Bar & Club How Fast Is Arrival Time

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What Would Determine The Fastest Arrival Time?

  • Power Of Speaker (Wattage)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Size 12", 15" etc.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Type/Design

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Volume/Loudness

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    7
The frequency does affect the wavelength, just not the speed of propagation.

I think some of the problem is that in the real world, what we hear is affected by a number of parameters, including the design of the speakers, but thankfully, some, like the speed of sound, are pretty much fixed .. ain't science great. :)
See I think we agree mostly and are saying the same thing just differently.
 
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SO .... to wrap up the poll, NONE of the options will determine the "fastest" arrival time (as you can't speed up the sound wave in a consistent medium), but certain design criteria may slow it down, such as some horn types and certain electronics (DSPs, crossovers or the appropriately named delays).

We purposefully put delays in place to make sure we have a coherent sound front arriving at listeners ears. For long rooms, a set of delay speakers placed out in the audience, will normally be delayed by the the time it would take for sound to arrive to that point from the main speakers, so they sound in unison.

For speaker enclosures that are separated (normally the subs), most DSPs and some crossovers allow for one or more of the boxes to be delayed, so again, the sound arrives at the same time. For my horn loaded subs, that's an approximate 7ms I delay the tops, since the internal horn is about 7 or so feet in total length and therefore it takes that 7ms for the sound to actually get out of the sub. By delaying the tops, it syncs everything up. Delays may be needed also if you place the subs away from the plane of the other speakers .. say at the back wall or out in front of the table. At the back wall, you may need to delay the tops if they are in front of the subs .. out front, you may need to delay the subs if they are in front of the tops. Delay is usually done at 1ms per foot of distance (actually .89ms) at normal temps/altitude, etc.

All to get a cleaner sound.

BTW, if you don't have a delay unit, I have used the Behringer Shark (DSP110) for years for a number of things like delay, feedback control and even signal level matching (mic to line or vice versa). It's a neat unit for less than $100 (I have several).

Behringer-shark-DSP110-3.jpg
 
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If there are speakers deployed on the same plane and some may require Delays because of design eg. Folded Horns etc, then adversely we could say that some sound from said speakers do really travel from their point faster than the others on the same plane.

Sources at different distances do have different arrival times to a given listening position. Depending on the particulars, the integration of the sound may or may not suffer. This is unrelated to the specific poll question.

For example, if you have a note being played from a 18" speaker powered in full by a 800 watt amplifier at full blast, then it is possible that the note may be perceived faster than the same note being played from a 20 w 10" speaker and amp. Given that the listener or measuring tool is standing in the same spot. It could be artificial perception, who knows.

This is dangerously close to the "fast bass" nonsense that gets bantered around from time to time.

So if I whisper your name from 100 yards you'll hear it just as quickly as if I SHOUT your name?

"As quickly"...yes....provided you can hear it at all. It is entirely likely that a whisper will be attenuated enough to be inaudible by the time that sound wave would have reached the listening position.

in water temp, salinity level and water density all play a roll in how far not how fast sound will travel same as in open air... But frequency determines how fast and amplitude determines how far... Atmosphere just determines the level of dissipation over distance occurs

Once the "working fluid" is established, the speed of sound propagation is a function of temperature alone. Parameters like water salinity and air humidity alter the "working fluid" characteristics. These kinds of parameters are generally not applicable in "small(er)" indoor spaces with conditioned air.

how can you say frequency does not factor in? It most certainly does.... Your article is incorrect in its stipulation in the relationship to frequency and speed... The higher the frequency the faster it disrupts the medium it travels on or through.

It is true that high frequency sound dissipates more readily in "free air" compared to lower frequency sound. Higher frequency sound is also affected by air currents. Even moderate air currents can increase the distance the sound travels compared to the "straight line" distance. While these are "real" effects, they do not change the basic idea that the "speed of sound" is the same for all frequencies of sound.

SO .... to wrap up the poll, NONE of the options will determine the "fastest" arrival time (as you can't speed up the sound wave in a consistent medium),

+1....all true.

but certain design criteria may slow it down, such as some horn types and certain electronics (DSPs, crossovers or the appropriately named delays).

Meh...horn types and delays do not "slow down" the speed of sound...they do "delay" the relative "start time" of the particular sound.
 
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Meh...horn types and delays do not "slow down" the speed of sound...they do "delay" the relative "start time" of the particular sound.

Yes, I stated that above .. meant to say delay arrival time.
 
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Which way is the wind blowing in this scenario?

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I chose other. I find that rap and heavy metal songs seems to get to the mother of the bride across the room faster than any other type of music:)
 
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You are completely correct Steve. The speed of sound has nothing to do with either the frequency or the amplitude. My engineering degree may not serve me as well as it should, but it does take care of this.

Example, if the frequency mattered, the kick drum and guitar would arrive at different times to point B. As well, if amplitude mattered, during a screaming guitar solo, it would arrive ahead of a snare drum.

Temperature and humidity DO affect the speed of sound because the medium through which the waves travel is changing. This has nothing to do with the source of the sound.
 
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you are all so wrong it makes me laugh,,,,, how good is the hearing of each person,, a def guy is gonna take longer than a good hearing guy, and then it would also depend on how high their hearing aid is turned up.... silly DJs! ;)
 
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All salient and well thought out observations but none really address the question as it relates to speed and sound. The REAL question here is if a chicken and a half laid an egg and a half in a day and a half how long then would it take a grasshopper with a wooden leg to kick the seeds out of a dill pickle? Answer that and you've answered the question
 
All salient and well thought out observations but none really address the question as it relates to speed and sound. The REAL question here is if a chicken and a half laid an egg and a half in a day and a half how long then would it take a grasshopper with a wooden leg to kick the seeds out of a dill pickle? Answer that and you've answered the question
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