Apple Impulse Response Utility - Manual (Page 24)

24
Below are some specific approaches for you to experiment with when creating impulse
responses. Remember, these are just suggestions. There are no rules regarding how far
the speakers have to be placed away from the microphone array, the best angles, ideal
distances between speakers and microphones, and so on. You may want to try a
number of different techniques and placements to find the ideal arrangement. Creating
impulse responses is an art unto itself!
The Virtual Listener Approach
This is perhaps the most common technique for placing speakers and microphones
when creating impulse responses. The goal is to capture the effect of the echoes and
reflections coming from all around the space—as heard at the listening position. In this
approach, the speakers are set up at the edges of the room, and the microphone is
placed in the listening position.
The resulting impulse response (when later used in Space Designer to add reverb to
your signal) should sound like your audio is being played back from the various speaker
locations in the “space”. This method doesn’t require multiple microphones; a single
microphone can be turned towards each speaker in turn, and different audio
recordings can be made from the same location. The image below illustrates the virtual
listener approach to setting up five speakers (for a five channel surround impulse
response), with one microphone placed centrally in the space.
This method can create the impression of the audio signal being completely immersed
in the simulated space.
C
R L
Rs Ls Surround
microphone
tree