When this book was originally being discussed with the publisher, a book of about 80 000 words was proposed. However, once work began, it soon became apparent that in order to deal with the concepts to a depth which most previous books on the subject had not achieved, the original estimate for the size of the book had been greatly misjudged. The book grew and grew, up to a point where the then commissioning editor had to decide whether the original marketing proposals would still be valid, and whether a book of such a size was still viable. Fortunately, she kept her faith in the idea, but a halt was called when the word count was approaching two hundred thousand.
Once the book was released it was generally very well received, but numerous readers commented on certain omissions of details that they would have found useful, such as how to make sound isolating doors, as one example. The book was re-printed in 2004, and then in 2005, and even twice more in 2006. In fact, sales had been continuing at a steady pace since the first publication. Focal press suggested that perhaps the book could stand an enlargement sufficient to incorporate the items that some readers had requested, and also to cover the subjects of more research and developments that had taken place in the four years since the first publication.
In this Second Edition, apart from more on the subject of doors, more material has been added on floated floors, as well as on air-conditioning and climate control. New work has been incorporated on the strengths and weaknesses of digital signal processing as a means of room correction, and more has been added on the use of multiple sub-woofers for room mode cancellation. New sections have also been added on the design of rooms for cinema soundtrack mixing, along with more on the perception of frequency responses in rooms of different sizes and modal activity. Again, in response to reader’s requests, sections have been added on rooms for the recording of the spoken voice, and rooms for sound effects. Finally, three entire chapters have been added to the end of the book, dealing with foldback, electrical supplies and analogue interfacing. It is hoped that these new additions will substantially augment the usefulness of the book as a work of reference.
Philip Newell
Moaña, Spain
2007