Abstract
- In 1971, Barron published a study on ’The subjective effects of first reflections in concert halls’, comprising a lead/lag paradigm experiment with two loudspeakers set up in an anechoic room. As a result, he presented the determined audibility threshold, as well as a figure showing the audible effects caused by the first reflection (lag) depending on its delay and level relative to the direct sound (lead). This study gave an inspiring first insight into prominent effects like spatial impression, coloration, image shift, and ’disturbance’. However, the graph was created based on the responses of two listeners evaluating the effect of two parameters simultaneously. To assess the reproducibility of the results, we repeated and extended Barron’s experiment with a larger panel of participants and a slightly revised test method. Besides orchestral music, a solo piece played by an electronic bass guitar was considered. The analysis confirmed a signal dependency of the estimated thresholds. Furthermore, despite intense training, mapping the specific attributes to the perceptual effects remained challenging for the complex signals. Considerable individual differences were observed. We present an updated version of Barron’s famous graph as a result of our study.