Lecture 1: Acoustic Fundamental

1.1 Introduction: Acoustics an Sound

Acoustic is the science of sound. In acoustics, the concerns are: how sound is being generated,
how sound propagates, how sound interact with matter and how sound is being perceived by
humans?
Sound stands for mechanical oscillation of air pressure and propagates through waves. Sound
waves can propagate in air, in liquids or in solid bodies.
The field of acoustics can be divided into several areas:
1. Underwater acoustics – sound propagation in water, sonar systems, seismic explorations
2. Ultrasound – non-destructive test procedures for materials for medical applications
3. Vibrations – vibrational behavior of bodies, sound propagation of vibrating structures
4. Noise Control – description and modelling of noise sources, investigations on noise protection
measurements
5. Room Acoustics – assessment, planning and prediction of sound fields in rooms
6. Building Acoustics – noise control in buildings, transmission loss of building structures
7. Electroacoustics – transducers (microphones, speakers), recording devices, public address
systems, signal processing in acoustics
8. Acoustics of the ear – structure of the ear, characteristics of the ear, perception and subjective
evaluation of noise.

The unit of air pressure is N/m2

Sound is carried through air at 345m/s as compression and rarefaction in air pressure

1.2 Sound Wave

Properties of Waves

• Wavelength () is measured from crest-to-crest

– or trough-to-trough, or upswing to upswing, etc.
• For traveling waves (sound, light, water), there is a speed (c)

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

 • Frequency (f) refers to how many cycles pass by per second
– measured in Hertz, or Hz: cycles per second
– associated with this is period: T = 1/f
• These three are closely related:
f = c

Longitudinal vs. Transverse Waves

• Sound is a longitudinal wave, meaning that the motion of particles is along the direction of
propagation
• Transverse waves—water waves, light—have things moving perpendicular to the direction of
propagation

Why is Sound Longitudinal?

• Waves in air can’t really be transverse, because the atoms/molecules are not bound to each
other
– can’t pull a (momentarily) neighboring molecule sideways
– only if a “rubber band” connected the molecules would this work
– fancy way of saying this: gases can’t support shear loads
• Air molecules can really only bump into one another
• Imagine people in a crowded train station with hands in pockets
– pushing into crowd would send a wave of compression into the crowd in the direction
of push (longitudinal)
– jerking people back and forth (sideways, over several meters) would not propagate
into the crowd
– but if everyone held hands (bonds), this transverse motion would propagate into
crowd

Waves in Air
– Condensation
• When a longitudinal wave forces particle closer together.
• This results in a pulse of increased density and pressure.
– Rarefaction
• A zone of reduced density and pressure.
– Sound
• A vibrating object produces condensation and rarefactions that expand from
the source.
• The vibrations can be interpreted as sound by the human ear if the frequency
of the waves is between 20 and 20,000 Hz.

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

 When you open one door into this room, the other door closes. Why does this happen? The
answer is that the first door creates a pulse of compression that moves through the air like a sound
wave. The pulse of compression pushes on the second door, closing it.

(A) Swinging the door inward produces pulses of increased density and pressure called
condensations. Pulling the door outward produces pulses of decreased density and pressure
called rarefactions
(B) In a condensation, the average distance between gas molecules is momentarily decreased as
the pulse passes. In a rarefaction, the average distance is momentarily increased.

Hearing Waves in Air.

a. Infrasonic

i. Longitudinal waves with frequencies below 20 Hz

b. Ultrasonic

i. Longitudinal waves with frequencies greater that 20,000 Hz

• Since humans can only hear waves in the 20 – 20,000 Hz range, they hear neither infrasonic
nor ultrasonic waves.
• Waves move the eardrum in and out with the same frequency as the wave, which the brain
interprets as sound.

Wave Terms

• Wave Crest

– The maximum disturbance a wave will create from the resting position

• Wave trough

– Maximum displacement a wave will create in the opposite direction from the resting
position.

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

 • Amplitude

– The magnitude of the displacement to either the crest or the trough.

• Period

– The time required for a wave to repeat itself

– This is the time that is required to move through one full wave cycle.

