Audio speakers having upward firing drivers for reflected sound rendering
First Claim
1. A speaker for transmitting sound waves to be reflected off an upper surface of a listening environment, comprising:
- a cabinet;
a direct-firing driver within the cabinet and oriented to transmit sound along a horizontal axis perpendicular to a front surface of the cabinet;
an upward-firing driver and oriented at an inclination angle of between 18 degrees to 22 degrees relative to the horizontal axis;
a crossover circuit having a low-pass section configured to transmit low frequency signals below a threshold frequency to the direct-firing driver, and a high-pass section configured to transmit high frequency signals above the threshold frequency to the upward-firing driver; and
a terminal panel affixed to the outside of a rear surface of the cabinet and having separate input connections to the direct-firing driver and the upward firing driver, wherein the terminal panel has a first set of input terminal binding connectors to connect an audio system to the direct-firing driver and labeled as such on the rear surface, and a second set of input terminal binding connectors to connect the audio system to the upward firing driver and labeled as such on the rear surface.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments are directed to upward-firing speakers that reflect sound off a ceiling to a listening location at a distance from a speaker. The reflected sound provides height cues to reproduce audio objects that have overhead audio components. A virtual height filter based on a directional hearing model is applied to the upward-firing driver signal to improve the perception of height for audio signals transmitted by the virtual height speaker to provide optimum reproduction of the overhead reflected sound. The upward firing driver is tilted at an inclination angle of approximately 20 degrees to the horizontal axis of the speaker and separate height and direct terminal connections are provided to interface to an adaptive audio rendering system.
6 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A speaker for transmitting sound waves to be reflected off an upper surface of a listening environment, comprising:
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a cabinet; a direct-firing driver within the cabinet and oriented to transmit sound along a horizontal axis perpendicular to a front surface of the cabinet; an upward-firing driver and oriented at an inclination angle of between 18 degrees to 22 degrees relative to the horizontal axis; a crossover circuit having a low-pass section configured to transmit low frequency signals below a threshold frequency to the direct-firing driver, and a high-pass section configured to transmit high frequency signals above the threshold frequency to the upward-firing driver; and a terminal panel affixed to the outside of a rear surface of the cabinet and having separate input connections to the direct-firing driver and the upward firing driver, wherein the terminal panel has a first set of input terminal binding connectors to connect an audio system to the direct-firing driver and labeled as such on the rear surface, and a second set of input terminal binding connectors to connect the audio system to the upward firing driver and labeled as such on the rear surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A speaker system for reflecting sound waves off a room ceiling to a listening position in the room, comprising:
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a cabinet; a direct-firing driver within the cabinet and oriented to transmit sound along a horizontal axis perpendicular to a front surface of the cabinet; an upward-firing driver inset in a recess within a top surface of the cabinet and configured to reflect sound off a reflection point on the ceiling, and wherein a corresponding angle for direct response from the upward-firing driver is between 60 and 80 degrees from the horizontal axis; a crossover circuit having a low-pass section configured to transmit low frequency signals below a threshold frequency to the direct-firing driver, and a high-pass section configured to transmit high frequency signals above the threshold frequency to the upward-firing driver; and a terminal panel affixed to the outside of a rear surface of the cabinet and having separate input connections to the direct-firing driver and the upward firing driver, wherein the terminal panel has a first set of input terminal binding connectors to connect an audio system to the direct-firing driver and labeled as such on the rear surface, and a second set of input terminal binding connectors to connect the audio system to the upward firing driver and labeled as such on the rear surface. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for generating an audio scene from a speaker in a room, the method comprising:
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receiving first and second audio signals; routing the first audio signal comprising low frequency signals below a threshold frequency to a direct-firing driver of the speaker; routing the second audio signal comprising high frequency signals above the threshold frequency to an upward-firing driver of the speaker;
wherein the first and second audio signals are physically discrete signals representing direct and diffused audio content, respectively; andseparating the first audio signal from the second audio signal in a crossover circuit having a low-pass section configured to route the low frequency signals to the direct-firing driver, and a high-pass section configured to transmit the high frequency signals above the threshold frequency to the upward-firing driver, wherein the first and second audio signals are routed through a terminal panel affixed to the outside of a rear surface of a unitary cabinet housing the direct-firing driver and upward-firing driver, and having separate input connections to the direct-firing driver and the upward firing driver, wherein the terminal panel has a first set of input terminal binding connectors to connect an audio system to the direct-firing driver and labeled as such on the rear surface, and a second set of input terminal binding connectors to connect the audio system to the upward firing driver and labeled as such on the rear surface. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification