ROOMS:

REVERBERATION TIME

1. SCOPE

This document specifies methods to measure the reverberation

time in rooms. The methods are not intended to be used in con-
sert halls and other special acoustical spaces. In these cases
other, more sophisticated methods are usually required. The
methods are primarily intended for use within the frequency
range 100-5000 Hz. In Annex A an example of conversion of rever-
beration time measured in 1/3-octave bands to 1/1-octave bands
is given. Annex A is not an integral part of this method.

2. FIELD OF APPLICATION

The results obtained according to this document can be used to

verify the fulfillment of building code regulations as to re-
verberation time in rooms.

published by key words classification

NORDTEST rooms UDC 534.84
Tekniikantie 12 reverberation time
FIN-02150 ESPOO test method
FINLAND
www.nordtest.org
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3. REFERENCES

IS0 5725. Precision of test methods - Determination of repeat-

ability and reproducibility by inter-laboratory tests.

IEC Publication 225-1966. Octave, half-octave and third-octave

band filters intended for analysis of sound and vibrations.

IEC Publication 651-1979. Sound level meters.

4. DEFINITIONS

4.1 Reverberation time, T, in seconds, is the time that would be

required for the sound pressure level to decrease by 60 dB after
the source has stopped.

4.2 Initial decay, is that part of the reverberation decay curve,

recorded logarithmically, which starts when the sound pressure
level has decreased about 5 dB after stopping the source and
which ends when the sound pressure level has decreased further
15-20 dB.

5. MEASUREMENT EQUIPMENT

The measurement equipment shall meet the requirements of a type

1 sound level meter according to IEC Publication 651. The micro-
phone should be as small as possible and preferably have the
maximum dimension 13 mm. Microphones up to 26 mm are allowed, if
they are of the pressure response type or of the free field re-
sponse type but supplied with a random incidence corrector yiel-
ding a flat frequency response at random incidence.

The octave- or third-octave filters shall conform with IEC Publi-

cation 225. The equipment shall be such that the requirements
given in clause 6 are met.

6. MEASUREMENT PROCEDURE

6.1 Generation of sound field

The sound should be generated by one or more loudspeakers whose

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radiation pattern is as nondirectional as possible. If several

loudspeakers are used simultaneously thay shall be driven by
separate (incoherently related) noise sources. The test signals
should be band-limited pink noise having a continuous frequency
spectrum with a bandwidth of at least one-third octave. The
duration of the steady sound pressure level before switching
off should be at least one second. The level of the steady
exciting signal shall be enough to fulfill the requirements
of 6.5 with a margin of at least 10 dB.

NOTE - Other types of noise source may be used, if it can be

documented that they give equivalent results.

6.2 Microphone and source positions

6.2.1 Microphone positions

When the room volume is less than 250 m3 3 microphone positions

are required for each source position. In larger rooms 3 more
positions shall be added. The positions shall be evenly distri-
buted in the room. If possible, the distance between the measure-
ment positions should be greater than 1.5 m. No single microphone
location should be nearer than 0.5 m from room surfaces.

As an alternative to 3 discrete microphone positions one conti-

nuously moving microphone may be used. The length of the micro-
phone path should exceed 0.5 m, that is, for a circular path the
radius should exceed 0.8 m. It must be secured that the measure-
ments are evenly distributed along the path. In case only a
limited area of the room is normally used the averaging shall
take place in this area only.

The microphone should be at least 2 m from the sound source.

6.2.2 Source positions

Three different source positions shall be used. One of these

positions shall be in a corner.
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6.3 Measurements

The measurements are to be carried out in 1/3- or l/l-octave

bands. At least two decays in each microphone position shall be
recorded for each frequency band below 500 Hz. At 500 Hz and
above, one decay in each position is sufficient. Totally at least
18 decays shall be recorded for each frequency band below 500 Hz,

and at 500 Hz and above, at least 9 decays shall be recorded.

Unless otherwise specified no persons are allowed to be present

in the measurement room during the measurements.