Medium of Sound

• The movement of sound waves requires a medium through which the waves can travel
• The nature of the medium determines the velocity of the sound through the medium
o This is due to the fact that the waves are propagated through molecular interactions
and is determined by:
o Inertia of the molecules
o Strength of the interactions between molecules
• Sound speed in air is related to the frantic motions of molecules as they jostle and collide
• since air has a lot of empty space, the communication that a wave is coming through has to
be carried by the motion of particles
• for air, this motion is about 500 m/s, but only about 350 m/s directed in any particular
direction
• Solids have faster sound speeds because atoms are hooked up by “springs” (bonds)
• don’t have to rely on atoms to traverse gap
• spring compression can (and does) travel faster than actual atom motion

Example Sound Speed

• At room temperature, sound travels at 343 m/s. In 0.10 s, sound would travel 34 m. Since the
sound must travel to a surface and back in order for you to hear the echo, the distance to the
surface is one-half the total
• Sonar measures a depth by measuring the elapsed time between an ultrasonic sound pulse
and the echo. The depth is one-half the round trip.

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

 • Refraction and Reflection
– Sound waves are reflected or refracted from a boundary, which means a change in
the medium through which they are being transmitted.
o Reflection
▪ wave strikes a surface and is bounced back.
▪ Law of Reflection: angle of incidence = angle of reflection
o Refraction
▪ Change in wave’s direction as it passes from one medium to another.
▪ Due to differences in speed of wave.
▪ Index of refraction (n) – measure of how much a wave’s speed is reduced in
a particular medium.
▪ nmedium = speed in the vacuum / speed in the medium
▪ Speed of sound in vacuum = 345 m/s.
▪
o Diffraction
▪ The bending of waves around an obstacle.
▪ The waves pass through the gap and spread out.
▪ The amount of diffraction depends on the size of the gap

Sound is Reflected

• Echo – becomes apparent to the listener only when the distance from the source and the
reflecting medium is great and the difference between the original and reflected sound is
greater or equal to 1/17 of a second
• Flutter – if a series of rarefactions between two parallel surfaces resulting to prolongation of
sound. This creates listener fatigue
• Interference – reflection caused by two parallel surfaces producing standing waves

– Constructive interference
• Reflected waves that are in phase with the incoming waves undergo
constructive interference.
– Destructive interference
• Waves that are out of phase undergo destructive interference
(A) Constructive interference occurs when two equal, in-phase waves meet.
(B) Destructive interference occurs when two equal, out-of-phase waves meet. In both cases,
the wave displacements are superimposed when they meet, but they then pass through one
another and return to their original amplitudes

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

 Two waves of equal amplitude but slightly different frequencies interfere destructively and
constructively. The result is an alternation of loudness called a beat

Lecture 2: Quantifying Sound

• Pitch
o Number of cycles a wave goes through in definite interval
o Auditory sensation in terms of which sound maybe ordered on a scale related
primarily to frequency
o The higher the frequency the higher the pitch
o Measured in MEL (unit of pitch)
o 1000 mels – pitch of 1000 Hz tone at 40 dB
o Octave – pitch interval 2:1, frequency is twice the given tone

• Acoustic Power (Acoustic Power, W)

o Energy flux through a closed surface
o The total sound energy radiated per unit tine of a source
o Common sounds have very little energy
o Conversion devices are very inefficient
▪ e.g., standard speakers, e.g., standard speakers, η ≈ 1% so 100 W input so 100
W input, w ≈ 1 W
o Acoustic Power Level, PWL (dB) = 10log(W/W0), with W0 = 10-12 Watt/m2
▪ Thus, PWL = 10 log W + 120 (dB)
▪ Where:
• W = sound power in Watts (W)
• Wo = reference sound power
o Typical sound power outputs (Watts) and equivalent sound power levels (dB)

