roland higham

system time alignment

why bother?

home In the briefest possible terms, the aim of delaying a system is to

make the reinforced sound arrive at the listener at the same time
as the natural or the sound from one loudspeaker to arrive at the
back same time as that from another. The result of this is to improve
intelligibility and 'imaging' - that is to make the sound appear to
come from the performer rather than the loudspeaker system.
Knowing how we perceive the sound we hear can help us achieve a
better result more easily.

In the real world, in all but anechoic situations (outdoor systems

can approach anechoic conditions) the sound the listener hears is a
mixture of direct and reflected sound. The auditory systems of the
ears and brain attempt to interpret this mixture into an integrated
and coherent pattern of intelligible information. Quite extensive
research has been done into how much reflected sound and at
what time intervals can be deciphered before a listener starts to
hear echoes that confuse and reduce intelligibility.

fig. 1

1. Absolute audibility of reflection threshold (Olive & Toole)

2. Image shift to broadening image threshold (Olive & Toole)