JP4186783B2 - Audio equipment placement support apparatus, program, and audio system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for providing a user with a position where a sound collecting device that outputs a musical sound signal corresponding to a surrounding sound and a sound generating device that outputs a sound corresponding to a musical sound signal should be arranged.

  A technique has been proposed in which a microphone and a speaker are arranged in an acoustic space, and various effects are imparted to the musical sound acquired by the microphone and then the sound is emitted from the speaker (for example, see Patent Document 1). According to this technique, for example, a musical sound generated when a user plays a musical instrument can be acquired by a microphone, and after being reverberated, the sound can be emitted from a speaker.

Japanese Patent No. 2646210 (FIG. 1)

  However, depending on the position where the microphone (hereinafter referred to as “microphone”) and the speaker are arranged, the frequency characteristics of the musical sound collected by the microphone and the musical sound emitted from the speaker and reaching the user may be uneven for each frequency component. There is a case. For example, only the intensity of a specific frequency component of the musical sound is extremely large compared to other frequency components. When such non-uniform frequency characteristics occur, the sound field control function in the acoustic space is not sufficiently exhibited, and the sound heard by the user becomes unnatural and annoying. On the other hand, it is not easy for a person who has specialized knowledge about sound to specify the position of a microphone or a speaker for avoiding such problems and obtaining good frequency characteristics. In particular, when a plurality of microphones and a plurality of speakers are arranged in the acoustic space, it is necessary to perform a complicated and difficult work of determining the influence of sound emitted from each speaker for all the microphones. The problem becomes even more pronounced.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a situation, and it aims at making a user grasp | ascertain easily the preferable position of the sound collection apparatus or sound generation apparatus arrange | positioned in acoustic space.

In order to solve the above-described problem, a first feature of the present invention is that a space specifying unit that specifies a form of an acoustic space and a sound signal out of the acoustic space whose form is specified by the space specifying unit. A selection means for selecting a position where each of the plurality of sound producing devices for outputting the sound should be arranged; a sound collecting device for outputting a musical sound signal corresponding to a surrounding sound; and the plurality of positions selected by the selection means. Position specifying means for specifying a position in the acoustic space where the sound collecting device is to be arranged so that a distance from the sound generating device closest to the sound collecting device is maximum in the acoustic space; And an output means for outputting the position specified by the position specifying means.
According to this configuration, when the position where each sound producing device is to be arranged in the acoustic space is selected by the selection unit, the distance between the sound collecting device and the sound producing device closest to the sound collecting device among the plurality of sound producing devices. The position in the acoustic space where the sound collection device is to be placed is specified so that the maximum is in the acoustic space. Therefore, the user can arrange the sound collection device at a preferred position by referring to the specific result without requiring specialized knowledge about sound. The selecting means may select the position of each sounding device based on information input to the input means by the user, or the position determined in advance according to the form of the acoustic space may be the position of each sounding device. May be selected.
The present invention can also be applied to a case where an acoustic unit that combines a sound collecting device and a sound producing device that outputs sound based on a musical sound signal output from the sound collecting device is arranged in an acoustic space. That is, in this case, the position specifying means specifies the position where the sound collecting device included in the sound unit should be arranged for each of the plurality of sound units having the sound collecting device and the sound producing device.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the specific result obtained by the position specifying means is displayed as an image on the display device. That is, in a more desirable aspect, the output means includes an image of the acoustic space whose form is specified by the space specifying means, and an image of a sound collecting device arranged at a position specified by the position specifying means among the images of the acoustic space. Are displayed on the display device. By visually recognizing this image, the user can intuitively grasp the position where the sound collection device should be placed. But it is good also as a structure which alert | reports to a user with a voice the position specified by the position specific means with the display by a display apparatus or instead of this.

