Field Control

THE PROBLEM

Wave field synthesis radiates in every direction

Wave field synthesis reconstructs a correct sound field over a large area — which is exactly why it sprays energy everywhere: into the walls, back at the stage, and on into the next zone. A virtual source has no orientation, and reflective rooms turn that spilled energy into a wash that blurs the whole image. Level and aiming barely help — a loudspeaker still radiates broadly and the room does the rest.

Deciding where sound lands is a control problem, and DAM Audio solves it two ways, at two intensities — one that steers the field, one that confines it.

FIRST APPROACH

DFC — steer the field

Directional Field Control is the live, everyday approach: it weights each loudspeaker by how the virtual source should radiate toward it, and selects and tapers the active part of the array to suppress the truncation lobes that fire into the room. A source gets a real facing — aimed at the crowd, away from walls and open microphones — and the whole system can lean anywhere from wide, faithful synthesis to tight, directional coverage.

It is rendering-side and runs live at zero added latency. Directional control is real in the mid and high frequencies and fades in the bass, where any practical array radiates broadly — DFC does what physics allows and leaves the low end to acoustics.

SECOND APPROACH

SFC — contain the field

Spatial Field Containment is the more advanced engine. It asks the array not only to reproduce a sound where it is wanted, but to cancel it where it is not: a bright listening area and a quiet region are solved together to maximise the contrast between them. It is a personal-sound-zone approach — the field is shaped so energy stays with its audience instead of leaking into the next zone or the walls.

Because the heavy computation is offline, SFC fits a commissioning step rather than the live path: define the zones, optimise, and load a field that already keeps to its boundaries. Contrast is strong in the mid and high frequencies and softens in the bass, as physics dictates.

WHICH ONE

When to choose which

They are a progression, not equals: DFC is the live, everyday control that aims the field; SFC is the more advanced, offline engine that confines it with real contrast. Reach past DFC to SFC when a boundary between loud and quiet has to genuinely hold.

APPLICATIONS

Where it fits