Experimental evaluation of a sound diffuse field in a ordinary room

This paper presents a methodology based on analysis of spatial correlation functions for assessing diffusivity of a sound field in reverberant and ordinary reflective rooms. A set of sound field measurements using a microphone array is performed in a room excited by a broadband signal and for many positions of loudspeakers. Each recorded signal is then broken down with a filter bank and the spatial correlation of each obtained band-limited signal is computed. Theoretical predictions of the spatial correlation function and the measured ones show very good agreement when spatial averaging and frequency conditions are met for producing a diffuse field. Evolution of the spatial correlation functions versus frequency and number of spatial averaging, i.e., number of sources positions, are examined in a reflective room. Results show that the proposed technique allows to determine the minimum number of required source positions and the actual lower frequency bound for considering that the field is diffuse. The latter is analogous to the Schroeder frequency for reverberant room. Interest of the presented methodology is its ability to experimentally assess in any reflective ordinary room the actual frequency range over which the field can be considered as diffuse. [Work funded by the AMIDEX Foundation.]