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

 • Sound Pressure
o The alternating component of pressure at a particular point in a sound field (N/m 2 or
Pa)
• Sound Pressure Level
o The range of sound pressure that can be heard by the human ear is very large. The
minimum acoustic pressure audible to the young human ear judged to be in good
health is approximately 20 x 10-6 Pa, or 2x 10 -10 atmospheres (1 atmosphere = 101.3
x 103 Pa).
o The minimum audible level occurs at about 4,000 Hz
o For the normal human ear, pain is experienced at sound pressures of the order of 60
Pa or 6 x 10-4 atmospheres
o LP (SPL) = 10 log (Prms2/Pref2) = 20log (Prms/Pref) = 20logPrms – 20logPref
▪ Where Pref is the reference sound pressure,
• where Pref = 2 x 10-5 N.m2 or 20 μPa
▪ Thus, L (SPL) = 20log Prms + 94 (dB)
o Sound Pressure Level at any unit of pressure in dB
▪ SPL = 20 log (P + N)
▪ Where
• P is the rms sound pressure expressed in dB
• N is the SPL constant corresponding to the unit at which sound
pressure is expressed.

Relationship between SPL and PWL

a. Sound produces in free space by an isotropic source

SPL = PWL – 20log r - 11

b. For sound produced at ground level

SPL = PWL – 20 log r - 8

Assignment:

1. Determine the sound power level of 0.001 watts?

2. Calculate the intensity and SPL of a sound at a distance of 10m from a uniformly
radiating source of 1-wattAssignment
power? 1
3. A compressor with a sound power level of 104 dB is radiating uniformly over a
flat non-absorbent surface. Calculate the sound level at a distance of 10m?

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

 • Sound Intensity (I) (W/m, W/m2)
o Sound Intensity (SI) is defined as the power per unit area, I = Power / Unit Area =
(Force / Area) · Velocity = Pressure Velocity
o The basic units are W/m2 or W/cm2
o The average rate of transmission of sound energy through a cross-sectional area of 1
m2 at right angles to a particular motion

o ᵨ
I = P2/ v = P2/410 W/m2
▪ Where:

• ᵨ = density of air
• v = velocity of sound in air

• ᵨv = characteristic impedance of air to sound = 410 rayls in air

▪ Total Intensity, IT
• IT = I1 + I2 + I3 + .. + In
▪ Total Pressure, PT
• PT = sqrt (P12 + P22 + P32 + … + P2n)
o Inverse Square Law
▪ The sound intensity from a point source of sound will obey the inverse square
law if there are no reflections or reverberation

▪ Sound Level (Sound produces at ground level)

• I = P / 2πr2 , watts/m2
▪ Sound requires energy (pushing atoms/molecules through a distance), and
therefore a power
o Sound is characterized in decibels (dB), according to:
▪ Decibel, dB named after Alexander Graham Bell from Bell Labs
▪ 1 bel, B = 1 reduction in audio level over 1 mile of standard phone line
▪ Sound Intensity Level = 10log(I/I0) = 20  log(P/P0) dB
• I0 = 1012 W/m2 is the threshold power intensity (0 dB) or Sound
Intensity Reference
• P0 = 2105 N/m2 is the threshold pressure (0 dB)
o atmospheric pressure is about 105 N/m2
• LI = 10 log I + 120 (dB)
▪ Examples:
• 60 dB (conversation) means log(I/I0) = 6, so I = 106 W/m2

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

 o and log(P/P0) = 3, so P = 2102 N/m2 = 0.0000002
atmosphere!!
• 120 dB (pain threshold) means log (I/I0) = 12, so I = 1 W/m2
o and log(P/P0) = 6, so P = 20 N/m2 = 0.0002 atmosphere
• 10 dB (barely detectable) means log(I/I0) = 1, so I = 1011 W/m2
o and log(P/P0) = 0.5, so P  6105 N/m2

The Decibel

Assignment:

1. What is the intensity of sound whose RMS pressure is 200 N/m2?

2. If three identical sounds are added what is the increase in level in dB?
3. Two car are producing individuals sound pressure levels of 77 dB and 80 dB measured at
the payment. What is the resultant sound pressure2
Assignment level when they pass each other?
4. In a certain factory space the noise level with all the machines running is 101 dB. One
machine alone produces a level of 99dB. What would be the level be in the factory with all
except this machine running?

Intensity versus Distance

• For a “point source point source” in a “free field free field”

• Spherical, so Intensity, I = 1 / R2 (= “inverse square law”)

Spherical : x1

Against a Wall : x4

On Hard Floor : x2

In a Corner : x8

Loudness

– The fluctuation of air pressure created by sound waves

– Observer’s auditory impression of the strength of a sound is associated with the rate
at which energy is transmitted to ear

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

 – Depend on the amplitude of sound

– The energy of a sound wave is called the wave intensity and is measured in Watts per
square meter.

