this is an document by
shure brothers and is in the
shure site with grafics
Understanding Sound
System Design
and
Feedback Using (Ugh!) Math
by Rick Frank
Shure Incorporated
222 Hartrey Avenue
Evanston, Illinois 60202-3696
(847) 866-2200
Understanding Sound
System Design and
Feedback
Using (Ugh!) Math
One of the basic building blocks of sound
system design is the Potential Acoustic
Gain (PAG) equation.
With a few simple calculations it can provide a guide to dealing with the problems and restrictions
encountered in this process.
Here's a common situation confronting a sound contractor trying to provide a
system for an existing room.
He has a good working knowledge of the audio chain and the products at his disposal to assemble a
"working
system." He knows the room—let's say a conference room. And he knows where he (or the
client) would like to place the microphones and speakers. But how can he know in
advance whether the
components he would like to install, and the
layout he would like to use, will produce the
gain needed
without
feedback? And for that matter, how much
gain is needed?
If he wants to do more than try what he "feels" should work and then hope for the best, he will pull out his
calculator,
plug in the dimensions of his
system design, and let the equation guide him in the right
direction.
Unfortunately, many people who could benefit by understanding and using the equation are put off by its
apparent complexity. This doesn't have to be the case as I will show in the following pages. A calculator
with a "log"
button and possibly a sound
level meter are really all you need to take some of the mystery
and potential disaster out of sound
system design. It all starts with the
Inverse Square Law.
THE
INVERSE SQUARE LAW—EASIER THAN IT SOUNDS
Have you noticed that as you walk away from someone speaking, the talker's voice
level decreases as
perceived by your ears? What's happening is this: distance from a sound source affects the sound pressure
level (SPL) on your ears in a particular way. It's described by the
inverse square law which states that as
listeners double their distance from the sound source, the SPL they perceive will decrease by 6.02dB. So
if you first stand 4 feet from a talker and then move to a new position 8 feet from the talker, you should
notice about a 6.02dB
drop in
level. (A one dB increase is barely audible, 3dB is a generally noticeable
change, and a 10dB increase is considered to be twice as loud.) Mathematically the
inverse square law
looks like this:
New
Level = Old
Level + 20 X log of old distance - 20 X log of new distance
or in math shorthand
L' = L + 20 log D - 20 log D'
This equation describes what happens in a so-called "free field." That means that there is no interference
from things like reflected sounds and that the origin of the sound is a
point source (a sound source which
has much smaller dimensions than the distance to the listener). Since even the earth can complicate the
issue, there is almost never a situation where we encounter the pure effects of this equation.
That doesn't mean we have to abandon the theory, but rather that we have to use it with the understanding
that it will not perfectly predict what is going to happen when we apply it to a real situation. Because it's
easier to understand this way, let's try working through an example by assuming we're in a free field.
Using the previous example with the old distance, D, equal to 4 feet and the new distance, D' ("D prime"),
equal to 8 feet, you can use your calculator to test this free space law. Let's say that the old
level, L, of the
talker measures 70dB at 4 feet. Incidentally, I've always found it is easiest to work in reverse on calculator
logarithm (log) computations. So to work through the problem, punch the D' quantity "8" into the calculator,
find the logarithm (hit the log
button), and get 0.90309.
Log of 8 = 0.90309
Now multiply by 20 and get 18 (rounded from 18.0618). (Since 1dB is considered to be the smallest
difference we can actually hear, I'll round all these figures to the nearest whole number.)
0.90309 x 20 = 18 (rounded from 18.0618)
Save this figure and punch in the old distance, D, of "4". If you follow the same steps the new answer is 12
(again, rounded).
log of 4 = 0.6021
0.6021 x 20 = 12 (rounded from 12.0412)
The final answer is just the arithmetic of the
inverse square law: take the old sound pressure
level of 70 plus
12, minus 18, to arrive at the new
level, 64 — 6dB less than the old
level.
New
Level = Old
Level + 20 X log of old distance - 20 X log of new distance
64 = 70 + 12 - 18
Because of the nature of logarithms and the
inverse square law, this solution will occur with any pair of
distances where one is twice the other. Let's say we move from 13 feet to 26 feet away from the talker.
Working backwards again, entering 26 followed by the log
button and multiplying by 20 gives 28dB
(rounded). The same procedure with 13 gives 22dB. And the arithmetic (70 plus 22 minus 28) results in a
level of 64dB — the same 6dB
drop as we had with 4' to 8'.
log of 13 = 1.1139434,
1.1139434 x 20 = 22 (rounded from 22.278867),
log of 26 = 1.4149733, 1.4149733 x 20 = 28
New
Level = Old
Level + 20 X log of old distance - 20 X log of new distance
64 = 70 + 22 - 28
Of course this works in reverse, as your ears will tell you. If we move closer to the sound source by cutting
the distance in half (from 8' to 4'), the sound
level rises by 6dB. The important
point to remember is that in
order to get a significant 6dB sound
level change, the distance must change by double or half.
