Self-Optimizing Near-Zero-Latency Electronic Enhancement of Room Acoustics Based on Convolution of Impulse Sequences

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Given the divergent acoustic requirements for spoken word, chamber and symphonic music, opera and chorus, as well as amplified performances, a comprehensive method of varying the fixed natural acoustics of a room is desirable. Active acoustics employing electroacoustics and digital signal processing provides the means for improving acoustic conditions enabling musicians to achieve best possible ensemble performance and communication with the audience. It serves to correct poor acoustics existing in some architectural enclosures where non-responsive acoustics can be upgraded to rich response of virtual architecture. The presence of variable electronic architecture can dramatically widen the functionality of an architectural space because a new system response can render the most suitable acoustic conditions for the music at a push of a button. Such ability to borrow the acoustic quality from a virtual architecture plays a unique enabling role in music but brings considerable technological requirements and challenges. Even after sixty years of progress in the field of electroacoustic enhancement of rooms, barriers still exist in achieving a full transparency and naturalness of electronic acoustics, which this research aims to remove. Commercial enhancement systems more often than not meet with controversy mixed with criticism from patrons and users; some systems remain turned off after their initial approval. There is therefore a need for a more rigorous research approach supported by psychoacoustic testing and signal processing development conducted with the help of professional users, including solo and ensemble musicians. This need is partly justified by the fact that new halls are still being built each year that fall short of providing suitable conditions for musicians and listeners.