As regards acoustic design, it is an advantage if different designs and procedures can be evaluated objectively. For this purpose, a number of measurable room acoustic descriptors have been defined. These descriptors can be used to formulate room acoustic specifications and to check the effect of different procedures. It would, of course, have been an advantage to have only one descriptor that works in all rooms. But hearing is multidimensional, so several descriptors are required.

 

Different room acoustic descriptors correspond to different sound attributes. These attributes can be described as reverberation, clarity, auditory strength and spatial decay. In the world of acoustics there are descriptors that quantify these attributes.