Audio Phase Tuning Across Multiple Listening Positions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing audio systems, particularly those with multiple speakers in various environments, face challenges in achieving optimal tuning due to the complexity of phase optimization, which is often skipped or performed manually, and existing software solutions are not cross-compatible with different manufacturers' systems, limiting their ability to produce consistently optimal results across legacy, current, and future components.
Innovation Solution
A software-based automated phase optimization system that uses impulse response data measurements to determine optimal phase shift values, generating a phase shift target curve compatible with digital signal processors, allowing for decoupled modules to optimize and translate settings independently of the audio system's configuration, ensuring compatibility with any manufacturer's components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If phase optimization is performed manually by an acoustics engineer, then the audio system can be tuned to produce a desirable sound field, but the process is time-consuming and subjective results are ambiguous in terms of whether they are truly optimized
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical adjustment and subjective listening with an automated computer-based system that uses objective measurements and algorithms to optimize phase. The system automatically adjusts phase parameters based on measured data rather than relying on human engineers to manually tune each parameter.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-optimization by using the audio system's own measured responses to automatically determine the optimal phase settings. The computer algorithm processes the measured data and self-adjusts the phase parameters without requiring external human intervention or subjective listening judgments.
2Productivity
If software-based tuning is fully integrated with the audio system, then optimization speed and accuracy improve, but the system cannot be used across audio systems from different manufacturers without extensive modifications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal tuning system that can work with audio systems from any manufacturer by using standardized measurement protocols and generic optimization algorithms. The system measures impulse responses and applies phase optimization in a manufacturer-independent manner, making it adaptable to legacy, current, and future audio systems without requiring extensive custom modifications.
3Measurement precision
If the number of filter combinations increases to cover all possible configurations, then the optimization becomes more thorough, but the complexity exceeds a human being's capability to fully optimize
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces human capability with computer-based automated algorithms that can process and evaluate an exponential number of filter combinations. The computer system efficiently searches through the vast parameter space using systematic methods, something that would be impossible for a human to perform manually.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses measured impulse responses as feedback to automatically adjust and optimize filter combinations. By continuously measuring the actual system response and comparing it to target characteristics, the algorithm iteratively refines the phase settings to achieve optimal performance across multiple listening positions.
Data Source
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AI summary
A phase optimizer optimizes, for each listening position in a listening environment, a phase shift for each frequency in a range of predetermined frequencies. The phase optimizer determines a resultant phase value for each possible phase shift value and stores the resultant phase vlaues for each possible phase shift value in an array. The phase optimizer calculates mean and standard deviation for the resultant phases stored in the array. The mean and standard deviations stored in the array are compared and phase shift values that result in the resultant phase values having the smallest mean and standard deviations are selected and are stored in memory. The phase optimizer optimizes each frequency, within a predetermined range of frequencies, for all possible phase shift values within a predetermined range of phase shift values and generates a phase shift target curve generated to be output by the phase optimizer.