6.4 Receiving equipment

The recording system shall be a level recorder or any other

adequate equipment for determining the average slope of the
decay curve or the corresponding reverberation time.

The averaging time of an exponential averaging device shall be

less than, but as close as possible to T/20 where T = the rever-
beration time.

The averaging time of a linear averaging device shall be less than

T/7.

In all cases where the decay record is to be evaluated visually,

the time scale of the display should be adjusted so that the
slope of the record is as close to 45º as possible.

NOTE - The averaging time of an exponential averaging device is

equal to 8.69 divided by the decay rate, in decibels per second,
of the device. Commercial level recorders in which the sound
pressure level is recorded graphically as a function of time are
approximately equivalent to exponential averaging devices.

6.5 Evaluation of the measurements

If the reverberation decay curve, recorded logarithmcally, devi-

ates from a straight line the slope shall be determined from the
initial decay. If, due to high background noise levels, the whole
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initial decay cannot be used, the decay may be restricted to the

range -2 to -12 dB. It shall then be stated in the test report
that a restricted dynamic range has been used. To limit the dy-
namic range even further is not permitted.

The result is given by the average reverberation time given by

(1)

where Tn is the reverberation time obtained in source receiver

position no n, and m equals the total number of positions.

Reverberation times measured in 1/3-octave bands may be converted

into 1/1-octave band values. An example of a conversion procedure
is given in Annex A.

NOTE 1 - Other types of averaging procedures, i.e. ensemble ave-

raging, may be used if it can be documented that they give equiva-
lent results.

NOTE 2 - In case of curved decays it may be of interest to evaluate

and report the slope of more than one part of the reverberation
curve. Problems associated with such procedures are not dealt with
in this NORDTEST method.

7. PRECISION

The precision of the test procedure can be defined by its repeat-

ability and reproduceability as described in IS0 5725. For the
time being, insufficient information is available to give an
assessment of the precision according to this standard.

8. STATEMENT OF RESULTS

8.1 Measurement results

Reverberation times shall be rounded off to the first decimal and

given in a table. In case the average value of several frequency
bands is given it shall be denoted Tf,-f2,,/l or TfI-f2 1/3 where
9
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1/1 and 1/3 denotes octave and 1/3-octave bands respectively.

f, and f2 is the lowest and highest frequency band respective-
ly which was used when averaging. If the table is supplemented
with a graphical presentation, the points of measurements should
be connected by straight lines, the abscissa giving the frequency
on a logarithmic scale and the ordinate showing the reverberation
time on linear scale. The ordinate distance for 1 s should corres-
pond to 2/3 octave for the abscissa.

8.1 Test Report

The test shall include the following information, if relevant:

a> Name and address of the testing laboratory

b) Identification number of the test report
d Name and address of the organization or the person who
ordered the test
d) Purpose of the test
4 Method of sampling and other circumstances (date and person
responsible for the sampling)
f> Description of the room, including volume, shape, furniture,
acoustical treatment and number of persons present
s) Name and address of manufacturer of the equipment used in the
test
h) Identification details of each piece of equipment
3 Date of the test
k) Test method
1) Conditioning of the test specimens, environmental data during
the test (temperature, pressure, RH, etc.)
d Any deviations from the test method
d Test results (use SI units)
0) Inaccuracy or uncertainty of the test result
p) Date and signature
 Annex A

EXAMPLE OF CONVERSION OF REVERBERATION TIME IN l/3-OCTAVE

BANDS TO l/l-OCTAVE BANDS

An empirical conversion l) of reverberation times (TJ, T2, T3)

in three 1/3-octave bands to reverberation time (Toct) in one
octave band is given by

2 T3 - T2 - T1 + (2 T3 - T2 - T1)2
T oct = T - (A.1)
3
5 10 T 3

where

T3 > T2 > Tj

For T3 > 2 Tl, replace TJ by T3

The error is estimated to be within 2 10%.

1) Source: Brüel & K-j= r manual for the Building Acoustics

Analyzer 4418