Thresholds for the Slope Ratio in Determining Transition Time and Quantifying Diffuser Performance in Situ

This study is concerned with an objective measure called the slope ratio that can detect acoustic defects due to unexpected pressure increases such as strong reflections and coincidental constructive interference. The slope ratio is the ratio of the instantaneous slope to the mean slope in a decay curve. The slope ratio was suggested for determining the room acoustic transition time experimentally, but its threshold criteria have not been thoroughly investigated. The thresholds for the slope ratio, particularly for applications such as determining the room acoustic transition time and quantifying in situ diffuseness, are examined for various room impulse responses. For the tested rooms, a slope ratio threshold of 11 gives the most consistent and systematic results.