Artificial impulse responses for emulating decca trees
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Authors
Walker, Aaron, Kyle
Issue Date
2025-05
Type
Electronic thesis
Thesis
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Architecture
Alternative Title
Abstract
ABSTRACTThis research explores the generation of artificial impulse responses designed to emulate
the acoustical properties of the Decca Tree microphone array, a widely adopted method in
classical and film music recording known for its immersive and spatially cohesive sound characteristics.
A series of Dirac impulses was systematically created, incorporating calculated
time delays and sound pressure level adjustments to represent realistic microphone capture
scenarios. These impulses were then combined with various early reflection and diffuse tail
algorithms to produce authentic spatial audio simulations.
The thesis presents three listening tests conducted to evaluate the efficacy of these artificially
generated impulse responses in emulating the acoustic characteristics captured by traditional
Decca Tree setups. Results showed a clear listener preference for Cinematic Rooms
early reflections over Valhalla Rooms algorithmic reverb, particularly highlighting moderate
gain adjustments. Additionally, the research demonstrated listeners’ nuanced sensitivity to
distance-dependent processing, revealing that while detailed, custom-tailored reflections and
tails were generally favored, simpler uniform reflections remained competitively preferred by
attentive listeners. Overall, this study validates a methodological approach for convincingly
emulating the revered Decca Tree microphone technique in spatial audio production.
Description
May2025
School of Architecture
School of Architecture
Full Citation
Publisher
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY