Acoustical engineering (also known as acoustic engineering) is the branch

of engineering dealing with sound and vibration. It is the application of acoustics, the science
of sound and vibration, in technology. Acoustical engineers are typically concerned with the
design, analysis and control of sound.
One goal of acoustical engineering can be the reduction of unwanted noise, which is referred to
as noise control. Unwanted noise can have significant impacts on animal and human health and well
being, reduce attainment by pupils in schools, and cause hearing loss. [1] Noise control principles are
implemented into technology and design in a variety of ways, including control by redesigning sound
sources, the design of noise barriers, sound absorbers, silencers, and buffer zones, and the use of
hearing protection (earmuffsor earplugs).

The transparent baffles inside this auditorium were installed to optimize sound projection and reproduction, key
factors in acoustical engineering.

But acoustical engineering is not just about noise control; it also covers positive uses of sound, from
the use of ultrasound in medicine to the programming of digital sound synthesizers, and from
designing a concert hall to enhance the sound of an orchestra [2] to specifying a railway station's
sound system so announcements are intelligible.[3]

Reverberation, in psychoacoustics and acoustics, is the persistence of sound after a sound is

produced.[1] A reverberation, or reverb, is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing a large
number of reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is absorbed by the surfaces of objects
in the space which could include furniture, people, and air.[2] This is most noticeable when the
sound source stops but the reflections continue, decreasing in amplitude, until they reach zero
amplitude.
Reverberation is frequency dependent: the length of the decay, or reverberation time, receives
special consideration in the architectural design of spaces which need to have specific reverberation
times to achieve optimum performance for their intended activity.[3] In comparison to a distinct echo
that is a minimum of 50 to 100 ms after the initial sound, reverberation is the occurrence of
reflections that arrive in less than approximately 50 ms. As time passes, the amplitude of the
reflections is reduced until it is reduced to zero. Reverberation is not limited to indoor spaces as it
exists in forests and other outdoor environments where reflection exists.
Reverberation occurs naturally when a person sings, talks or plays an instrument acoustically in a
hall or performance space with sound-reflective surfaces. [4] The sound of reverberation is often
electronically added to the vocals of singers in live sound systems and sound recordings by
using effects units or digital delay effects.
It is important

The reverberation time of a room describes how long a sound lingers or

persists after the source has stopped emitting it. This quality is also
described a room using subjective terms such as active, or live, or
echoey

In technical terms, the reverberation time measures rate of energy loss of a

steady state sound field once the source has been shut off.
If you go into a large cathedral, one of the first things you notice is that
sounds linger for a long time after they are produced. Medieval church
builders deliberately aimed for this acoustic property because it perfectly
suited the style of music that was to be performed there the
unaccompanied human voice singing in Latin.
Some of the best church organ music also exploits this acoustic property. For
instance, think of the big pauses in the opening bars of Bachs Toccata and
Fugue in D minor. Bach was well aware of the dramatic effect the churchs
acoustics could add to his music, and he exploited it!
Formula
In 1898, Wallace C. Sabine (Sabin) (1868 - 1919) came up with the reverb time formula,
but the article "Collected Papers on Acoustics" appeared in print 1922.
Even today his ingenious formula is unchanged in constant use.
Reverberation time RT60 = k V/A = 0.049 V/A (V and A in feet)
Reverberation time RT60 = k V/A = 0.161 V/A (V and A in meter)
with the factor k = (24 ln 10) / c20 = 0.049 (feet) or withk = (24 ln
10) / c20 = 0.161 (meter)
RT60 = reverberation time in s (reverb time)
V= room volume in m3
A = S = equivalent absorption surface or area in m 2
= absorption coefficient or attenuation coefficient
The terms "attenuation coefficient" and "absorption coefficient" are used
interchangeably
S= absorbing surface area in m2
A = 1 S1 + 2 S2 + 3 S3 + ..
c20 = speed of sound is 343 m/s or 1126 ft/s at 20C