AES Articles

Technical papers by Arthur M. Noxon, PE, presented at various AES Conventions.
Click on the highlighted titles to read selected papers on-line. Bound copies of the five original manuscripts are available from ASC for $25.00, postage and handling included. Please call 1-800-272-8823 to order.

These are the first two articles written by Art about room acoustics and corner bass traps. The first paper introduces the TubeTrap, shows how it is designed and how it is used in rooms. The second paper takes a look at how room modes are managed by corner bass traps.

Listening Room - Corner Loaded Bass Trap | PDF Version
-presented at the 79th AES Convention, October 1985

Room Acoustics and Low Frequency Damping | PDF Version
-presented at the 81st AES Convention, November 1986

These next two papers were written in response to the difficulty in accounting for the satisfaction from TubeTrap use when doing traditional, steady state room mode analysis, pink noise and tone sweep evaluation of room acoustics. Articulation accounted for the dynamic aspects of room acoustics. The first paper covers the details of MTF testing and the second paper looks at MTF as a global concept in performance spaces.

Articulation and the Small Room | PDF Version
-presented at the 85th AES Convention, November 1988

Articulation-Prerequsite to Performance | PDF Version
-presented at the XXth AES Convention in NY, Nov 19XX

The next two papers are about acoustic spaces for recording. TubeTraps led recording engineers to discover that lots of very early reflections produce a better, more manageable sound than the traditional, reflection-free, dry studio recording. The first paper introduces the concept of a sampling room, highly reflective with a fast RT60. The second paper introduces the free standing QSF version of Haas Saturated recording approaches the same subject from a generalized overview.

Controlled Reflection Isolation Booth | PDF Version
-presented at the 83rd AES Convention, October 1987

Sound Fusion and the Acoustic Presence Effect | PDF Version
-presented at the 89th AES Convention, September 1990

This last AES paper by Mr. Noxon addresses the hot field of acoustic diffusion. It introduces the concept of coherent and incoherent diffusion, how to measure it and what each type is good and not good for.

Coherent and Incoherent Diffusion | PDF Version
- A discussion of various forms of diffusion and their effects on the listener.

This AES paper presents the results of a successful collaboration between Arthur, the authors who are audio engineers from Croatian Television and our Italian TubeTrap factory, Acoustica Applicata.

Room Acoustics For Eurovision 1990 (PDF)
- With the addition of TubeTraps a large music hall with a long reverb time was successfully converted to a television production stage.

Magazine Articles

Articles by Arthur M. Noxon, PE.
Click on the titles to read articles on-line.

Home Theater Acoustics
-a five-part article in Home Theater magazine, October 1993 - February 1994

Volume 1 | PDF Version How the distraction factor of the room is important.
Volume 2 | PDF Version An overview of common home theater acoustic problems.
Volume 3 | PDF Version How resonant modes create sound cancellation.
Volume 4 | PDF Version Speaker positioning for maximum sound.
Volume 5 | PDF Version Flutter Echo/Flutter Tones in the home theater.

Modes, Modes and More Modes | Download PDF Version
- A detailed discussion concerning home theater acoustic priciples originally published in the October '05 edition of Home Theater Builder Magazine. Written by Arthur Noxon, PE, Licensed Acoustic Engineer

History of Sound Fusion Recording | Download PDF Version
-We're proud to announce that the June 2007 issue of EQ Magazine features an article by Mr. Noxon covering the history and development of our Quick Sound Field system.

Room Acoustics: Audio's Final Frontier | Download PDF Version
-A roundtable discussion on room acoustics, equalization, and DSP-based room correction originally published in The Absolute Sound, October/November, 2004.

The Chain Is As Strong As Its Weakest Link
-an article written for the first Hong Kong Hi-Fi Show, 1993

Trapping Bass In Your Project Studio | Download PDF Version
-an article written for db Magazine, November 1991

The Wall in the Desert
-from a lecture given at the Hi-End Audio Show in Milano, Italy, 1993

Church Articles

Articles by Arthur M. Noxon, PE written for various magazines.

Church Acoustics - Unnoticed Means a Successful Job

by Arthur M. Noxon, PE. Originally featured in Church & Worship Technology, March, 2008.

Usually, working with churches is pretty hard. But one day I got the dream call. It went something like this: Hi. We had some vandals start a fire and our church was smoke damaged. It was covered by insurance and the entire inside of the church needs to be removed and resurfaced. We figure we can use this money to do the acoustic job we always needed, and still get the painting done. So what do we do?

Auditorium Acoustics

by Arthur M. Noxon, PE. A four-part article originally featured in Church & Worship Technology, April-September, 2002.

The traditional church is half auditorium and half recital hall in design. It needs to clearly present speech and yet a few minutes later in the service it needs to support engaging congregation singing. A new style of church service has evolved. The emphasis is on understanding the sermon and less on congregational singing, it is the church auditorium. Here as a study series to better understand the design strategies behind church acoustics.

Auditorium Acoustics 101:
   The Quieter, the Better

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Auditorium Acoustics 102:
   Reflections Make All the Difference

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Auditorium Acoustics 103:
   Speakers Make Sound, Acoustics Clean It Up

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Auditorium Acoustics 104

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by Arthur M. Noxon, PE. Originally featured in Church & Worship Technology, October, 2001.

All too often, a church is built like a civic auditorium--big space and many seats--yet in the case of a large church, the building is expected to perform like a church. An auditorium is made for "auditing", or listening. A church is made for auditing and singing, therein lies the important difference. Most acoustic design projects, and churches are no exception, start with a budget and a vision. By the time the building committee is finished with a fully functional church, it will have allocated about 10 percent of the total building budget to the acoustics, and that does not include the sound system, wiring, the audio room or the sound equipment. The hope is, after all is said and done, that the church will actually sound like a church.

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Voicing The Church

by Arthur M. Noxon, PE.

A short discussion about the common acoustical problems and solutions associated with churches.

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