Preface to Third Edition

Four more years have now passed, and changes in the industry have taken place at an alarming rate. CDs are no longer the general reference, and high fidelity, uncompressed surround formats have almost disappeared. Further comments have also arrived from readers, and the cinema industry is moving from film to digital formats. A considerable number of updates and additions have therefore been made for this Third Edition. More information has been added on floated isolation systems, and the discussion about film studios, in Chapter 21, has been significantly expanded, including a more thorough assessment of the limitations of ‘room’ equalisation, which in fact applies to all rooms. New data has also been included on wide-band absorber systems in Appendix 1, along with many other expansions and clarifications throughout the book.

However, in order to avoid confusion between the various editions when referring to the books, the changes have been made in such a way as to preserve as far as possible the same section and figure numbers from the previous editions.

Philip Newell

Moaña, Spain, 2011