Sound Reproduction

Devices
Electroacoustics
Sound Reproduction Devices
 Conversion from electrical signals to acoustic signals:
P/E = F/E . V/F . P/V
P/E – ratio of electrical input E to sound pressure P,
F/E – ratio of electrical input E to driving force F,
V/F – ratio of driving force F to diaphragm velocity V,
P/V – ratio of diaphragm velocity V to sound pressure P.
Loudspeaker Specifications

 Reference plane of the loudspeaker is the area from which a sound wave
is radiated from the loudspeaker. For direct radiator loudspeakers, it is a
plane of the effective area of the membrane or its edge respectively. For
indirect radiator loudspeakers, it is the output surface of the horn.
 Short-term maximum power is the electrical power corresponding to the
short-term maximum input voltage at the rated impedance R. The short-
term maximum input voltage is the maximum voltage which the
loudspeaker drive-unit or system can handle, without causing permanent
damage, for a period of one second when the signal is a noise signal
simulating normal program material.
 Long-term maximum power and long-term maximum input voltage are
defined in same way like the short-term parameters but the period is one
minute.
 Frequency response is the sound pressure level specified as a function of
frequency, measured under free-field or half-space free-field conditions at
s stated position with respect to the reference axis and reference point at
a specified constant voltage, either with sinusoidal or with band noise
signals.
Loudspeaker Specifications
 Effective frequency range is the range of frequencies, bounded by stated
upper and lower limits, for which the frequency response of the
loudspeaker measured on the reference axis with sinusoidal signal is not
more than 10 dB below the sound pressure level averaged over a
bandwidth of one octave in the region of maximum sensitivity or a broader
bandwidth stated by the manufacturer. Sharp troughs in the response
curve, narrower than 1/9 octave at –10 dB level shall be neglected in
determining the frequency limits.
 Rated frequency range mentioned above is the range of frequencies at
which the loudspeaker is intended to be used. The rated frequency range
may differ from the effective range particularly in the case of loudspeakers
used only as tweeters or woofers, or only for speech.
 Resonance frequency is the frequency at which the modulus of the
electrical impedance has its first principal maximum on an ascending
frequency scale
Z [ W]

resonance
frequency

RE

f0 f [Hz]
Loudspeaker Specifications
 Acoustic power in a frequency band is a total sound power
radiated by a loudspeaker in a given frequency band with center
frequency f for a defined input signal
4πr 2 2
PA  p
c0
where PA is the acoustic power in W, r is the sphere radius in
m, p is the sound pressure in Pa averaged over a large sphere,  and
c0 are the density and the sound velocity of the air.
 Efficiency is the ratio of the acoustic power radiated by a
loudspeaker to the supplied electrical power.
 Coverage angle is the angle between the two directions on either
side of the main lobe of the directional response pattern, at which
the sound pressure level is 6 dB less than that at the direction of
maximum level.
 The radiation impedance ZR of the diaphragm is found from the
ratio of this reaction force to the diaphragm’s oscillating speed.

 Directional characteristics of the circular diaphragm are shown in

the following equation
Transducers
 Electrodynamic transducers,
 Electromagnetic transducers,
 Electrostatic transducers, and
 Piezoelectric transducers.
Electrodynamic Transducers
 Basis for the design of the majority of loudspeakers in use today.
 Permanent magnet and magnetic-pole pieces form a uniform
magnetic field in air gap.
 Coil vibrating direction is at right angles to magnetic field
 Force caused by interaction of magnetic fields acts on the coil.
F = BIl
F – driving force, B – flux density, l – total length of coil, I –
current flowing into coil.
Electrodynamic Transducers

external force F diaphragm

magnetic flux voice coil

pole piece

permanent
f f magnet

pole piece
Electromagnetic Transducer
 Magnetic diaphragm placed in static magnetic field, in which a
permanent magnet supplies the steady magnetic flux, is
vibrated in an AC magnetic field formed by signal current
flowing into a coil.

external force F diaphragm

drive coil magnetic flux

frame

permanent
magnet

pole piece
Electromagnetic Transducer
• The diaphragm vibrates from a summation of static
displacement by the attraction force in the static magnetic
field and by the dynamic displacement generated by an ac
magnetic field and external force F.
Electromagnetic Transducer
 Assuming the equivalent circuit of the mechanical system of
the diaphragm to be a single-resonance circuit
Electrostatic Transducer
 When voltage is applied to two opposite conductive electrodes,
an electrostatic attraction force is generated between them, and
the action of this force causes a conductive diaphragm to be
vibrated.