– The intensity of wound is expressed on the decibel scale, which relates to changes in
loudness as perceived by the human ear.

Loudness Level – measure by the sound level of a standard pure tone or specific frequency which is
assessed by normal observers as being equally loud

– Loudness Level (phons = dB at 1000Hz)

– Perceived loudness = f (intensity, frequency)

– Less than ~3dB change

– Apparent loudness

– Threshold of hearing

100 Hz 1 kHz 10kHz

Of Hearing 20 dB 0 dB 10 dB
Of Pain 145 dB 140 dB 150 dB

Exposure Limits : OSHA: Duration vs. Sound Level (dBA), “noise dosimeter”

Hours Per Day of Exposure Decibels (dbA) Allowed

8 90
6 92
4 95
3 97
2 100
1½ 102
1 105
½ 110
¼ or less 115

• Equal loudness not necessarily equally annoying

• Total loudness = St (Sones)

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

 • Sone is the unit of loudness on a scale designed to give scale numbers approximately
proportional to the loudness. Phon = 40 + log2(sone)

Assignment

a) The RMS pressure of sound is 200 N/m 2. What is the sound pressure level
(SPL)?
Assignment
b) What is the sound pressure
2
level in 3
dB of sound whose intensity is 0.01
W/m ?
c) What is the increase in sound pressure level in dB if the intensity is doubled?
d) What is the increase in sound pressure level if the pressure is doubled?
e) The sound power level of a jet plane flying at a height of 1 km is 160 dB.
What is the maximum sound pressure level on the ground directly below
the plane assuming that the aircraft radiates sound equally in all directions?

TONE - Timbre quality of sound

o Pure tone – a sound composed on only one frequency in which the pressure varies
sinusoidally with time
o Musical Sounds – composed of the fundamental frequency and its harmonics

TEMPO – speed of sound (fast or slow)

RHYTHM – related to sonic time pattern, simple, constant, complex or changing

ATTACK – the way a sound begins (Hard, Soft, Crisp, Gradual)

DURATION – refers to how long a sound blasts (short or sustained)

DECAY – how fast a sound fades from a certain loudness (quick, gradual or slow)

o Sound Hitting your Eardrum

▪ Pressure variations displace membrane (eardrum, microphone) which can be
used to measure sound
• my speaking voice is moving your eardrum by a mere 1.510-4 mm =
150 nm = 1/4 wavelengths of visible light!
• Threshold of hearing detects 510-8 mm motion, one-half the
diameter of a single atom!!!
• pain threshold 20 Hz
• so, though pressure changes even as you climb stairs, it is too slow to
perceive as sound
▪ Eardrum can’t be wiggled faster than about 20 kHz
• just like trying to wiggle resonant system too fast produces no
significant motion
o Sensitivity of Human Ear
▪ We can hear sounds with frequencies ranging from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz
▪ an impressive range of three decades (logarithmically)
▪ about 10 octaves (factors of two)
▪ compare this to vision, with less than one octave!

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

 o Perception of Sound
▪ Perception not constant across spectrum
• Low Frequencies (Bass), high sound power OK
• Middle Frequencies (Mid-Range)
• High Frequencies (Treble), easily annoying
• Sound meters have filters that stimulate our perception

o Localization of Sound
▪ At low frequencies (< 1000 Hz), detect phase difference
• wave crest hits one ear before the other
• “shadowing” not very effective because of diffraction
▪ At high frequencies (> 4000 Hz), use relative intensity in both ears
• one ear is in sound shadow
• even with one ear, can tell front vs. back at high freq.

Loudness Not equal to Noise

• Noise = unwanted sound

• Perceived Noise Level (noys) : 2 x noys = twice as noisy

Noise Rating

• Noise Criteria
o Absorption

Absorbers

▪ Low f: best absorbers have high mass

▪ High f: best are light and fuzzy
▪ Total Room Absorption (Unit: sabins)
• ΣAi · αi = “Sabins”
• where A where Ai is area of each surface, and αi is the absorption of
each.
o Reverberation Time (TR) – The time it takes for a 60dB drop

Sound Field Definitions:

• Free Field
o The free field is a region in space where sound may propagate free from any form of
obstruction.
• Near Field

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

 o The near field of a source is the region close to a source where the sound pressure
and acoustic particle velocity are not in phase. In this region the sound field does not
decrease by 6 dB each time the distance from the source is increased (as it does in the
far field). The near field is limited to a distance from the source equal to about a
wavelength of sound or equal to three times the largest dimension of the sound
source (whichever is the larger)
• Far Field
o The far field of a source begins where the near field ends and extends to infinity. Note
that the transition from near to far field is gradual in the transition region. In the far
field, the direct field radiated by most machinery sources will decay at the rate of 6
dB each time the distance from the source is doubled. For line sources such as traffic
noise, the decay rate varies between 3 and 4 dB.
• Direct Field
o The direct field of a sound source is defined as that part of the sound field which has
not suffered any reflection from any room surfaces or obstacles.
• Reverberant Field
o The reverberant field of a source is defined as that part of the sound field radiated by
a source which has experienced at least one reflection from a boundary of the room
or enclosure containing the source.

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

LECTURE 3: ROOM ACOUSTICS

Room Acoustic – concerned with the behavior of sound within an enclosed space with a view to
obtaining the optimum acoustic effect on the occupants

REQUIREMENTS:

• Adequate amount of sound

• Even distribution of sound
• Noise might tend to mask the required sound
• The rate of decay of sound within the room (Reverberation Time)
• Acoustical defect to be avoided
o Long decay echoes
o Flutter echoes
o Sound shadow
o Distortion
o Sound concentration

Reverberation

• The persistence of sound in an enclosure due to repeated reflections at the boundaries

• Tendency for the sound to persist over a definite period of time after it has been produced
originally and stopped at the source

Reverberation Time (t60)

• The time required for the mean square sound pressure of a given frequency in an enclosure,
initially in a steady state, to decrease after the source is stopped, to one-millionth (60 dB) of
its initial value.

Optimum or Periods of Reverberation

Factors Affecting Reverberation Time

• Volume of the room

• Type of materials
• Surface area of the material

Room Acoustics

• Coefficient of absorption, α
o Ratio of incident sound and absorbed sound

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

 o Efficiency of sound absorption
o α = absorbed sound energy / incident sound energy
▪ All sound absorbed: α= 1 (100 % efficiency)
▪ No sound absorbed: α = 0 (0% efficiency)

Reverberation Time Equations

1. Sabine’s Equation – for actual reverberation time with average absorption less than or equal to 0.2
(α <= 0.2)

• RT60 = 0.161 V / A where:

▪ V = room volume, m3
▪ A = total absorption units (m2 – metric Sabine, for a room, the sum of all
absorptions of the ceiling, walls, floor, furnishing and occupants)
• RT60 = 0.049 V / A where:
▪ V = room volume, ft3
▪ A = total absorption units (ft2 – customary Sabine, for a room, the sum of all
absorptions of the ceiling, walls, floor, furnishing and occupants)
• Coefficient of Absorption – the ratio of the absorbed sound intensity to the incident sound
intensity
o α = Ia / Ii (unitless) = α = 1  For perfect absorbent material
o Ia = Ii – Ir ; Ir  Reflected sound intensity
• Average absorption coefficient (α)
o α = (α1 + α2 + α3 + ... + αn) / n
• Total absorption (α)
o α = αA (m2 or ft2), where A = surface area of the absorbent structure (m2 or ft2)

Quiz:

1. Find the optimum reverberation time at 500 Hz of a living room 20 ft long, 13 ft wide, and 8 ft high,
with a plaster ceiling (α1 = 0.2), a carpeted floor (αQuiz 1
2 = 0.30), a wood-paneled side wall (α3 = 0.12), an
opposite glass wall (α4 = 0.03), an end wall of medium drapery (α5 = 0.02) for the other end wall, with
no additional furnishing occupants?

