1 PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF DIGITAL LOUDSPEAKER ARRAYS

Digital loudspeaker arrays currently are based on small moving-coil speakers to reconstruct acoustic signals out of binary audio streams. An overview of significant performance issues for such systems is given here to explain frequency response and speaker discrete transition rates due to the digital data. Detailed simulations provided comparisons for a 32-speaker DLA with similar arrangements of speakers driven by analogue signals. These tests produce novel results for electrical power requirements and array sensitivity, concluding that these two systems achieve comparable performance. Digital loudspeakers are systems that allow direct acoustic emission of digital audio signals, hence behaving as digital-to-analog acoustic converters. Current state-of-the-art digital loudspeaker research focuses on using conventional moving-coil transducers arranged in arrays [11]. Although no commercial applications currently exist, it is envisaged that in the near future such digital loudspeake