diaphragm
clamping ring with electrode polarizing electrical
external force F
resisitance

~
g0 0 signal
back source
electrode
polarizing
power suply
Electrostatic Loudspeakers
 The limitations
1. Size.
2. Low maximum output SPL.
3. Their figure-of-eight radiation pattern.
4. The polarizing voltage is around 3000 volts.
Piezoelectric Transducer
 If a crystal section is distorted with a force applied in one
direction, charges appear on the opposite surfaces of the
crystal –piezoelectric direct effect.
 When a field is applied to the crystal section from the
outside, a mechanically distorted force is generated –
piezoelectric counter effect.
 Examples : crystal, piezoelectric crystals such as
Rochelle salts, titanium oxide, and lead zirconate titanate (PZT).
external force F piezoelectric
element

metal plate
supporting ring
Piezoelectric Transducer
 Power sensitivity q, is calculated by
Direct Radiator Loudspeaker
Direct Radiator Loudspeaker
 Directional characteristics 2 πf 2 π
k  
c0 

ka=10

ka=5

ka=2

40 30 20 10 0

L [dB]
Direct Radiator Loudspeaker
 Frequency characteristics
|P| [dB]

2
 
  4

0 ka=1 ka=2
 [rad/s]
Dynamic Direct-Radiation Speaker
 1925 Rice and Kellog

clamp ring
cone dust cap

frame cone
suspension
centering
yoke suspension

permanent
magnet

yoke
voice coil
Dynamic Direct-Radiation Speaker
 The motor system: magnet, pole piece, front plate/ gap, and
voice coil.
 The diaphram: cone and dust cap.
 The suspension system: spider and surround.
Dynamic Direct-Radiation Speaker
 Low frequency ranges – single resonance system of diaphragm
and support system.
 Mid frequency range – cone suspension less rigid than the
diaphragm produces a split vibration.
 High frequency range – elastic deformation concentrates at the
junction between the drive coil and the diaphragm, sound
pressure is suddenly lowered (playback limit).
Dynamic Direct-Radiation Speaker

the cone suspension

resonance frequency
L [dBSPL]

the resonance frequency

at low frequencies
the resonance frequency
at high frequencies
f0 fCS f0
f [Hz]
 the resonance frequency
at high frequencies
f0 fCS f0
Dynamic Direct-Radiation Speaker f [Hz]

the cone suspension

resonance frequency
Z [W]

the resonance frequency

at low frequencies

RE

the resonance frequency

at high frequencies
f0 fCS f0
f [Hz]
 Indirect-Radiation Speakers
 No practical direct radiating loudspeaker can
achieve high radiation efficiency at low
frequencies.
 For example, a diaphragm with a diameter of
250mm has a radiation efficiency of just 0.7% at
50 Hz,
 The only way in which the radiation efficiency can
be increased is to increase the size of the
radiating area, but larger diaphragms have more
mass which means that greater input forces are
required to generate the necessary diaphragm
velocity.
Indirect-Radiation Speakers
 Membrane or another source of sound pressure is connected
with acoustic environment using waveguide.
 Special qualities of horns:
1. An acoustic impedance transformer.
2. Lower distortion at a given SPL.
3. Faster transient response.
4. Higher SPL's with a given input wattage.
5. Enhancement of electroacoustic conversion efficiency
6. Avoidance of sound coloration due to the acoustic resonance of
loudspeaker boxes
7. Better control over the directivity
Indirect-Radiation Speakers
• Horns can be regarded as couplers used to
change the relationship between sound pressure
and particle velocity at different places in
acoustic systems.
• These properties will determine the major
acoustical characteristics of the horn as an
impedance transformer.
• Typically, the horn is used to adapt the low
acoustic impedance of an air load to the high
acoustic impedance of a mechanical system.
 Horns
 The electroacoustic efficiency is defined as the
sound power output radiated by a loudspeaker
per unit electrical power input.
 However, horn loudspeakers can combine the
high radiation efficiency of a large radiating area
with the low mass of a small diaphragm in a
single unit. This is achieved by coupling a small
diaphragm to a large area via a gradually
tapering flare.
 This arrangement can result in electroacoustic
efficiencies of 10-50%, or ten times the power
output of the direct-radiating loudspeaker for the
same electrical input.
 The manner in which acoustic waves propagate along a
horn is so dependent upon the exact nature of this
expansion that the acoustic performance of a horn can be
radically changed by quite small changes in flare-shape.
 The concept of a stretching pressure can be applied to
horns by considering flare-rate.
 Flare-rate is defined as the rate of change of area with
distance, divided by the area, and usually has the symbol
m
 The simplest flare shape is the conical
horn, which has straight sides in cross-
section, and where S0 is the area of the
throat at x = 0 and x0 is the distance from
the apex of the horn to the throat.
 The flare rate in a conical horn (and in a
spherical expanding wave) is therefore
highest close to the throat, decreasing
with increasing distance from the throat.
 However, a more common flare shape for loudspeaker
horns is the exponential.
 The flare-rate of an exponential horn is constant along the
length of the horn,
 At low frequencies, and throughout the entire length of the
horn, the reactive, near-field-type propagation dominates,
and, if the horn is sufficiently long, an almost totally
reactive impedance exists everywhere.
 Above a given frequency, known as the cut-off frequency,
throughout the entire length of the horn, the far-field-type
propagation dominates, leading to an almost totally
resistive impedance everywhere.
 The cut-off frequency of an exponential horn
marks a sudden transition from inefficient sound
propagation within the horn to efficient sound
propagation.
 The cut-off frequency for any given horn is
dependent upon its rate of flare.
 As the flare rate goes up (the horn expands more
rapidly) the cut-off frequency also goes up,
therefore rapidly flaring horns cannot be used at
low frequencies.
Common Horn Expansion Functions
• Four aspects of horn performance are critically determined
by the choice of horn expansion function:
1. Flare rate.
2. Transfer function
3. Acoustic impedance at the throat
4. Nonlinear distortion
• Some traditional common horn cross section area functions are:

1. Parabolic

2. Conical

3. Exponential
Directivity control
 In addition to their usefulness as acoustic transformers,
horns can be used to control the directivity of a
loudspeaker.
 For many loudspeaker applications, the frequency-
dependent directivity is undesirable.
 What is required is a loudspeaker with a directivity pattern
that can be specified and that is independent of frequency.
 By attaching a specifically designed horn flare to a
loudspeaker driver, this goal can be achieved over a wide
range of frequencies.
 The directivity of horn can be divided into three
frequency regions
 At low frequencies, the coverage angle reduces with
increasing frequency in a manner determined by the size
of the horn mouth.
 Above a certain frequency, the coverage angle is
essentially constant with frequency and is equal to the
angle of the horn walls.
 At high frequencies, the coverage angle again
decreases with increasing frequency in a manner
determined by the size of the throat
 Thus the frequency range over which the
coverage angle is constant is determined
by the sizes of the mouth and of the
throat of the horn.
Horn design compromises
 Ideally, a horn would be designed to take advantage of
both attributes, resulting in a high-efficiency loudspeaker
with a smooth frequency response and constant directivity
over a wide frequency range.
 However, very often a horn designed to optimize one
aspect of performance must compromise other aspects.
 For example, the straight-sided horn may exhibit good
directivity control but, being a conical type horn, will not
have the radiation efficiency of an exponential horn of the
same size.
 The curved walls of an exponential horn, on the other hand,
do not control directivity as well as straight-sides horns.
 Early attempts at achieving high efficiency and
directivity control in one plane led to the design
of the so-called sectorial horn or radial horn
 The constant directivity horn
• Different horn wall angles in the two planes can be
achieved using compound flares. Sharp discontinuities
within the flare can set up strong standing-wave fields,
leading to an uneven frequency response.
Horn Loudspeaker

diaphragm voice coil

phase plug

horn
yoke
yoke
permanent magnet
diaphragm cover
Horn Loudspeaker
Horn
Headphones and Earphones
 Personal listening devices such as headphones and
earphones offer sound reproduction that is not subject to
the acoustics of the environment.
 Because headphone and earphone transducers need
generate only relatively small volume velocities, they tend
to have less nonlinear distortion than loudspeakers
achieving therefore a more exact sound reproduction.
 A disadvantage of personal listening devices is that the
sound field is static around the head
 Headphones and earphones can also provide sound
isolation so that the sounds of the environment are
suppressed.
 Headphones are worn over the ear and may be subdivided
into two groups: circumaural and supraaural.
 A circumaural headphone has one or more transducers
mounted in cups that have a reasonably airtight seal
against the head. it may be designed to be open or closed.
1. A closed headphone will insulate against outside noise .
2. Open-cup designs have no sound isolation but allow for an
environmental acoustic “awareness” and tend to sound
more natural for this reason.
 A supraaural headphone usually rests on a soft sound-
transparent cushion on top of the ear and may be more
comfortable.
 Earphones are small transducers that are used close to the
ear canal.