2. Norris -Eyring Equation – for actual reverberation time with average absorption greater than 0.2
(α>= 0.2)

• RT60 = 0.161 V / -S ln (1- α) where:

▪ S = total surface area, m2
▪ V = total room volume, m3
▪ Α = average absorption coefficient of reflecting surfaces
• RT60 = 0.046 V / -S ln (1- α) where:
▪ S = total surface area, ft2
▪ V = total room volume, ft3
▪ Α = average absorption coefficient of reflecting surfaces

Quiz:

2. A lecture room 16 m long, 12.5 m wide and 5m high has a reverberation time of 0.75 sec. Calculate
Quizthe
the average absorption coefficient of the surfaces using 2 Norris-Eyring’s formula?

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

3. Stephens and Bate Equation – for ideal reverberation time computation
𝟑
• 𝑹𝑻𝟔𝟎 = 𝒓(𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟐 √𝑽 + 𝟎. 𝟏𝟎𝟕𝟎)
o where:
▪ r = 4 for speech
▪ r = 5 for orchestra
▪ r = 6 for choir

Optimum Volume per Person for Various Types of Wall

Quiz

1. Find the reverberation time for a concert hall used mainly for orchestral music with a capacity of
450 persons? Quiz 3
2. Suggest the optimum volume required of the above problem?

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

LECTURE 4: MICROPHONES

• Microphone – an acoustic device classified as transducer which converts sound waves into
their corresponding electrical impulses
• Transducer – a device which when actuated by energy in one transmission system, supplies
energy in the same form or in another form, to a second transmission system

Classification of Microphones:

A. General Categories
a. Passive Microphone (Generator Type) – does not require external power source
b. Active Microphone (Amplifier Type) – needs an external power source for its
operation
B. According to Impedance
a. High Impedance Microphone – greater than 1000 ohms
b. Low Impedance – 1000 ohms and below
C. According to Method of Coupling
a. Pressure Type
b. Velocity Type
c. Contact Type
D. According to Elements Used
a. Dynamic
i. uses the principle of electromagnetic induction
ii. electromagnetic moving coil microphone
iii. a medium-priced instrument of high sensitivity
b. Ribbon
i. Velocity microphone
ii. Ribbon moves as if it is part of the air that experiences rarefactions and
condensations
c. Capacitor
i. Condenser type or electrostatic microphone
d. Carbon
i. Uses principle of variable resistance
e. Crystal
i. Uses principle of piezoelectric effect
f. Magnetic
i. Operated on the magnetic reluctance due to the movable core
E. According to Directional Characteristics
a. Unidirectional
b. Bidirectional
c. Omnidirectional
d. Cardioid

Characteristics of Microphone

1. Frequency Response – frequency over which the microphone will operate normally

Magnetic 60 – 10,000 Hz
Crystal 50 – 10,000 Hz

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

 Condenser 50 – 15,000 Hz
Carbon 2000 – 3,000 Hz

2. Sensitivity – ability that would be covered by the microphone

3. Dynamic Range – range of sound intensity that would be covered by the microphone

Special Types of Microphones

1. Line Microphone – capable of picking up sound from a great distance at an angle of 45 degrees and
is highly sensitive

2. Differential Microphone – used in noisy places, good up to 3 inches distance

LOUDSPEAKERS

Types of Loudspeakers – those in which the vibrating surface (diapghram) radiates sound directly into
the air

1. Dynamic or Moving Coil Loudspeaker – makes use of a moving coil in a magnetic field and a
permanent magnet

2. Electrostatic Loudspeaker – operates on the same principle as a condenser microphone

Horn Type

• Those in which a horn is interposed between the diaphragm and the air
• Used for efficient coupling of sound into the air

Types:

• Conical Horn
• Parabolic Horn
• Exponential Horn
• Hyperbolic Horn

To cover the entire range of audible frequencies, the following speakers are used:

• Woofer – for low frequencies

• Tweeter – for high frequencies
• Midrange – for normal range

Loudspeaker Phasing: When more than one speaker us used:

• Phasing must be uniform

• Polarities and voice coils are in phase such that the cone of all speakers move inwards at the
same instant.

Loudspeaker Enclosure (Baffle)

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan

 • Loudspeaker mounting that is used to prevent the sound waves from the rear from interfering
with the sound waves in the front speaker.

ECE80: Acoustics Prepared By: Gladdy Christie H. Compasan