Artificial Ambience Filter Using Transient Reduction to Suppress Echoes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing artificial reverberation technologies require significant computational resources and often result in unpleasant discrete echoes due to high reflection density, making it challenging to create a credible ambience effect in large spaces like concert halls without increasing computational effort.
Innovation Solution
A system combining a transient reduction module and a reverberation filter that reduces transients in the input audio signal, allowing for a smaller number of filter taps while minimizing discrete echoes, thereby enhancing the ambience effect efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a large number of synthetic reflections are used to simulate high reflection density in large spaces, then the credibility of ambience effect is improved, but the computational resources required increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes transients from the audio signal before applying reverberation. By separating the transient component from the steady-state component, the system can apply different processing strategies: transients are reduced or eliminated to prevent discrete echoes, while the steady-state signal receives full reverberation processing. This extraction approach allows credible ambience with fewer computational resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the audio signal into transient and steady-state portions, and segments the reverberation processing into early reflection and late reverberation components. By segmenting the signal and processing each segment differently, the system achieves efficient computation while maintaining ambience credibility.
2Reliability
If a large number of synthetic reflections are used to create credible ambience, then the ambience quality is improved, but discrete echoes increase making the effect unpleasant
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary anti-action by reducing transients in the input signal before reverberation is applied. Since transients are the primary cause of discrete echoes in reverberated signals, eliminating them beforehand prevents the formation of unpleasant discrete echoes while allowing the steady-state signal to generate natural-sounding late reverberation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful effect of transients (which cause discrete echoes) into a benefit by using transient detection to identify and reduce only the problematic portions. The transient reduction process itself becomes useful by preventing echo formation, while preserving the natural characteristics of the steady-state signal for authentic ambience generation.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If transient reduction is applied to the input signal, then discrete echoes are reduced, but the processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical transient suppression methods with a more efficient signal processing approach based on transient detection and selective gain adjustment. By using transient detection algorithms to identify transient portions and applying gain reduction only to those portions, the system achieves effective echo suppression with simpler and more efficient processing than traditional methods.
Data Source
AI summary
A circuit, method, and system for producing artificial ambience effect for an input audio signal, mono, stereo, or surround. The ambience effect enhances artificial reverberation, replaces artificial reverberation, or synthesizes extra audio channels, such as surround channels. The circuit may include a transient reduction module and a reverberation filter. The transient reduction module may be adapted to reduce transients in an input audio signal of one or more channels. The reverberation filter maybe adapted to receive a transient-reduced signal of one or more channels corresponding to the transient-reduced signal.