Auditory Masking
There are multitude of scenarios where excessive bass levels are reproduced, leading to altered subjective perception of sound and musical content and now you may wonder: what could I do to avoid this? The answer is fairly simple.
Reducing excessive amount of low frequency level either in the mix or directly in the PA system may seem frustrating, at first, as bass levels are effectively no longer as prominent. However, the benefits in doing so are immediate on the sound definition and clarity you restore in the mid to low-mid spectrum. The aim is to find the right balance, as with everything.
Practically, how to reduce excessive bass levels? Adjusting the balance of the audio mix (from the main mixer output) is one possibility. If the content is pre-recorded and replayed, you will not be able to do this and you basically need to adjust your PA system. QSC K.2 Series™ loudspeakers and KS Series subwoofers all have on-board EQ, which allow you to easily setup a shelving-filter below 200 Hz, for example. These flexible and easy-to-use EQ can be setup and saved in the loudspeaker’s internal memory as user ‘Scene´, which can be recalled any time for your typical use cases.
Additionally, QSC TouchMix mixers provide all needed functionalities to adjust their main or Aux outputs precisely using typical EQ parameters.
Conclusion
When excessive low frequency content is reproduced via your PA system, the so-called auditory masking phenomena will occur, compromising your perception of sound. In order to retrieve definition, clarity and balance of the audio content, the reduction of some low frequency level is necessary. Doing so, all elements in the mix will be balanced again, recreating a proper three-dimensional sound stage. Remember that what we are listening to is the complex combination and interaction between the sound source, the environment we are in and the way our ears and brain decode sounds. It is useful, therefore, to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each element in the chain. Happy listening!
Please rewrite the following text as bulletpoints for a presentation for audio engineering bachelor students
Altered Subjective Perception of Sound
Let’s explore now how auditory masking affects our perception of sound in the context of loudspeaker and subwoofer setups. From the examples and graphs above, we can anticipate that if reproduction levels are set too high in the low to low-mid frequencies, auditory masking will take place and mainly compromise our hearing abilities in the spectrum above the masking tones.
In any PA system, being in a room or outdoor, if a subwoofer is reproducing an excessive level of low frequencies, subjectively the low-mid spectrum will appear muddy, undefined, lacking in clarity and dynamic. The whole musical content over say, a low-mid octave, seems blurred and out-of-focus. Certain instruments’ level are seemingly too low, the audio mix is no longer balanced. Auditory masking will occur, irrespective of the design and quality of the loudspeaker or subwoofer. Your ear/brain loose some part of the information in the low-mid spectrum.
Similarly, the same phenomena can occur with a single loudspeaker if it is placed, for example, in a corner of a room, close to two solid hard walls, without any attenuation of its low frequencies. These room boundaries will change the acoustic radiation space for the loudspeaker and a bass boost of up to 12 dB will occur below 200 Hz in the loudspeaker’s response. That’s quite a bit of extra level, and this will induce compromised sound perception in the low-mid spectrum, again.
Minimizing Auditory Masking
There are multitude of scenarios where excessive bass levels are reproduced, leading to altered subjective perception of sound and musical content and now you may wonder: what could I do to avoid this? The answer is fairly simple.
Reducing excessive amount of low frequency level either in the mix or directly in the PA system may seem frustrating, at first, as bass levels are effectively no longer as prominent. However, the benefits in doing so are immediate on the sound definition and clarity you restore in the mid to low-mid spectrum. The aim is to find the right balance, as with everything.
Practically, how to reduce excessive bass levels? Adjusting the balance of the audio mix (from the main mixer output) is one possibility. If the content is pre-recorded and replayed, you will not be able to do this and you basically need to adjust your PA system. QSC K.2 Series™ loudspeakers and KS Series subwoofers all have on-board EQ, which allow you to easily setup a shelving-filter below 200 Hz, for example. These flexible and easy-to-use EQ can be setup and saved in the loudspeaker’s internal memory as user ‘Scene´, which can be recalled any time for your typical use cases.
Additionally, QSC TouchMix mixers provide all needed functionalities to adjust their main or Aux outputs precisely using typical EQ parameters.
Conclusion
When excessive low frequency content is reproduced via your PA system, the so-called auditory masking phenomena will occur, compromising your perception of sound. In order to retrieve definition, clarity and balance of the audio content, the reduction of some low frequency level is necessary. Doing so, all elements in the mix will be balanced again, recreating a proper three-dimensional sound stage. Remember that what we are listening to is the complex combination and interaction between the sound source, the environment we are in and the way our ears and brain decode sounds. It is useful, therefore, to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each element in the chain. Happy listening!