After turning his favourite hobby into a profession, Dr Floyd E. Toole spent decades researching the art of psychoacoustics and sound reproduction in small rooms.

A quick search on the Internet can bring up a number of definitions for acoustics. It’s mainly described as the study of the physical properties of sound, an interdisciplinary science. But, according to one prominent figure in the acoustics industry, it can also be labelled as a universal language.

For over forty years, Dr Floyd E. Toole has focussed his research on the acoustics and psychoacoustics of sound reproduction in small rooms, which centres on measuring the psychological responses and physiological impact of sound on the human nervous system. Floyd’s work in psychoacoustics often covers the distinction between a psychological and neurological perception when listening to music.

“I turned my hobby into a profession over a few years. But there was no actual planning, it just happened,” he says.

“I needed loudspeakers for my research and had trouble finding good ones; the 1960s weren’t terribly good compared to today’s standards.”

As one of the key speakers at the CEDIA Expo held in Sydney this year, Floyd recently published his book Sound Reproduction, a two-and-a-half-year compilation of the research he has gathered on acoustics.

“I was amazed how some (loudspeakers) could measure so poorly but we could still find pleasure in listening to them,” he says.

“It turns out humans are remarkably adaptive. We make the best of pretty bad situations sometimes.”

While the construction techniques of equipment may differ from country to country, Floyd maintains the subject of acoustics is one that can be interpreted in the same way worldwide.

“There are no fundamental differences; there is no Australian sound, just as there’s no Canadian, American or Japanese sounds.

“There’s good and bad sound, that seems to be a universal fact.”

After decades of studying and researching acoustics, Floyd established ways to subjectively and objectively explain the relationship between the technical measurements of audio equipment and listeners’ perceptions. Over time his work aimed to improve engineering measurements, objectives for loudspeaker design and production control, and techniques for reducing variability at the loudspeaker/room/listener interface.

“It’s not rocket science. It’s something that’s multidimensional. Not simple, but it’s not complicated either,” he says.

Floyd is arguably one of the most influential scientists in modern audio. After studying electrical engineering at the University of New Brunswick, he went on to receive a PhD from the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London. His work in psychoacoustics and fine engineering techniques revolved around investigations to localise sound, with an aim to understand “how two ears and a brain turn things into a single entity in our minds.”

“Music can survive pretty bad sound reproduction,” he says. “We still listen through the garbage to understand the melody, rhythms, lyrics and the music.”

In 1965, Floyd joined the National Research Council of Canada and worked his way up to senior research officer in the acoustics and signal processing group. After reading some literature on acoustics, he found it was an industry that was often neglected by serious scientific research.

“It was more about trial and error, folk lore and good instincts,” he says. “Basically, if something doesn’t work, do it again. But I believed it was worthwhile to study it in the field of science.”

The then young researcher began with a series of controlled listening tests using an acoustic curtain. Participants could hear the sound, but couldn’t see through the curtain to its source.

“It’s interesting, this notion that you are all individuals and listening is a subjective activity. But in the tests all listeners agreed on what was good and what wasn’t. So it’s not just a matter of personal opinion.

“What you see and what you know about the product may have more weight than the actual sound.”

Floyd believes it was crucial to gather reliable data from large numbers of listeners during his research in order to make an educated conclusion, “Then you can take the product you’re listening to in the lab and measure it, and try to look for correlations between what you measure and what you hear.”

After over 25 years at the National Research Council, Floyd moved into new territory and joined Harman International Industries as a corporate vice president for acoustical engineering. During this time he worked with all Harman International companies and directed their research and development group, a central resource for technology development and subjective measurements.

“It was an interesting way to end a career and move on to do something different. It was a good company to work with; they are active in all areas of professional and consumer audio.”

In 2007 Floyd decided to hang up his lab coat and retire from the research field of acoustics. But he walked away with a list of impressive achievements, including two AES publication awards and the AES silver medal for his research on the acoustics and psychoacoustics of sound reproduction.

After his retirement, he shifted his attention and knowledge out of the lab into the classroom, and he is currently active in teaching and course development for CEDIA US.

“I go around and teach because I like the contact. The personal contact with a class of students who are actually out there doing it, designing systems for customers, is particularly good for the industry.”

Floyd, however, is quite adamant it’s not all smooth sailing for acoustics yet, and he often attends events like the CEDIA Expo to share his knowledge with others in the field.

“This is the first time in the history of the audio industry that there has been a knowledgeable interface between the manufacturer of products and the customer.

“Previously it was between the salesperson and installer, but that interface has deteriorated greatly over recent years.”

Given this, Floyd says one of the biggest issues for acoustics often centre on a combination of a loudspeaker’s actual design and the apparent disconnection between the manufacturer and the consumer. One recurring problem is the ready availability of loudspeaker specifications for customers.

“People shouldn’t have to go to manufacturers to find data. This should be something you look up in a table,” he says. “You can get a long way narrowing your options just by inspecting the data.

“At the moment there’s no reliable use of information about loudspeakers that you get from manufacturers. There’s more useful information on the side of a tyre than there is in loudspeaker specifications.”

In order to make an educated decision on a loudspeaker choice for a particular home, Floyd says it’s crucial to understand the context in which the product was made. While he teaches his classes what they need to know about loudspeakers, there is an unspoken need for a customer to see enough information to make a reasoned decision.

“The more people who do know and badger manufacturers to provide useful data, the better off we’re going to be.

“Otherwise we’ll continue to roll along in a state of semi-ignorance, getting lucky occasionally and getting unlucky occasionally … there’s no assurance that when a customer presses a button what they hear was what was created.”

According to Floyd, acoustics was once a mere afterthought in the home automation industry. Now it’s a concept that takes centre stage in a typical home theatre system.

“If you go back a few decades, acoustics was something that was rarely ever mentioned. The subject was mainly left to people designing concert halls and auditoriums, but it wasn’t something you used at home.”

With the number of home theatre systems on the rise, he warns consumers that a good product still needs a good environment in order to reach its full potential.

“Too many custom-made theatres end up being acoustically dead. Some installers do it on purpose, to make the room more distinctive and somehow different.

“It’s a really bad practice. It does no favours to movie soundtracks and home theatres; rather, it makes a room really unpleasant, even to sit around and talk in. The essence of a good design is to have the right amount.”

After years of working in the industry, Floyd says that both manufacturers and installers of acoustic equipment in a home should aim to please the customer in order to achieve excellence and satisfaction.

“The customer has to end up with a good result. That’s the name of the game,” he says.

“If we don’t end up with a smile on the customer’s face, then you’ve failed.”