In order to investigate the influence of late reflections from the rear wall of the audience area on performers’ subjective evaluation of concert hall acoustics, a performance experiment was conducted with vocal performers. For the experimental system, a three-dimensional sound field simulation system based on the Boundary Surface Control (BoSC) principle was employed. By convolving the performed sound signals with impulse responses measured in an actual concert hall, realistic stage acoustics were presented to the performers. In the subjective experiment, conditions with varying perceptual degrees of late reflections were presented. The participants performed under these acoustic conditions and evaluated both the characteristics of the sound field and the ease of performance. The results of the experiment showed individual differences in the evaluations. However, a common trend was observed in which ease of performance was rated higher under conditions where performers perceived that their sound reached the audience. Based on the evaluation results within the group, which showed common trends, it was suggested that sensitivity to late reflections differs depending on performance experience, and that the perception of late reflections may be related to the sensation of sound reaching the audience and, ultimately, to the ease of performance.
Horiguchi et al. (Wed,) studied this question.