Lambdoma Critical Listening Room Design

Ir. Dr. James Wong

Allied Environmental Consultants Limited, Hong Kong

What is a Critical Listening Room?

We often listen to recorded sound in small spaces. We listen to music, and watch television and movies, in both stereo and surround, in rooms that are much smaller that the recording environments. If one wishes to evaluate the sound in these environments then it is necessary to make them suitable for this purpose.

Loudspeaker arrangements for critical listening

Loudspeaker arrangements for critical listening

Before we examine specic room designs, let us rst examine the optimum speaker layouts for both stereo and 5.1 surround systems. The reason for doing this is that most modern room designs for critical listening need to know where the speakers will be in order to be designed. It is also pretty pointless having a wonderful room if the speakers are not in an optimum arrangement.

Optimum stereo speakers layout

They should form an equilateral triangle with the center of the listening position.

Typical speaker layout for 5.1 surround

5.1 surround
Center dialog speaker: The dialog is replayed via a central speaker because this has been found to give better speech intelligibility over a stereo presentation. Interestingly the fact that the speech is not in stereo is not noticeable because the visual cue dominates so that we hear the sound coming from the person speaking on the screen even if their sound is coming from a different direction.

Surround speakers: The ambient sounds, and sound effects, are diffused via rear mounted speakers. However they are, in the main, not supposed to provide directional effects and so are often deliberately designed, and fed signals, to minimize their correlation with each other and the front speakers. The effect of this is to fool the hearing system into perceiving the sound as all around with no specic direction. Low-frequency effects: This is required because many of the sound effects used in lm and video, such as explosions and punches, have substantial low-frequency and subsonic content. Thus, a specialized speaker is needed to reproduce these sounds properly. Note: this speaker was never intended to reproduce music signals, notwithstanding their presence in many surround music systems. More recently systems using six or more channels have also been proposed and implemented.

IEC listening rooms

(The International Electrotechnical Commission is the international standards and conformity assessment body for all elds of electrotechnology)

The rst type of critical listening room is the IEC listening room (IEC, 2003). This is essentially a conventional room that meets certain minimum requirements: a reverberation time that is at, and between 0.3 and 0.6 seconds above 200 Hz, a low noise level, an even mode distribution and a recommended oor area.

IEC listening room

The listening roomis designed in accordance with the IEC 268-13 standard and is suitable for subjective evaluations of reproduced sounds from loudspeakers. The room provides standard listening conditions in which audiovisual equipment, hi- systems, loudspeakers or recordings can be assessed subjectively. The acoustics are similar to those of a living room in a house rather than the deadness of an anechoic room.

However, for critically listening to music mixes, etc. something more is required and these types of room
Control reverberation. Control the time evolution and level of early reections. Take advantage of the fact that the speakers are in specic locations to do this and very often have an asymmetric acoustic that is different for the listener and the loudspeakers.

Three basic types:

Reection controlled rooms, Non-environment rooms, and Diffuse reection rooms.

" An idealized energy" time curve

It has three major features

It has three major features:

A gap between the direct sound and rst reections. The presence of high-level diffuse early reections, which come to the listener predominantly from the side, that is, lateral early reections. A smoothly decaying diffuse reverberant eld which has no obvious defects, and no modal behavior, and whose time of decay is appropriate to the style of music being performed.

Reection-controlled rooms
The effect of a shorter initial time delay gap in the listening room. Here the rst reection the listener hears is due to the wall in the listening room and not the acoustic space of the sound that has been recorded. Because of the precedence effect this reection dominates, and the replayed sound is perceived as coming from a space the size of the listening room, which is clearly undesirable.

Maximizing the initial time delay by suppressing early reections

Making the sound from the loudspeakers appear as if it is coming from a larger space by suppressing the early reections from the nearby walls

Achieving a reflection-free zone using absorption

ACHIEVING A REFLECTION-FREE ZONE USING ABSORPTION

EXAMPLES OF THIS APPROACH ARE: "LIVE END DEAD END" (LEDE) (DAVIES AND DAVIES, 1980), "REFLECTION FREE ZONE" (RFZ) (D'ANTONIO AND KONNERT, 1984), AND CONTROLLED REFLECTION ROOMS (WALKER, 1993, 1998).

LEDE / RFZ / CR ROOMS

Controlled reection room

The effect can also be achieved by using angled or shaped walls

Controlled reection room for freestanding loudspeakers

Sony Music M1, New York, NY.

REFLECTION-FREE ZONES
WORKING OUT WHERE ABSORPTION SHOULD BE PLACED IN A ROOM TO CONTROL EARLY REFLECTIONS.

Non-environment room principles

To minimize the amount of absorption needed one should make the listening area as small as possible because larger reection free volumes require larger absorption patches.

A non-environment listening room

Proponents of this style of room say that the lack of anything but the direct sound makes it much easier to hear low-level detail in the reproduced audio and provides excellent stereo imaging. This is almost certainly due to the removal of any conicting cues in the sound, as the oor reection has very little effect on the stereo image.

A non-environment room
"The Lab," at the Liverpool Music House These absorbers can take up a considerable amount of space.

The diffuse reection room

An other approach to controlling early reections is not to try to suppress or redirect them, but instead diffuse them. This results in a reduced reection level but does not absorb them.

The geometry for calculating the intensity of an early reection from a diffuse surface.
For an ideal scatterer, the intensity of the reection is given by the product of the equation describing the intensity from the source and the one describing the sound intensity radiated by the diffuser. Idiffuse reection = (WSource / 4rs2) (2 / 4rd2)

A diffuse reection room

"Studio C," at Blackbird Studio, Nashville. The fact that the reections are diffuse also results in an absence of focusing effects away from the optimum listening position and this should result in a more gradual degradation of the listening environment away from the optimum listening position.

Fit for the purpose?

We have examined various techniques for achieving a good acoustic environment for hearing both stereo and multi-channel music. However, the design of a practical critical listening room requires many detailed considerations regarding room treatment, sound isolation, air conditioning, etc. Critical listening room for healing/wellness purpose.

Body structure The Effects of Vibration on Body

Body structure The Effects of Vibration on Body

Body Structure: Resonance phenomenon

SKELETAL

DIGESTIVE

MUSCULAR

LYMPHATIC

ENDOCRINE

NERVOUS

CARDIOVASCULAR

MALE REPRODUCTIVE

FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE

URINARY

NOTES AND FREQUENCIES OF THE ORGANS OF THE BODY

RESEARCH WITH SINE SOUNDS (1982-1988) By: Barbara Hero
FUNCTION OF THE BODY ORGAN
BLOOD ADRENALS KIDNEY LIVER BLADDER INTESTINES LUNGS

FREQUENCY/NOTE
321.9 (E) 492.8 (B) 319.88 (Eb) 317.83 (Eb) 352 (F) 281. (C#) 220 (A) 176 (F) 164.3 (E) 117.3 (C#) 110 (A) 315.8 (Eb) 295.8 (C#) 324 (E) 418,3 (Ab)

MUSICAL NOTE C+ C# B E Ab F# C# A F# E C# A B

FREQUENCY (Hz) 264 586 492 330 198 352

Personality Circulation,Sex
Adrenals,Thyroid & Parathyroid

Kidney Liver Bladder Small Intestine Lungs Colon Gall Bladder Pancreas Stomach Spleen

COLON

281.6
GALL BLADDER

220 176 330 117.3 110 492

PANCREAS STOMACH BRAIN FAT CELLS MUSCLES BONE

BODY STRUCTURE: RESONANCE PHENOMENON

ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

IF WE TAKE THE RADIUS OF THE CIRCLE TO BE 2 AND THEN ALIGN ONE FULL CYCLE OF A HARMONIC STANDING WAVE WITH THE NAVEL, THE FIFTH HARMONIC (A 3:2 PROPORTION) CAN BE FOUND TO MATCH THE CURVATURE OF THE HUMAN SPINE. MORE AMAZING THAN THIS, THE LOCATION AND SPACING OF THE SEVEN TONES OF A MUSICAL MAJOR SCALE ALIGN WITH THE SEVEN HINDU CHAKRA LOCATIONS IN THE BODY.
BY: RICHARD MERRICK

REVERSE ENGINEERING THE GEOMETRY OF HUMAN BODY

THE BASIC HARMONIC FRAMEWORK OF THE BODY USING THE PHYSICS OF A CIRCULAR

REVERSE ENGINEERING THE GEOMETRY OF HUMAN BODY

EMBRYONIC GEOMETRY AS HARMONIC INTERFERENCE PATTERN BETWEEN A SPIRAL AND A CIRCLE

The Tiller Model

Dr. William Tiller, a professor emeritus and researcher at the Stanford Department of Material Science, offers the following model: FUNCTION <===> STRUCTURE <===> POSITIVE TIME-SPACE ENERGIES (PHYSICAL BODY) <===> NEGATIVE TIME-SPACE ENERGIES (THE ETHERIC BODY) <===> MIND <===> SPIRIT <===> DIVINE