CRITICAL DISTANCE IS CRITICAL
A lot of the limitations on the
practical use of the
inverse square law and the PAG equation have to do with
what's called "critical distance." Basically, when the listener is within the critical distance of the source, the
inverse square law works pretty well. Outside the critical distance things get much more complex.
The term "critical distance" is defined as the distance from a sound source where the direct sound is the
same
level as the reverberant sound. With a sound
level meter and a de-tuned FM radio you can make a
good estimate of critical distance in a room. The radio serves as a sound source to provide a constant,
broad spectrum sound. If you walk backwards from the sound source with a sound
level meter, you will
reach a
point where the
level stops registering change on the
meter. At that
point, if you walk back
towards the sound source until the
meter increases exactly 3dB you will have reached the critical
distance. (Equal sound from the direct source and the reverberant field add up to 3dB more than the
reverberant sound alone.)
Whether or not you actually make estimates of the critical distances within a
system, there is one thing
that is important to know. Typically in sound systems, the distance between the
microphone and the
talker is the only place where the
system component receiver (the listener or
microphone) is less than the
critical distance from the source. Later when we look at the actual distances between the parts of a
system, we'll see the dramatic effects of changing this distance.
HOW MUCH ACOUSTIC
GAIN IS NEEDED?
With this in mind we're ready to look at the question of how much
gain is needed for listeners in a given
room. (Remember that in a real room the reflective surfaces create echoes and a reverberant field that
interfere with the theoretical results of the
inverse square law as well as the potential acoustic
gain
equation. This interference generally lowers the actual performance of a
system.)
Let's take an example of a conference room with a 22' table. Normal conversational
level in a quiet room
at a normal conversational distance of 2 feet is about 70dB. The
inverse square law will tell us how much
the loss will be if the listener is at the opposite end of the table, 22 feet away. That listener would ideally
like to hear exactly what the close listener hears. The distance to the far listener creates the loss which the
sound
system should replace.
Putting the figures from this scene into the
inverse square law equation (using the mathematical shorthand)
looks like this:
L' = L + 20 log D - 20 log D'
= 70 + 20 X log 2 - 20 X log 22
Working backwards from the new distance, 22, punch in 22, take its log and multiply the result by 20. Write
down that result (27), take the log of 2 the same way and multiply it by 20, and you get 6. Now the
arithmetic: 70 plus 6 minus 27 equals 49 — telling us that the distant listener experiences a loss of 21dB (70
- 49).
L' = L + 20 log D - 20 log D'
49 = 70 + 6 - 27
49 = 70 - 21
49 - 70 = -21 (a loss of 21dB)
This is the sound
system's target. The sound
system must provide at least 21dB of
gain for the farthest
listener to hear the talker as if she is 2 feet away. This is called the needed acoustic
gain (NAG). If the
distant listener is supposed to hear as well as the near listener then the
system must make up the 21dB
loss caused by the distance.
Of course if you have a sound
level meter you can take a reading in both the near and far positions and
subtract to get to this
point. But with the first method you get to understand and see the
inverse square law
in action. It may also be interesting to compare the two answers to see how much the room
acoustics affect
the results that arc predicted by the
inverse square law.
HOW MUCH ACOUSTIC
GAIN CAN THE
SYSTEM PRODUCE?
Now let's work with the Potential Acoustic
Gain equation to see if our
system will theoretically produce
the acoustic
gain we need before it feeds back. To start we need to look at some of its individual terms.
Each of these terms is a shorthand for a basic distance (D) in the sound
system design, as illustrated in
Figure 1. Since there are four significant distances between the elements in the
system, each "D" has a
subscript such as "D1", "DS", ("D sub one", "D sub S")
etc. Specifically, this is what each term stands for:
Figure 1. The basic distances in a simple sound reinforcement
system.
"Electronic to Electronic" or "People to People" Distances
• D1 is the distance between the
microphone and the
loudspeaker
(remember "1" as the first pan of the
system).
• D0 is the distance between the talker and the farthest listener
(remember "0" for observer).
"People to Electronic" Distances
• D2 is the distance between the
loudspeaker and the farthest listener
(remember "2" as the last pan of the
system).
• DS is the distance between the talker and the
microphone
(remember "S" for source).
