Applicability analysis of the revised acoustic energy model for concert auditoriums to predict energy relations in a scaled opera house

The prediction of objective acoustical parameters, especially those based on energy relations, in opera houses is generally not an easy work. Although Barron and Lee proposed a revised acoustic energy model for concert auditoriums which has proved to be the most reliable among the models for the prediction of acoustical energy parameters in this kind of spaces [Barron M, Lee LJ. J Acoust Soc Am. 1988;84:618-28], it is still left unaddressed whether this model is also valid for opera houses or not. For this sake, the present paper applied Barron's model to a typical modern opera house in China, and compared the predicted values and those measured in a 1:20 scale model of the hall for six energy-based parameters: early sound level Le, late sound level Ll, sound strength G, clarity C80, definition D50 and center time TS. The results show that the latter three parameters can be predicted with acceptable accuracy in general, while the former three are overall considerably overestimated. On the basis of these findings, this article finally recommends a necessity in future research to propose a specific energy model for the acoustic prediction in opera houses.