BREAKTHROUGHS IN UNDERSTANDING THE ENIGMA

BARBARA HEROS RESEARCH IN LAMBDOMA AND FREQUENCIES

CHAKRA ENERGY CENTERS OF OUR BODIES CHAKRA

TRANSPERSONAL CROWN unknown THIRD EYE PSYCHIC CENTER unknown unknown THROAT THYMUS HEART SOLAR PLEXUS DIAPHRAGM unknown POLARITY ROOT

FREQUENCY/MUSICAL NOTE
273(1:15)C#(EARTH ORBIT 272) 480(15:1)B 445(1:9)Bb (VENUS ORBIT 442) 448(14:1)A 416(13:1)Ab (URANUS ORBIT 415) 410(1:10)Ab-(VENUS SPIN 409) 372(1:11)G#(EARTH SPIN 378) 384(12:1)G 352(11:1)F# 341(1:12)F 320(10:1)Eb 315(1:13)D# 293(1:14)D+(SATURN ORBIT 296) 288(9:1)D (MARS ORBIT 289) 256(1:1)C

CHAKRA ENERGY CENTERS OF OUR BODIES

BARBARA HEROS RESEARCH IN LAMBDOMA AND FREQUENCIES

CHAKRA ROOM RESONANCES by Barbara Hero CHAKRAS ROOT POLARITY DIAPHRAGM SOLAR PLEXUS HEART THROAT VENUSIAN GAIA (EARTH) PSYCHIC CENTER THIRD EYE CROWN TRANSPERSONAL DIAPHRAGM2 POLARITY2 CROWN NOTE/FREQ C (126 cps) D (283 cps) D# (75 cps) E (161 cps) F (87 cps) G (188 cps) G+ (49 cps) G# (54 cps) Ab (103 cps) Bb (113 cps) B (59 cps) C# (66 cps) D# (39 cps) D+ (36 cps) B (30 cps) ROOM SIZE FEET 9, 18, 36, 72, 144, 288 4, 8, 16, 32, 128, 256 15, 30, 60, 120, 240, 480 7, 14, 28, 56, 112, 224 13, 26, 52, 104, 208, 416 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, 192, 384 23, 46, 92, 184, 368, 736 21, 42, 84, 168, 336, 672 11, 22, 44, 88, 176, 352 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 19, 38, 76, 152, 204, 408 17, 34, 68, 136, 272, 554 29, 58, 116, 232, 464, 928 31, 62, 124, 248, 496, 992 37, 74, 148, 296, 592, 1184 MIDDLE OCTAVE (252 cps) (283 cps) (300 cps) (322 cps) (348 cps) (376 cps) (392 cps) (432 cps) (412 cps) (452 cps) (472 cps) (264 cps) (312 cps) (288 cps) (480 cps)

ROOM DIMENSIONS AND WAVELENGTHS OF SOUND

BARBARA HEROS RESEARCH IN LAMBDOMA AND FREQUENCIES

Subtle Bodies

Dr. Gerber's Updated Edition of "Vibrational Medicine, New Choices for Healing Ourselves"

From an energetic standpoint, the human body, when weakened or shifted from equilibrium, oscillates at a different and less harmonious frequency than when healthy. This abnormal frequency reects a general state of cellular energetic imbalance within the physical body. When a weakened individual is unable to shift their energetic mode to the needed frequency a certain amount of subtle energetic help may be needed. When supplied with a dose of the needed energetic frequency, it allows the cellular bioenergetic systems to resonate in the proper vibrational mode, thereby throwing off the toxicities of the illness. Energy disturbances in the etheric (subtle) body precede the manifestation of illness in the physical body.

The Heart Chakra

It is the center for unconditional love, tolerance, empathy, forgiveness, and compassion. It is the seat of the soul. The Heart, or Fourth Chakra, governs life lessons involving love and compassion, self condence and self acceptance, inspiration and hope, generosity, and on the ip side, feelings of despair, hate, envy, fear, jealousy, and anger. Information stored in the Heart Chakra includes the connections or "heart strings" to those we love. An imbalance in the Heart Chakra may be felt as a lack of self discipline, difculty in relationships, attempts to live vicariously through others, and depending on someone else for your happiness.

Calculation of the Speed of Sound c in Air and the effective Temperature

The important Air Temperature and the non-relevant Atmospheric pressure (Air pressure) At 0C is 0 = 1.293 kg/m3, Z0 = 428 Ns/m3, and c0 = 331 m/s At 15C is 15 = 1.225 kg/m3, Z15 = 417 Ns/m3, and c15 = 340 m/s At 20C is 20 = 1.204 kg/m3, Z20 = 413 Ns/m3, and c20 = 343 m/s At 25C is 25 = 1.184 kg/m3, Z25 = 410 Ns/m3, and c25 = 346 m/s Air density or density of air, air impedanceZ, speed of soundc The speed of sound in air is determined by the air itself and is not dependent upon the amplitude, frequency, or wavelength of the sound.

Heart Chakra /Seal Lambdoma Dimensions

1 foot = 0.3048 meters c 15, air temperature at 15C, speed of sound at sea level = 340 m / s speed of sound = frequency x wavelength Heart Chakra Resonance - 341 Hz
S.I. F (87 Hz) UNITS/DIMENSION NOTE/FREQ ROOM SIZE MIDDLE OCTAVE

Imperial

F (87 cps)

13, 26, 52, 104, 208, 416 (feet) 7.92, 15.85, 31.70, 63.40, 126.80, 253.59 (meters)

(348 cps)

(348 Hz)/0.98m

Speed of Sound c

Room Air Temperature (C)

Wavelength (m)

343 346

20 25

1.006 1.014

Lambdoma Dimensions for Heart Chakra/Seal Air Temperature 20C - 25C, 341 Hz / 1.006 m 1.014m, say 1.01m (in meters)

1.01 2.01 3.02 4.02 5.03 6.04 7.04 8.05

0.50 1.01 1.51 2.01 2.52 3.02 3.52 4.02

0.34 0.67 1.01 1.34 1.68 2.01 2.35 2.68

0.25 0.50 0.75 1.01 1.26 1.51 1.76 2.01

0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.01 1.21 1.41 1.61

0.17 0.34 0.50 0.67 0.84 1.01 1.17 1.34

0.14 0.29 0.43 0.57 0.72 0.86 1.01 1.15

0.13 0.25 0.38 0.50 0.63 0.75 0.88 1.01

Lambdoma Critical Listening Room Design

Controlled Reection approach. Sound sources: Lambdoma frequencies. Maximize body exposure to direct sound elds. Adjustable control reverberation. Control the time evolution and level of early reections. Take advantage of the fact that the speakers are in specic locations to do this and very often have an asymmetric acoustic that is different for the listener and the loudspeakers. Take advantage of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd reections (spheres in fractals). Diffuse and diffract sound waves by Lambdoma dimensions.

A PROJECT IN HONG KONG

ACOUSTICS, NOISE AND VIBRATION CONTROL DESIGN

THE LAMBDOMA CRITICAL LISTENING ROOM

FIT FOR THE PURPOSE: ENTERTAINMENT AND WELLNESS

THE LAMBDOMA CRITICAL LISTENING ROOM

CONTRACTOR DRAWING: PLAN

THE LAMBDOMA CRITICAL LISTENING ROOM

CONTRACTOR DRAWING: REFLECTED CEILING PLAN

THE LAMBDOMA CRITICAL LISTENING ROOM

CONTRACTOR DRAWING: ELEVATION SECTION A-A

THE LAMBDOMA CRITICAL LISTENING ROOM

CONTRACTOR DRAWING: AIR CONDITIONING DUCT WORKS WITH SILENCERS

THE LAMBDOMA CRITICAL LISTENING ROOM

CONTRACTOR DRAWING: VIBRATION ISOLATOR LOCATIONS

THE LAMBDOMA CRITICAL LISTENING ROOM

CONTRACTOR DRAWINGS: VIBRATION ISOLATOR LOCATIONS

THE LAMBDOMA CRITICAL LISTENING ROOM

CONTRACTOR DRAWINGS: BACK WALL REFLECTOR DETAILS

THE LAMBDOMA CRITICAL LISTENING ROOM

CONTRACTOR DRAWING: ACOUSTICS DOOR ON BACK WALL

THE LAMBDOMA CRITICAL LISTENING ROOM

APRIL, 2009

THE LAMBDOMA CRITICAL LISTENING ROOM

OCTOBER, 2009

THE LAMBDOMA CRITICAL LISTENING ROOM

FEBURARY, 2010

THE LAMBDOMA CRITICAL LISTENING ROOM

FINAL ACOUSTICS TESTING MEASUREMENTS: APRIL, 2010

Thank you.

Ir. Dr. James Wong

Allied Environmental Consultants Limited, Hong Kong