There are typically two systems in use for sound reinforcement in open areas: the central, "wall of sound" system with speakers localized at the sides of the stage, and the zone system, in which additional speakers are introduced to obtain a uniform sound pressure level throughout the area of listening. In the past two decades the line array systems gained great popularity. The main purpose of their use is to obtain a uniformly distributed sound level throughout the listening area in order to achieve good speech intelligibility. The present paper aims to present an alternative and original method of sound reinforcement in open areas which is in contrast to the above solutions. This new method allows achieving a uniformly distributed sound pressure and good speech intelligibility in the area of interest, and also allows to gain spatial sound impression that accompanies sound reproduction in concert halls. Another advantage of the proposed system is the reduction of the sound level outside the area of interest, i.e. reduction of the noise level outside the area of listening.

Determining of Kraków Opera House's basic acoustics parameters by using numerical simulations is presented in the paper. Parameters have been obtained by using numerical simulation methods. Sound sources have been created by means of FEA, however acoustic field distributions have been analysed by geometrical methods. Apart from the room parameters definition, it is necessary to determine sound source parameters like acoustic power level and directivity pattern. In the simplest case, the sound source can be assumed as omni-directional point source. However it does not reflect most real-live sources precisely. When the literature and databases do not contain any information about the sound source directivity pattern, it can be obtained numerically using FEA. First, the sound source model is created, and then results from its spherical boundary are used to define the source in a program based on geometrical methods. Here have been analysed several distributions of acoustic parameters like: Direct Energy, Sound Pressure Level (SPL), Clarity index (C80) etc. The results indicate that influence of sound source directivity on acoustics parameters changes is essential.

The paper presents an original method for sound reinforcement in open areas. The method enabled both a regular sound reinforcement and the required spatial impressions of sound to be achieved in the area used for the study. The inverse image source method was used for the disposition of sound sources in order to find the inverse problem solution for determining the configuration of additional sound sources. Simulations demonstrated the improvement of sound impressions in the area in question and the simulations results were verified experimentally. The intended result of the proposed method was the increase of the lateral energy fraction and lateral energy fraction coefficient parameter values by 6 and 8 points, respectively, for the simulation by 5 and 7 points for the experiment. It should be stated that, in both the simulation and the experiment, eligible values for the acoustic parameters were obtained after using the sound system with additional sound sources, the speech intelligibility value parameters remain at an excellent level. In conclusion, it may be claimed that the proposed sound reinforcement system makes the creation of the intended spatial sound impressions in an open area possible.

The area of environmental protection concern minimises the impact that technical objects have on the environment. Usually the most effective way of protecting the environment is to influence the source of the problem. For this reason studies are conducted to modify the construction of machines, power machines in particular, so as to minimise their impact on the environment.In the case of environmental protection from noise it is most convenient to carry out measurements in an anechoic chamber. Unfortunately, this is possible only in very limited circumstances. In all other cases measurements are performed using an engineering method or the survey method, both of which are described in the standards and by taking into account the so-called environmental corrections. The obtained results are burdened with greater error than those of measurements in an anechoic chamber. Therefore, it would seem advantageous to develop a method of obtaining similar and reliable results as those in an anechoic chamber, but in a reverberant field. The authors decided to use numerical modelling for this purpose.The main objective of this work is a comprehensive analysis of the numerical model of a laboratory designed for acoustic tests of selected power machines. The geometry of a room comprising an area of analysis is easy to design. The main difficulty in modelling the phenomena occurring in the analysed area can be the lack of knowing the boundary conditions. Therefore, the authors made an attempt to analyse the sensitivity of various acoustic parameters in a room in order to change these boundary conditions depending on the sound absorption coefficient.

This paper presents the conceptual design of tools integration for the dynamic creation of sound level distribution maps (acoustic maps) in a production hall with an employee position identification system. This solution allows for managing the working time of employees in a zone designated as dangerous. At the same time, it could eliminate the need to use personal dosimeters that do not accurately assess actual exposure to noise. The proposed method allows us to estimate the uncertainty assessment of human exposure to noise. Moreover, a large part of the solution is based on tools that do not require incurring licensing costs. The system is about to keep the simulation data of sound level distribution (acoustic maps) and time location of the employee in the database. The concept assumes the unification of a data storage system so that it could be possible to present it in any GIS system.

The paper presents a comparison of central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) performance in sound synthesis based on physical modeling. The goal was to achieve real-time performance with two-and three-dimensional finite difference (FD) instrument models. Two abstract instruments, a membrane and a block, were modeled and tested using a CPU and a GPU in the OpenCL framework to find a threshold of real-time model size. Two different algorithms were compared. With a parallelized algorithm, a middle-class GPU outperformed a top-class CPU by factor of 2.5 in 2D and by factor of 7.5 in 3D model. Synchronization issues in parallel GPU calculations were discussed and addressed. The results show that GPUs can significantly speed up real-time musical instrument simulations, allowing for developing more complex and realistic models.

The article presents the approach to the design process of acoustic panels based on the scientific research. This approach is based on combining the technical and the design competences to develop the innovative product value for the concept of acoustic panels. The article presents the concepts of two new acoustic panels -an absorbing and scattering panel and a panel reflecting sound waves. The first part of the article presents the starting point for the presented project -the acoustic research and the inspiration for both types of presented solutions. Next, the materials possible to use were discussed, which could reproduce the natural acoustic properties of the lava and glacier caves. The next part presents consecutive stages of the product development in a modern form, ensuring the expected acoustic properties. The last part of the article presents a fully functional solution and proposes further research and development directions.

In the paper the authors presented and compared two methods of the HAWT noise predicting. The priority, however, was to test the possibility of using Amiet's theory to determine the noise value in the far field. In this theory it is necessary to know the value of the turbulence intensity coefficient. The value of this coefficient was determined based on numerical modeling. The NACA 0012 profile was used for the airfoil shape. The ANSYS/Fluent program was used for numerical calculations, where the k-ω SST turbulence model was used to simulate the flow, and Ffocs- Williams and Hawkings model was used to determine the noise level. The turbulence intensity coefficient estimated in this way was then used to determine the noise value from the wind turbine airfoils using Amiet's theory.