Further, the second feature of the present invention is that a space specifying means for specifying the form of the acoustic space and a plurality of musical sound signals corresponding to surrounding sounds among the acoustic spaces whose forms are specified by the space specifying means are output. Selecting means for selecting a position where each of the sound collecting devices is to be arranged, a sound generating device for outputting a sound corresponding to a musical sound signal, and the sound generating device among the plurality of sound collecting devices whose positions are selected by the selecting means Position specifying means for specifying the position where the sounding device is to be placed in the acoustic space so that the distance from the sound collecting device closest to the device is maximum in the acoustic space, and specifying by the position specifying means Output means for outputting the determined position.
According to this configuration, when the position where each sound collecting device is to be arranged in the acoustic space is selected by the selecting means, the sound producing device and the sound collecting device closest to the sound producing device among the plurality of sound collecting devices The position in the acoustic space where the sounding device is to be placed is specified so that the distance is maximized in the acoustic space. Therefore, the user can arrange the sounding device at a preferred position by referring to the specific result without requiring specialized knowledge about sound. The selecting means may select the position of each sound collecting device based on information input to the input means by the user, or may select a position determined in advance according to the form of the acoustic space. It may be selected as the position.
The present invention can also be applied to a case where an acoustic unit that combines a sound collecting device and a sound producing device that outputs sound based on a musical sound signal output from the sound collecting device is arranged in an acoustic space. That is, in this case, the position specifying means specifies the position where the sounding device included in the sound unit should be arranged for each of the plurality of sound units having the sound collecting device and the sounding device.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the specific result obtained by the position specifying means is displayed as an image on the display device. That is, in a more desirable aspect, the output means includes an image of the acoustic space whose form is specified by the space specifying means, and an image of a sounding device arranged at a position specified by the position specifying means among the images of the acoustic space. Is displayed on the display device. By visually recognizing this image, the user can intuitively grasp the position where the sounding device should be placed. But it is good also as a structure which alert | reports to a user with a voice the position specified by the position specific means with the display by a display apparatus or instead of this.

  Note that the present invention is also specified as a program for causing a computer to function as the acoustic device arrangement support apparatus according to the first or second feature described above. In addition to being provided to the computer by distribution via a network, this program is provided in a form stored in various recording media represented by an optical disc and installed in the computer.

The first acoustic system according to the present invention is arranged in a position output by a plurality of sounding devices that are arranged in an acoustic space and output a sound corresponding to a musical sound signal, and the output means of the first feature of the present invention. disposed in the acoustic space based, comprises a sound pickup device for outputting a musical tone signal corresponding to the ambient sound. According to this configuration, the position of the sound collecting device is selected so that the distance from the sound producing device closest to the sound collecting device among the plurality of sound producing devices is maximized in the acoustic space. Similarly, the second acoustic system according to the present invention is output by a plurality of sound collecting devices that are arranged in an acoustic space and output a musical sound signal according to surrounding sounds, and the output means of the second feature of the present invention. disposed in the acoustic space based on the position comprises a sound equipment for outputting a sound corresponding to the musical tone signal. According to this configuration, the position of the sound producing device is selected so that the distance from the sound collecting device closest to the sound producing device among the plurality of sound collecting devices is maximized in the acoustic space. According to these acoustic systems, the sound collection device can be arranged at a position where the frequency characteristics are good and a natural sound can be obtained without requiring specialized knowledge about sound.

Further, the third acoustic system according to the present invention is the above first or second sound system installed in an acoustic space having a wall of multiple, two sides extending in the vertical direction of the respective wall surfaces A sound collecting device is arranged at the upper end of one side, a sounding device is arranged at the lower end, a sounding device is arranged at the upper end of the other side, and a sound collecting device is arranged at the lower end. According to this configuration, each sounding device is arranged at a position where a natural sound can be obtained with good frequency characteristics without requiring specialized knowledge about sound, while sufficiently obtaining a low frequency component of the sound. Each sound collecting device is arranged at a position where the sound can be picked up.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the user can easily grasp the preferred position of the sound collection device or the sound generation device arranged in the acoustic space.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<A: First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the acoustic system according to the present embodiment is installed in an acoustic space. The acoustic system 100 includes four acoustic units SU (SU1, SU2, SU3, and SU4). Each acoustic unit SU has a microphone M that outputs a signal corresponding to the surrounding sound (hereinafter referred to as “musical sound signal”) and a speaker S that outputs a sound corresponding to the musical sound signal. On the other hand, the acoustic space R is a rectangular parallelepiped space surrounded by the floor surface F, the four wall surfaces W (W1, W2, W3, and W4) and the ceiling surface C. The wall surface W1 is an inner wall surface on the front side of the drawing, the wall surface W3 is an inner wall surface on the back side of the drawing, the wall surface W2 is an inner wall surface on the left side of the drawing, and the wall surface W4 is an inner wall surface on the right side of the drawing.

  In the present embodiment, it is assumed that each acoustic unit SUi (i is an integer from 1 to 4) is arranged on the wall surface Wi of the acoustic space R. For example, the acoustic unit SU1 is disposed on the wall surface W1, and the acoustic unit SU2 is disposed on the wall surface W2. The speaker S of each acoustic unit SUi is reflected in the inner wall surface (ceiling surface C, wall surface W, or floor surface F) of the acoustic space R, and the sound generated thereby is near the center of the floor surface F. The direction of the sounding surface Sa is selected so as to reach the existing user U as an indirect sound. For example, the speaker S is arranged in a state in which the sound generation surface Sa is directed in a substantially vertical direction (ceiling surface C side). On the other hand, the microphone M of the acoustic unit SUi is disposed on the bottom side of the wall surface Wi (that is, the line of intersection between the wall surface Wi and the floor surface F). In the following, an xyz coordinate system is assumed for the acoustic space R as shown in FIG. In this coordinate system, the xy plane is parallel to the ceiling surface C and the floor surface F, the xz plane is parallel to the wall surfaces W1 and W3, and the yz plane is parallel to the wall surfaces W2 and W4.