We now get to the
point where we determine if the
system can meet our need. This is where the Potential
Acoustic
Gain equation comes into
play. The simplest form of this equation looks like this:
PAG = 20 log D1 - 20 log D2 + 20 log D0 - 20 log DS
This form of the equation will allow us to determine the amount of
gain available from the
system just
before the undesirable oscillation we all know as
feedback occurs. It also assumes the
system uses
omnidirectional microphones and loudspeakers and it neglects the effects of reverberation and echo (as if
the
system were outdoors). I'll mention more about this later, but for now this version of the equation will
be easier to work with.
Looking at the
system distances as they occur in the equation we can see some obvious facts.
PAG = 20 log D1 - 20 log D2 + 20 log D0 - 20 log DS
If we want the PAG on the left side of the equation to get larger, we have to make the positive terms (D1 and D0)
as large as possible and the negative terms (D2 and DS) as small as possible on the right side of the equation.
Notice that if the
loudspeaker is moved farther from the
microphone (as D1 increases), the potential
gain
before
feedback is increases. Unfortunately, with D0 there is little change possible since it is usually fixed
by the
layout of the room.
When the
loudspeaker is moved closer to the listener, decreasing the negative term D2 on the right side of
the equation, the
system gain increases on the left side. Finally, concerning the most important distance to
change as we'll see later, when the talker moves closer to the
microphone it decreases DS and increases
PAG.
THEORY MEETS REALITY IN A SOUND
SYSTEM
As I mentioned earlier, there are complications when we enter the real world. The variations in direct
sound compared to reflected sound, the echoes, the presence of people, the atmosphere, and more
conspire to make each position in a room acoustically different. This affects
feedback, as anyone who has
tried to set up a sound
system in a gym will tell you.
The most important
point to remember as we work through these equations is this: if the dimensions of a
sound
system don't provide the needed
gain with the theoretical free field conditions, then they are
even less likely to work under real world conditions.
To use these ideas in the equation we need the complete picture of our prospective sound
system layout—
the specific distances D1, D0, D2, and DS. Using the conference table we've already looked at, let's say that
the room dimensions are 20' by 30' with a 10' ceiling. A possible set of
system dimensions might be
something like this (see Figure 2):
Figure 2. The dimensions of a possible sound
system.
D1 (mic to closest
loudspeaker) = 9' D2 (
loudspeaker to farthest listener) = 20'
D0 (talker to listener) = 22' DS (talker to mic) = 1'
Now we simply
plug these values into the equation and do the logarithms and arithmetic the same way we
did with the
inverse square law equation.
PAG = 20 X log of 9 - 20 X log of 20 + 20 X log of 22 - 20 X log of 1
Working backwards as before, enter 1 and hit "log." Since the logarithm of 1 is zero this term will
drop
out. Now enter 22, hit "log", and multiply by 20 to get 27. Save it. and do the same with 20 and 9 and save
each of the answers. We wind up with 19 minus 26 plus 27 for a potential acoustic
gain in the
system of
20dB.
PAG = 20 X log of 9 - 20 X log of 20 + 20 X log of 22 - 20 X log of 1
= 19 - 26 + 27 - 0
PAG = 20dB
That seems like a lot, but not enough to help the listener at the far end of the table who needs 21dB of
gain
to be able to hear the talker as well as the listener close to the talker does.
So let's change the dimensions of the
system to bring the
loudspeaker closer to the listener and farther from
the
microphone (see Figure 3):
Figure 3. Revised
system dimensions:
loudspeaker closer to listener and farther from the
microphone.
D1=11' D2=19' D0=22' DS=1'
This time after we do the logs we'll get:
PAG = 20 X 1.04139 - 20 X 1.27875 + 20 X 1.34242 - 20 X 0
Do the arithmetic and we get:
PAG = 22dB
This is enough
gain so that the listener at the far end of the table hears as well as the listener near the
talker without the
system going into
feedback. The potential
gain minus the needed
gain leaves a margin
of 1dB which seems like what we needed when we started to look at this conference room. But there's a
catch.
THE
FEEDBACK STABILITY MARGIN
The version of the equation that we've been using gives us the potential
gain of the
system at the
point
just before it starts to
feedback, the
point of unity
gain. Virtually all systems need to be operated with a
safety margin (called the
feedback stability margin), usually 6dB, to avoid the annoying ringing sound
associated with a pre-feedback condition. When this margin is included, the equation looks like this:
PAG = 20 log D1 - 20 log D2 + 20 log D0 - 20 log DS - 6
Unfortunately this little minus 6 means that the
gain from our latest version of the
system is now reduced to
16dB — not enough to meet the 21dB needed. So we're back to the drawing board.
Let's try to move the
loudspeaker even closer to the listener and further from the
microphone (see Figure 4):
Figure 4.
Loudspeaker moved even closer to the listener.
D1=17.5' D2=13' D0=22' DS=1'
The result looks good this time even with the
feedback margin:
PAG = 25 - 22 + 27 - 0 - 6
PAG = 24dB
We're there…and with a 3db margin to spare. If we operate the
system just as described, the farthest
listener will hear as well as the nearest without the
system feeding back. Our conference table
system
works…almost.
THE NUMBER OF OPEN MICROPHONES—
THE LAST HURDLE
All along we've assumed that this conference room uses only one
microphone at a time. If more
microphones are open—for example, if microphones are placed and turned on in from of multiple talkers
at the table—another term is added to the equation which can affect the acoustic
gain of the
system.
Multiple open microphones create a greater risk of
feedback in the
system and degrade the quality of the
sound due to comb filtering and increased reverberation.
The new term for the Number of Open Microphones (NOM) looks like this in our final version of the
equation:
PAG = 20 log D1 – 20 log D2 + 20 log D0 – 20 log DS – 10 log NOM - 6
Since this term is another logarithm term and the logarithm of 1 (for a single
microphone) is 0, a
system
with only one
microphone is not affected by including it in the calculation. But if we change from 1
microphone turned on to 2, the NOM term turns out to be 3dB (10 times the log of 2). Looking at our
latest version of the
system (where we had only 3dB to spare when we subtracted needed acoustic
gain
from the potential acoustic
gain) this extra open
microphone would affect our margin. We would have to
subtract another 3dB from our latest 24dB PAG. If we then subtract the 21dB NAG from the new 11dB
PAG, the 0dB result means the
system will start to use up the
feedback margin just as it provides the
needed
gain to the farthest listener.
Now if we try to change from 2 to 4 open microphones, the problem is further compounded from 3dB to
6dB. In fact, each time the NOW doubles, the PAG is decreased by 3dB. If we get t o8 open microphones,
we’ve eliminated any
safety margin and are back on the verge of
feedback.
This essentially means that the number of open microphones needs to be limited as much as possible.
Most ways of doing this have
practical disadvantages: having a sound person turn off the microphones
that are not being used during the conference (expensive, and difficult with only two hands); having a
switch on each
microphone for the user (users must be taught and often forget to use it); or using only one
microphone and passing it around (very impractical logistically).
THE AUTOMATIC
MICROPHONE MIXER SOLUTION
The most
practical and effective solution is an automatic
microphone mixer. You need to be careful here,
though, because not all automatic mixers limit the number of open microphones equally well. Most
systems turn on microphones when the sound they
pick up is louder than a particular reference
level
called a “
threshold.” They will then turn off when the sound
level drops below the
threshold. This
threshold may be a fixed
level, and adjustable
level, or an automatically adjustable
level.
A weekness exists in these systems when they try to distinguish between the desired sound (such as a
talker) and undesired sound (random background noise). If the background sound is loud enough, it will
activate the
microphone unless the
threshold is set t a higher
level. Then, if the background noise drops,
the normal talker’s
level may not activate the
microphone unless the
threshold level is lowered as well.
This problem is addressed in certain other systems with integrated microphones which can actually sense
the location of the desired sound source relative to the background noise. The microphones are then
activated only when the sound comes from the desired direction, which eliminates the need for any
threshold adjustments.
Another new automatic
mixer technology solves the problem differently and still avoids the
threshold
adjustment problem. Mixers using this technology can sense the difference between irregular sound (like
speech) and regular sound (like air conditioning). The
mixer only turns on a
channel when the signal
level
is louder than the background sound. This
system also chooses only one
microphone for each talker even
if multiple microphones are “hearing” him.
THE QUICKEST FIX
It may have occurred to you that the only factors that we’ve tried to alter in the
system have been D1 and
D2. Of course it’s not very likely that you’ll be able to adjust the talker-to-listener distance, D0, in most
real systems, but an easy way to improve the acoustic
gain of a
system is by adjusting the remaining
distance, DS.
Remember in the
inverse square law free field calculations, where we doubled the distance of the listener
from the sound source, that we calculated a 6dB
drop in the sound
level as perceived by that listener. This
also must work in reverse: if the distance changes from 8 feet to 4 feet, the perceived
level will increase
by 6dB.
As I mentioned earlier, DS is where the doubling
effect of the
inverse square law really shows some
dramatic changes in the
system gain. This is because of the relatively short distances involved in
doubling. When the talker doubles her distance from the
microphone, the
system gain drops by 6dB. If the
change is instead from 1
foot to ½
foot (.5), then the
system gain will increase by 6dB. Try these
calculations yourself in the PAG equation by changing only DS and leaving the other distances the same
as in the last version of the
system we used. First change it from 1
foot to 2 feet. Then try changing it
from 1
foot to .5
foot.
This is sometimes an easy solution and is actually one of the first rules in
microphone application: get the
microphone as close as possible to the sound source. Compared to moving loudspeakers to change D1
and D2, it is also often the easiest distance in the
system to change. This is simply because it is generally a
much shorter distance to begin with and therefore much easier to cut in half to get that extra 6dB. The
concept of critical distance also plays a part here. Since it's generally true that when DS is greater than the
critical distance of the talker, the result is more reverberance and a loss of intelligibility.
In the other parts of the
system—D1 and D2—the receiver (the listener or
microphone) is generally
outside the critical distance of the source (the talker or
loudspeaker). When this is the case for D1, the
signal received by the
microphone is not as low as predicted by the
inverse square law, resulting in less
potential
gain than expected for the
system. For D2, this higher-than-expected
level at the receiver
actually gives the listener somewhat more sound than predicted. Here, however, working with
loudspeaker placement and echoes is important since the added
level is in part due to reflected sound.
Early echoes tend to help intelligibility and later ones hurt it. So if a
loudspeaker needs to be "somewhat
near" the ceiling, put it close to the ceiling to take advantage of the early echoes produced within a few
feet of the reflective surface.
Without delving too far into the concept of
speaker placement, let me just say that multiple
speaker
locations tend to act like late echoes if they arc far apart. The resulting comb filtering and loss of
intelligibility is minimized by a single
loudspeaker or closely spaced
array if it can be placed far from the
talker and close enough to the listeners.
THE WORST CASE
Finally, with the multiple
microphone problem under our belts we need to deal with the fact that, unlike
our theoretical
system, most systems include multiple loudspeakers. The most
practical approach in
determining the distances, including specific
loudspeaker distances to use in the PAG equation, is to
consider the worst case for each. Therefore, as I stated earlier, you would use the most distant listener for
Do. You should also pick the largest expected distance for the
microphone to talker for DS; the
loudspeaker closest to the farthest listener for D2; and the
loudspeaker closest to the
microphone for D1.
These choices will give the most accurate representation of the acoustic
gain in the
system.
A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE
I mentioned earlier that the microphones in the theoretical
system we calculated were
omnidirectional.
Because
unidirectional microphones have the ability to target desired sounds (the talker in our example)
and reject unwanted sounds (the output from the
loudspeaker), they can provide a margin of extra
gain in a
system. So can directional loudspeakers. But they are not a magic bullet. The
practical limit on the
improvement that these components can make is usually considered to be about 6dB. Although theory and
component specifications seem to indicate a 6dB improvement for each component, real world conditions
provide severe performance limitations.
The second assumption was that the
system was not affected by reverberation and echo. Virtually any
indoor
system will be affected by these conditions and the acoustic
gain and performance of the
system
will be limited by them. This article will not explore the vast topic of room
acoustics, but here's
something to keep in mind as you think about the PAG equation. If the
system won't provide enough
gain
when you ignore these factors (as we have calculated in this article) it almost certainly won't work when
they're included.
SUMMARY
In working through the math or just reading through this information, the major points to remember are:
1. To make a significant change in the
gain of a sound
system before it feeds back, distances need to be
doubled or cut in half. (
Inverse Square Law)
2. Changes to improve the potential acoustic
gain of a
system involve:
a. Making the loudspeaker-to-microphone distance, D1, as large as possible.
b. Making the loudspeaker-to-listener distance, D2, as small as possible.
c. Most importantly and easiest, making the talker-to-microphone distance, DS, as small as possible.
3. Limiting the number of open microphones will also improve the potential acoustic
gain of the
system.
If you're interested in studying these topics further, the following books are suggested, many of which were
drawn from when writing this article.
• Handbook of Sound
System Design, John Eargle;
ELAR Publishing Co., Inc., Commack, NY 11725
• Handbook for Sound Engineers, Ed. Glen Ballou
(especially the article by Chris Foreman "Sound
System Design")
Howard W. Sams & Company, A Division of Macmillian, Inc., 4300
West 62nd Street. Indianapolis. Indiana 46268
• Architectural
Acoustics, M. David Egan; McGraw-Hill
Book Company
• The
Gain of a Sound
System, by C.P. Boner and R.E. Boner (the original article on the topic)
Thanks also to
Mark Gilbert of
Shure Brothers for technical assistance.
AL1174