Diffusion, room shape and absorber location—influence on reverberation time

Reverberation time, according to classical formulas (Sabine, Eyring‐Norris‐Waetzmann‐Schuster, Millington‐Sette, el al.) depends on room volume and total absorption and is independent of room shape and absorber location. Practical experience, as well as theoretical studies, show that both room shape and absorber location can have noticeable, or even large, effects on reverberation time. Can these effects be eliminated by sound diffusion and, if so, how much diffusion is required? Or do we need new reverberation time formulas that take room shape, absorber location(s), and amount and kind of diffusion into account? Preliminary results of scale‐model experiments toward answering these questions are reported.