  Next, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the acoustic system 100. As shown in the figure, the acoustic system 100 includes the four acoustic units SU (SU1 to SU4) described above and a signal processing device 150 to which these acoustic units SU are connected. The signal processing device 150 is configured by a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), performs various processing on the signal input to the input end, and outputs the processed signal from the output end. On the other hand, each acoustic unit SU has a transmission line L1 from the microphone M to the input end of the signal processing device 150, and a transmission line L2 from the output end of the signal processing device 150 to the speaker S. The distance between the microphone M and the speaker S can be adjusted as appropriate.

  Under this configuration, when a musical sound is generated in the acoustic space R as the user U plays or plays a musical instrument, the musical sound signal output from the microphone M is transmitted to the signal processing device 150 via the transmission line L1. Supplied to the input end. The signal processing device 150 performs various processes on the musical tone signal supplied to the input terminal. This processing includes, for example, a process for amplifying a musical sound signal, a convolution calculation process for an impulse response to the musical sound signal, an equalizing process for adjusting the signal level for each frequency band of the musical sound signal, and a musical sound signal supplied from the microphone M. There are processes for distributing to a plurality of channels, various filtering processes, and the like. The musical tone signal that has undergone these processes is output from the output terminal of the signal processing device 150. The speaker S outputs a sound corresponding to the musical tone signal supplied from the output end via the transmission line L2. With the above configuration, the user U in the acoustic space R can listen to a musical sound in which an acoustic effect such as reverb or echo is added to the musical sound generated by his / her performance.

  By the way, if the microphone M and the speaker S of each acoustic unit SU are not arranged at appropriate positions in the acoustic space R, the musical sound received by the user U may be unnatural and annoying. The acoustic device arrangement support apparatus shown below specifies an optimum position where an acoustic device such as a microphone M or a speaker S is to be arranged, and a person who intends to arrange each acoustic unit SU in the acoustic space R (hereinafter, “equipment arranger”). Is a device that notifies the specified position.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the acoustic device arrangement support apparatus 10. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11 shown in the figure implements various functions by performing arithmetic processing and controlling each part in accordance with a program. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 12, a storage device 13, an input device 15, and a display device 16 are each connected to the CPU 11 via a bus 19. As described above, the acoustic device arrangement support apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment has the same hardware configuration as a general computer typified by a personal computer.

  A RAM 12 illustrated in FIG. 3 is a storage unit used as a work area by the CPU 11. On the other hand, the storage device 13 is a means for storing a program executed by the CPU 11 and various data used when the program is executed. Specifically, various devices such as a hard disk device and an optical disk device can be adopted as the storage device 13. The storage device 13 stores an acoustic device arrangement support program. This acoustic device arrangement support program is a program that provides a function of specifying a position where the microphone M and the speaker S of each acoustic unit SU are arranged in the acoustic space R. In the present embodiment, when the CPU 11 executes the acoustic device arrangement support program, the position of the speaker S of each acoustic unit SU is appropriately selected, and the position of each microphone M that is preferable with respect to the position of the speaker S is specified. It has come to be.

  The input device 15 is input means such as a keyboard or a mouse, for example, and outputs a signal indicating the content of an operation given to an operator such as a button or a key to the CPU 11. On the other hand, the display device 16 includes display means such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) or a liquid crystal display panel, and displays various images under the control of the CPU 11.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When the input device 15 is operated by the device placement person and the activation of the acoustic device placement support program is instructed, the CPU 11 reads the program from the storage device 13 into the RAM 12 and executes it sequentially. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing according to this program.

  When the acoustic device placement support program is activated, the device placement person appropriately selects the shape of the acoustic space R in which the acoustic system 100 is to be placed by operating the input device 15 as appropriate. Enter the dimensions of each side. Based on these pieces of information, the CPU 11 specifies the form of the acoustic space R in which the acoustic system 100 is arranged, specifically the shape and dimensions of the acoustic space R (step S10). As the shape of the acoustic space R, any of various solid shapes such as a rectangular parallelepiped, a polygonal column, and a cylinder can be arbitrarily selected. However, for convenience of explanation, a case where a rectangular parallelepiped is selected is assumed. In the following, as shown in FIG. 5, the dimension of the acoustic space R in the x-axis direction (width) is “4a”, the dimension in the y-axis direction (depth) is “4b”, and the dimension in the z-axis direction ( It is assumed that “4h” is input as the height).

  Next, CPU11 specifies the position where the speaker S of each acoustic unit SU should be arrange | positioned, and memorize | stores these positions in RAM12 (step S11). Here, the position of each speaker S may be a position arbitrarily selected by the device locator, but in the present embodiment, it is selected according to a predetermined rule. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the position on the upper left side from the center of each wall surface W when viewed from within the acoustic space R is selected as the position of the speaker S of each acoustic unit SU. Specifically, as the position of the speaker S of the acoustic unit SU1, as shown in FIG. 6, when the wall surface W1 is viewed from within the acoustic space R, the position is a distance “a” away from the top left vertex in the x-axis direction. In addition, a position separated from the apex by a distance “h” in the z-axis direction is specified. The same applies to the acoustic unit SU3 disposed on the wall surface W3 facing the wall surface W1. On the other hand, for the acoustic unit SU2 corresponding to the wall surface W2, the position of the speaker S is specified according to the same rule. That is, for the acoustic unit SU2, when the wall surface W2 is viewed from within the acoustic space R, the acoustic unit SU2 is located at a distance “b” in the y-axis direction from the top left vertex, and the distance “ A position separated by “h” is specified (see FIG. 5). The acoustic unit SU4 corresponding to the wall surface W4 is the same as the acoustic unit SU2.

  Subsequently, the CPU 11 executes a process for specifying a position where the microphone M of each acoustic unit SU is to be placed (hereinafter referred to as “position specifying process”) (step S12 to step S19). That is, the CPU 11 first selects the microphone M of any acoustic unit SU as the target of the position specifying process (step S12). Hereinafter, the microphone M selected in step S12 is particularly referred to as a “processing target microphone M”. Here, it is assumed that the microphone M of the acoustic unit SU1 is first selected as the processing target microphone M.

  Next, the CPU 11 assigns an initial value to a variable X that presumably indicates the position of the processing target microphone M (step S13). This variable X is a variable that presumably indicates any position on the bottom side of the wall surface W (here, W1) corresponding to the processing target microphone M. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the variable X is separated by a distance “a” in one direction of the x axis from the origin when the central portion in the x axis direction of the wall surface W1 is the origin (X = 0). It is a variable that takes any numerical value within the range from the position (X = −a) to the position (X = + a) separated by the distance “a” in the other direction. In step S13, the numerical value “−a” is substituted as the initial value of the variable x.

なお、上式においてｄij（ｉおよびｊはともに１から４までの整数）の形式で表された項は、音響ユニットＳＵiのマイクＭと音響ユニットＳＵjのスピーカＳとの距離である。ここで、ひとつの壁面Ｗに対応する音響ユニットＳＵのマイクＭについて得られる距離と、これに対向する壁面に対応する音響ユニットＳＵのマイクＭについて得られる距離とが共通することは、音響空間Ｒと音響システム１００との幾何学的な対称性から明らかである。例えば、音響ユニットＳＵ1におけるマイクＭとスピーカＳとの距離ｄ11は、音響ユニットＳＵ3におけるマイクＭとスピーカＳとの距離ｄ33とが等しい値になるといった具合である。 Subsequently, the CPU 11 calculates the distance between the position of the processing target microphone M indicated by the variable X and each speaker S (step S14). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the distance d11 from the processing target microphone M (here, the microphone M of the acoustic unit SU1) to the speaker S of the acoustic unit SU1 and the distance d12 to the speaker S of the acoustic unit SU2 Then, the distance d13 to the speaker S of the acoustic unit SU3 and the distance d14 to the speaker S of the acoustic unit SU4 are calculated. Then, the CPU 11 generates a table TBL in the RAM 12 in which the numerical value of the variable X at that time is associated with the distances d11 to d14 from the processing target microphone M to each speaker S (see FIG. 7). FIG. 7 shows the distances when the width “4a” of the acoustic space is “8 m (meters)”, the depth “4b” is “6 m”, and the height “4h” is “4 m”. Has been. Specifically, these distances are calculated by the following mathematical formula.

In the above equation, the term expressed in the form of dij (both i and j are integers from 1 to 4) is the distance between the microphone M of the acoustic unit SUi and the speaker S of the acoustic unit SUj. Here, the fact that the distance obtained for the microphone M of the acoustic unit SU corresponding to one wall surface W and the distance obtained for the microphone M of the acoustic unit SU corresponding to the wall surface facing this are common is the acoustic space R Is apparent from the geometric symmetry of the acoustic system 100. For example, the distance d11 between the microphone M and the speaker S in the acoustic unit SU1 is equal to the distance d33 between the microphone M and the speaker S in the acoustic unit SU3.

  Next, the CPU 11 selects the smallest numerical value from the four distances d11 to d14 calculated in step S14, and sets this numerical value as the minimum value Dmin to the current variable X in the table TBL as shown in FIG. Associate. Thereafter, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the variable X is “+ a” (step S16). If it is determined that the variable X has not yet reached “+ a”, the CPU 11 adds “a / 4” to the numerical value of the variable X so far (step S17), and shifts the processing to step S14. . On the other hand, when determining in step S16 that the variable X has reached “+ a”, the CPU 11 shifts the processing to step S18. Thus, in this embodiment, the numerical value of the variable X is sequentially increased from “−a”, which is the initial value, to “+ a” by “a / 4”, and as shown in FIG. A minimum value Dmin is calculated for each value of the variable X.

  In step S18, the CPU 11 refers to the table TBL stored in the RAM 12 to search for the largest numerical value among the minimum values Dmin calculated for each numerical value of the variable X, and corresponds to the searched minimum value Dmin. The numerical value of the attached variable X is specified as the optimum position constant C0. Taking FIG. 7 as an example, the largest value among the minimum values Dmin is “4.24”. In this case, the CPU 11 specifies the numerical value “1.00” of the variable X associated with the numerical value as the optimum position constant C0. As can be seen from the procedure described above, the optimum position constant C0 is such that the distance (minimum value Dmin) to the speaker S closest to itself is within a specific range (“−a” to “+ a”) in the acoustic space R. This is a numerical value representing the position of the microphone M that is the largest in the range.

  In subsequent step S19, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the optimum position constant C0 has been calculated for all the microphones M to be subjected to the position specifying process. If it is determined that there is a microphone M for which the optimum position constant C0 has not yet been calculated, the CPU 11 selects a microphone M that is different from the microphone M that has been processed so far as a processing target microphone (step S1). S20), the process proceeds to step S13. By the way, due to the geometric symmetry between the acoustic space R and the acoustic system 100, the optimum position constant C0 obtained for the microphone M of the acoustic unit SU3 is a numerical value equal to the optimum position constant C0 obtained for the microphone M of the acoustic unit SU1. It becomes. Similarly, the optimum position constant C0 obtained for the microphone M of the acoustic unit SU4 is a numerical value equal to the optimum position constant C0 obtained for the microphone M of the acoustic unit SU2. Therefore, when the optimum position constant C0 is obtained for the acoustic unit SU1 and the acoustic unit SU2, the CPU 11 adopts the optimum position constant C0 obtained for the acoustic unit SU1 as the optimum position constant C0 of the acoustic unit SU3. The optimum position constant C0 obtained for SU2 is also adopted as the optimum position constant C0 of the acoustic unit SU4. Then, in step S19, “Yes” is determined, and the process proceeds to step S21. That is, for the acoustic units SU3 and SU4, the position specifying process from step S12 to step S19 is omitted.

  In step S <b> 21, the CPU 11 causes the display device 16 to display an image schematically showing the acoustic space R in which the acoustic system 100 is disposed (hereinafter referred to as “acoustic device layout image”). As shown in FIG. 8, the acoustic device arrangement image G includes an image Gr showing the outer shape of the acoustic space R specified in step S10. The image Gr of the acoustic space R includes a broken line that equally divides each wall surface into 4 parts (that is, a broken line that equally divides each wall surface into 16 parts vertically and horizontally). By confirming this broken line, the device locator can quickly grasp the correspondence between each position of the wall surface Wi in the actual acoustic space R and each position of the wall surface indicated by the image Gr.

  Furthermore, the acoustic device arrangement image G includes, for each acoustic unit SU, an image Gs imitating the speaker S, an image Gm imitating the microphone M, and an image of a transmission line connecting the two. Among these, the image Gs of the speaker S is arranged at the position specified in step S11 in the image Gr of the acoustic space R. On the other hand, the image Gm of the microphone M is arranged at a position corresponding to the optimum position constant C0 specified in step S18 in the image Gr of the acoustic space R. That is, the image Gm of the microphone M of each acoustic unit SUi is arranged at a position separated from the central portion of the bottom side of the wall surface Wi by the numerical value of the optimum position constant C0 obtained for the acoustic unit SUi. The device arranger arranges the speaker S and the microphone M of the acoustic unit SU in the actual acoustic space R while confirming the acoustic device arrangement image G. As a result, the microphone M of each acoustic unit SUi is arranged such that the distance from the speaker S closest to the microphone M is maximum in the acoustic space R.

  Thus, in this embodiment, the position where the microphone M of each acoustic unit SU is to be placed is specified by the acoustic device placement assistance apparatus 10. Therefore, by referring to the specific result, the device allocator can arrange the microphone M of each acoustic unit SU at an optimal position without specialized knowledge regarding sound. Moreover, since the optimal position of each acoustic unit SU is displayed as an image on the display device 16, the device locator can intuitively grasp the preferred position of each acoustic unit SU by confirming this image. .

<B: Second Embodiment>
In the above embodiment, it is assumed that the position of the microphone M of each acoustic unit SU is specified so that the distance from the speaker S closest to each microphone M is the maximum, but the microphone M of each acoustic unit SU and The speaker S may be disposed at the following position. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the acoustic system 100 according to the present embodiment is arranged in the acoustic space R. In addition, in the same figure, the case where a rectangular parallelepiped space is assumed as the acoustic space R is illustrated. Moreover, the part which bears the function similar to each part shown in FIG. 1 among each part shown in FIG. 9 is attached | subjected a common code | symbol, and the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted suitably.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the microphone M and the speaker S of each acoustic unit SU are the points where three inner wall surfaces (ceiling surface C, wall surface W, or floor surface F) of the acoustic space R intersect, that is, the wall surfaces W1 to W1. It is arranged near both ends of the side extending in the vertical direction of W4. More specifically, the microphone M and the speaker S of each acoustic unit SU are near the point where the intersection line between the two wall surfaces W adjacent to each other and the ceiling surface C intersect, and the intersection line and the floor surface F. Are arranged in the vicinity of the point where and intersect. The speaker S of each acoustic unit SU is arranged with its sound generation surface Sa facing the central point P of the acoustic space R. This center point P is a point that is at an equal distance from the inner wall surfaces facing each other in the acoustic space R. Therefore, it can be said that the speakers S arranged at the corners of the acoustic space R are arranged with the sound generation surface Sa facing in the direction of the diagonal line from the corner to the other corner.

  Furthermore, the positional relationship between the microphone M and the speaker S of the acoustic unit SU provided along one intersection line is such that the acoustic unit SU provided along the opposite intersection line in the same wall surface W as the intersection line. The positional relationship between the microphone M and the speaker S is reversed. For example, for the acoustic unit SU1 provided along the intersection of the wall surfaces W1 and W2, the speaker S is provided on the ceiling surface C side and the microphone M is provided on the floor surface F side, while the wall surface W1 and the wall surface W4 For the acoustic unit SU4 provided along the intersection line, the speaker S is provided on the floor surface F side and the microphone M is provided on the ceiling surface C side. In other words, for example, when attention is paid to one wall surface W1, the speaker S of the acoustic unit SU1 is disposed at the upper end (intersection with the ceiling surface C) of one of the two sides extending in the vertical direction of the wall surface Wi. Then, the microphone M of the acoustic unit SU1 is arranged at the lower end (intersection with the floor F), the microphone M of the acoustic unit SU4 is arranged at the upper end of the other side, and the speaker S of the acoustic unit SU4 is arranged at the lower end. .

  By arranging each acoustic unit SU in this manner, it is possible to obtain good acoustic characteristics without requiring specialized knowledge regarding acoustics. Specifically, the frequency characteristics of the sound emitted from each speaker S and reaching the user U at the center of the floor surface F can be flattened over a wide frequency band. In addition, since the sound reaches the user U from all directions, the user U can perceive a sensation that is surrounded by sound with a rich sense of reality. Further, since the microphone M is arranged on the floor surface F in addition to the ceiling surface C, the low frequency musical sound emitted by the user U can be sufficiently taken into the signal processing device 150.

<C: Modification>
The form described above is merely an example of the present invention, and various modifications can be made to this form within the scope of the gist of the present invention. Specifically, the following modifications can be considered.

(1) In the first embodiment, it is assumed that the optimum position of the microphone M is specified with respect to each predetermined position of the speaker S. On the contrary, each predetermined microphone is determined. A configuration may be used in which the optimum position of the speaker S with respect to the position of M is specified. In this case, in step S11 shown in FIG. 4, the CPU 11 specifies the position of each microphone M according to an instruction from the device locator or a predetermined rule, and performs the position specifying process from step S12 to step S19 for each speaker S. Do. Specifically, the distance between the speaker S selected as the processing target and the microphone M of each acoustic unit SU is calculated (step S14), and the minimum value Dmin is specified from the distance (step S15). The value of the variable X associated with the largest minimum value Dmin calculated for all speakers S to be selected is selected as the optimum position constant C0 (step S16 and step S18). In step S19, the acoustic space image Gr identified in step S10, the microphone G image Gm disposed in the position selected in step S11, and the speaker disposed in the position specified in step S18. The acoustic device arrangement image including the S image Gs is displayed on the display device 16. The same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained by the configuration according to this modification.

(2) In each of the above embodiments, a rectangular parallelepiped acoustic space R is assumed, but the acoustic space R may of course have other shapes. Specifically, in the first embodiment, even when a space other than a rectangular parallelepiped is selected, the position of the microphone M is selected so that the distance from the speaker S closest to each microphone M is maximized. It only has to be done. On the other hand, even if a space other than a rectangular parallelepiped is assumed in the second embodiment, the microphone M is arranged at the upper end of one of the two sides extending in the vertical direction on the wall surface W standing up in the substantially vertical direction, and It is only necessary that the speaker S is arranged, the speaker S is arranged at the upper end of the other side, and the microphone M is arranged at the lower end. Moreover, in the said 1st Embodiment, although the apparatus arrangement person input the shape and dimension of the acoustic space R, the several different form about the acoustic space R was memorize | stored in the memory | storage device 13 beforehand, It is good also as a structure which an apparatus arrangement person selects any of these.

(3) The number of acoustic units SU arranged in the acoustic space R is not limited to four. Therefore, the acoustic units SU may be provided only for some of the wall surfaces W constituting the acoustic space R, or a plurality of acoustic units SU may be provided for one wall surface W. Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the case where the one microphone M and the one speaker S were combined and comprised one acoustic unit SU was illustrated, the microphone M and the speaker S which are included in one acoustic unit SU are illustrated. The number is not limited to this. Further, the microphone M and the speaker S do not necessarily form a pair to form the acoustic unit SU. In short, one or a plurality of microphones M and one or a plurality of speakers S are arranged in the acoustic space R. If it is. Further, the configuration may be such that the user can arbitrarily specify the number of acoustic units SU, the number of microphones M, or the number of speakers S to be arranged in the acoustic space R by operating the input device 15. In this case, in step S11 shown in FIG. 4, positions in the acoustic space R are selected for the number of speakers S (or microphones M) designated by the user, while the number of positions corresponding to the number of positions is selected. What is necessary is just to perform a specific process. In the above embodiment, the configuration in which the four acoustic units SU are connected to the single signal processing device 150 is illustrated. However, a configuration in which one signal processing device 150 is provided for each acoustic unit SU may be used.

(4) In each of the embodiments described above, the configuration in which each acoustic unit SU is connected to the signal processing device 150 via the transmission lines (L1 and L2) is exemplified. However, each acoustic unit SU receives a signal via a wireless line. It may be configured to give and receive. As described above, in the present invention, it does not matter how the sound units SU are connected to each other or how the speaker S and the microphone M are connected in each sound unit SU.

(5) The acoustic device arrangement support apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment is a server apparatus connected to a network, and the positions of the microphone M and the speaker S obtained as a result of the processing shown in FIG. 4 are connected to the network. It is good also as a structure provided to another terminal device. That is, the acoustic device arrangement support device as the server device includes a communication unit that communicates with the terminal device via the network. And if the form of the acoustic space R is input into a terminal device, this will be acquired from a network by a communication means, and the form of the acoustic space R will be specified (step S10 of FIG. 4). Next, the audio equipment placement support apparatus executes the processing of steps S11 to S19 based on the acquired information, and displays the audio equipment placement image G on the display device of the terminal device in the subsequent step S21. According to this configuration, it is not necessary to install and execute the acoustic device arrangement support program for each terminal device.

(6) In the first embodiment, the configuration in which the position specified by the position specifying process is displayed as the acoustic device arrangement image is exemplified. However, the position specifying process is specified instead of or together with this configuration. You may employ | adopt the structure which outputs the audio | voice of the content which instruct | indicates a position to an apparatus arrangement person. In short, the position of the microphone or the speaker specified by the position specifying process may be provided for reference by the user U.

It is a figure which shows a mode that the acoustic system which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention was installed in acoustic space. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the same acoustic system. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the audio equipment arrangement | positioning assistance apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the audio equipment arrangement | positioning assistance apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the distance of a microphone and a speaker. It is a figure for demonstrating the position and variable of a speaker in each wall surface of acoustic space. It is a figure which shows the content of the table produced in a position specific process. It is a figure which shows the content of the audio equipment arrangement | positioning image displayed by a display apparatus. It is a figure which shows a mode that the acoustic system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention was installed in acoustic space.

Explanation of symbols

R …… Acoustic space, Wi (W1, W2, W3, W4) …… Wall surface, F …… Floor surface, C …… Ceiling surface, 100 …… Acoustic system, SU (SU1, SU2, SU3, SU4) …… Acoustic unit, S ... speaker, Sa ... sounding surface, M ... microphone, L1, L2 ... transmission line, 150 ... signal processing device, 10 ... acoustic equipment placement support device, 11 ... CPU (space identification) Means, selection means, position specifying means, output means), 16... Display device.

Claims (12)

A space specifying means for specifying the form of the acoustic space;
A selection means for selecting a position where each of a plurality of sounding devices for outputting a sound corresponding to a musical sound signal is selected from the acoustic space whose form is specified by the space specifying means;
The distance between the sound collection device that outputs a musical sound signal corresponding to the surrounding sound and the sound production device closest to the sound collection device among the plurality of sound production devices whose positions are selected by the selection means is the largest in the acoustic space. A position specifying means for specifying a position where the sound collecting device is to be arranged in the acoustic space;
An audio equipment arrangement support apparatus comprising: output means for outputting the position specified by the position specifying means. For each of a plurality of acoustic units including a sound collection device and a sound production device that outputs a sound corresponding to a musical sound signal output from the sound collection device, the position specifying unit includes a sound collection device included in the sound unit. The audio equipment arrangement | positioning assistance apparatus of Claim 1 which specifies the position which should be arrange | positioned. The output means displays an image of the acoustic space whose form is specified by the space specifying means, and an image of the sound collection device arranged at the position specified by the position specifying means among the images of the acoustic space. The audio equipment arrangement support apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, which is displayed on an apparatus. A space specifying means for specifying the form of the acoustic space;
A selection means for selecting a position where each of a plurality of sound collection devices that output musical sound signals according to surrounding sounds is to be placed in the acoustic space whose form is specified by the space specifying means;
The distance between the sound generation device that outputs a sound corresponding to the musical sound signal and the sound collection device closest to the sound generation device among the plurality of sound collection devices whose positions are selected by the selection means is the maximum in the acoustic space. As described above, position specifying means for specifying a position where the sounding device is to be arranged in the acoustic space;
An audio equipment arrangement support apparatus comprising: output means for outputting the position specified by the position specifying means. For each of the plurality of acoustic units having a sound collection device and a sound production device that outputs a sound according to a musical tone signal output from the sound collection device, the position specification unit includes a sound generation device included in the sound unit. The acoustic device arrangement support apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a position to be performed is specified. The output means displays an image of the acoustic space whose form is specified by the space specifying means and an image of the sounding device arranged at a position specified by the position specifying means among the images of the acoustic space The audio equipment arrangement support apparatus according to claim 4 or 5 to be displayed. The acoustic device arrangement support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the space specifying unit specifies a size and a shape of the acoustic space in accordance with an instruction from a user. On the computer,
A space identification process for identifying the form of the acoustic space;
A selection process for selecting a position where each of a plurality of sounding devices that output a sound according to a musical sound signal is selected from the acoustic space whose form is specified by the space specifying process;
The distance between the sound collection device that outputs a musical sound signal corresponding to the surrounding sound and the sound production device closest to the sound collection device among the plurality of sound production devices whose positions are selected by the selection process is the largest in the acoustic space. As described above, a position specifying process for specifying a position where the sound collecting device is to be arranged in the acoustic space;
A program for executing an output process for outputting a position specified by the position specifying process. On the computer,
A space identification process for identifying the form of the acoustic space;
A selection process for selecting a position where each of a plurality of sound collection devices that output musical sound signals according to surrounding sounds is to be placed in the acoustic space whose form is specified by the space specifying process;
The distance between the sound generating device that outputs a sound corresponding to the musical sound signal and the sound collecting device closest to the sound generating device among the plurality of sound collecting devices whose positions are selected by the selection processing is maximized in the acoustic space. A position specifying process for specifying a position in the acoustic space where the sounding device is to be disposed;
An output means for outputting the position specified by the position specifying process. A plurality of sounding devices arranged in an acoustic space and outputting sounds according to musical tone signals;
An acoustic system comprising: a sound collection device that is arranged in the acoustic space based on the position output by the output means of the acoustic device arrangement support apparatus according to claim 1 and outputs a musical sound signal according to surrounding sounds . A plurality of sound collection devices that are arranged in an acoustic space and output musical sound signals according to surrounding sounds;
An acoustic system comprising: a sounding device that is arranged in the acoustic space based on the position output by the output unit of the acoustic device arrangement support apparatus according to claim 4 and outputs a sound corresponding to a musical sound signal . A sound system according to claim 10 or 11 is installed in an acoustic space having a wall of multiple,
A sound collecting device is arranged at the upper end of one of the two sides extending in the vertical direction of each wall surface, a sound producing device is arranged at the lower end, and a sound producing device is arranged at the upper end of the other side. An acoustic system with sound equipment.

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