Download Improved Reverberation Time Control for Feedback Delay Networks
Artificial reverberation algorithms generally imitate the frequency-dependent decay of sound in a room quite inaccurately. Previous research suggests that a 5% error in the reverberation time (T60) can be audible. In this work, we propose to use an accurate graphic equalizer as the attenuation filter in a Feedback Delay Network reverberator. We use a modified octave graphic equalizer with a cascade structure and insert a high-shelf filter to control the gain at the high end of the audio range. One such equalizer is placed at the end of each delay line of the Feedback Delay Network. The gains of the equalizer are optimized using a new weighting function that acknowledges nonlinear error propagation from filter magnitude response to reverberation time values. Our experiments show that in real-world cases, the target T60 curve can be reproduced in a perceptually accurate manner at standard octave center frequencies. However, for an extreme test case in which the T60 varies dramatically between neighboring octave bands, the error still exceeds the limit of the just noticeable difference but is smaller than that obtained with previous methods. This work leads to more realistic artificial reverberation.
Download Multichannel Interleaved Velvet Noise
The cross-correlation of multichannel reverberation generated using interleaved velvet noise is studied. The interleaved velvetnoise reverberator was proposed recently for synthesizing the late reverb of an acoustic space. In addition to providing a computationally efficient structure and a perceptually smooth response, the interleaving method allows combining its independent branch outputs in different permutations, which are all equally smooth and flutter-free. For instance, a four-branch output can be combined in 4! or 24 ways. Additionally, each branch output set is mixed orthogonally, which increases the number of permutations from M ! to M 2 !, since sign inversions are taken along. Using specific matrices for this operation, which change the sign of velvet-noise sequences, decreases the correlation of some of the combinations. This paper shows that many selections of permutations offer a set of well decorrelated output channels, which produce a diffuse and colorless sound field, which is validated with spatial variation. The results of this work can be applied in the design of computationally efficient multichannel reverberators.
Download Differentiable Feedback Delay Network for Colorless Reverberation
Artificial reverberation algorithms often suffer from spectral coloration, usually in the form of metallic ringing, which impairs the perceived quality of sound. This paper proposes a method to reduce the coloration in the feedback delay network (FDN), a popular artificial reverberation algorithm. An optimization framework is employed entailing a differentiable FDN to learn a set of parameters decreasing coloration. The optimization objective is to minimize the spectral loss to obtain a flat magnitude response, with an additional temporal loss term to control the sparseness of the impulse response. The objective evaluation of the method shows a favorable narrower distribution of modal excitation while retaining the impulse response density. The subjective evaluation demonstrates that the proposed method lowers perceptual coloration of late reverberation, and also shows that the suggested optimization improves sound quality for small FDN sizes. The method proposed in this work constitutes an improvement in the design of accurate and high-quality artificial reverberation, simultaneously offering computational savings.