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An unused nuclear power plant became home to a world-class acoustics lab

64 points by Tomte

by MrBuddyCasino

2 subcomments

The article doesn’t explain it, but the reason why you want a large space to measure loudspeakers is that your measuring frequency range is determined by the time it takes until the first reflection arrives, which you can exclude by using a windowing function in your measuring software. You only want the direct sound emanating from the DUT, not the reflections (unless you’re interested in room correction).
The larger the space, the lower the frequency you can still measure.

by Anechoic

0 subcomment

Ron is a fixture at acoustics conferences, he's a nice guy and was very passionate about making the facility work when he was raising funds in the aughts. If you're going to be in the area and give him enough notice, he'll be happy to give you a tour.
Last I heard (which was admittedly about 10 years ago, things may have changed since then), the facility was struggling a bit. It's true that these types of testing facilities need quiet background noise levels for testing, but that can usually be achieved either through putting the facility in the middle of nowhere, or over-engineering the structure. NWAA obviously has both, but that results in increased costs. On the other hand, you have facilities like Orfield Labs and Microsoft's newest anechoic chamber that manage to be _very_ quiet while still located in relatively convenient areas. Plus many audio/speaker/acoustical products companies have their own facilities.
That said I'm glad NWAA is still getting press and I hope it remains a fixture for generations to come. We need more of these moonshots.

by thedougd

0 subcomment

Related: Underwater scenes for the movie, "The Abyss", were filmed in an incomplete nuclear power plant in South Carolina.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee_Nuclear_Power_Plant

by kjkjadksj

0 subcomment

Seems like world class acoustics are being forgotten about and not being invested in. A lot of ink has been spilled about the famous underground Columbia Records vaults for recording and applying reverb. But that building has been in renovation purgatory for years now with gutted interiors and an empty parking lot. So clearly those exquisite vaults aren’t so in demand if they are even still used.

by InDubioProRubio

3 subcomments

Does the world-class acoustics lab earn so much money, it can upkeep the industrial facility its housed in?