Tones were delivered directly to the stapes in anesthetized cats after removal of the tympanic membrane, malleus, and incus. Measurements were made of the complex amplitudes of the sound pressure on the stapes PS, stapes velocity VS, and sound pressure in the vestibule PV. From these data, acoustic impedance of the stapes and cochlea ZSC delta equal to PS/US, and of the cochlea alone ZC delta equal PV/US were computed (US delta equal to volume velocity of the stapes = VS X area of the stapes footplate). Some measurements were made on modified preparations in which (1) holes were drilled into the vestibule and scala tympani, (2) the basal end of the basilar membrane was destroyed, (3) cochlear fluid was removed, or (4) static pressure was applied to the stapes. For frequencies between 0.5 and 5 kHz, ZSC approximately equal to ZC; this impedance is primarily resistive ([ZC] approximately equal to 1.2 X 10(6) dyn-s/cm5) and is determined by the basilar membrane and cochlear fluids. For frequencies below 0.3 kHz, [ZSC] greater than [ZC] and ZSC is primarily determined by the stiffness of the annular ligament; drying of the ligament or changes in the static pressure difference across the footplate can produce large changes in [ZSC]. For frequencies below 30 Hz, ZC is apparently controlled by the stiffness of the round-window membrane. All of the results can be represented by an network of eight lumped elements in which some of the elements can be associated with specific anatomical structures. Computations indicate that for the cat the sound pressure at the input to the cochlea at behavioral threshold is constant between 1 and 8 kHz, but increases as frequency is decreased below 1 kHz. Apparently, mechanisms within the chochlea (or more centrally) have an important influence on the frequency dependence of behavioral threshold at low frequencies.
Techniques were developed for measuring sound pressure in the cochlea with calibrated, liquid-filled, piezoelectric probe microphones. Sound pressures were measured in scala vestibuli and scala tympani in the basal turn in 25 cats for tones from 20--10 000 Hz. Control experiments indicated that intracochlear pressures were essentially uninfluenced by the measuring technique, and were conducted to the cochlea via the ossicular chain. Intracochlear pressures are linearly related to pressure at the tympanic membrane for tone levels at least as high as 105 dB SPL, and are relatively independent of depth of probe insertion in the scalae. The transfer ratio of sound pressure in scala vestibuli to that at the tympanic membrane increases in magnitude over the frequency range 50--1000 Hz to reach a maximum value of 15--30 dB, and decreases at higher frequencies, thus demonstrating that the middle ear provides a frequency-dependent pressure gain. At frequencies below 40 Hz, the pressures in scala vestibuli and scala tympani are approximately equal and are both determined by the round-window membrane compliance. At frequencies above 100 Hz, the round-window membrane impedance is small compared to the acoustic input impedance of the cochlea, and the pressure in scala vestibuli considerably exceeds that in scala tympani; consequently, the pressure difference across the cochlear partition is approximately equal to the pressure in scala vestibuli.
Frequency-dependent acoustic center correction values are required to obtain accurate microphone calibrations in the free-field by the reciprocity technique. These values were determined for IEC type LS2aP microphones at normal incidence by utilizing the theoretical inverse relationship between the sound pressure amplitude at the acoustic center of a receiver and the distance between acoustic centers of source and receiver. A dynamic signal analyzer was used to measure the gain factor between the amplified output voltage of the receiver and the source input voltage at 500-Hz intervals in the extended frequency range 2–50 kHz. This procedure allowed all the data for a microphone pair to be gathered within several hours for microphone diaphragm separations from 101–311 mm at 10-mm intervals. At each frequency, the reciprocal of this gain factor as a function of microphone diaphragm separation was fit to a straight line after correction for atmospheric effects, including attenuation of sound caused by atmospheric absorption. Mean acoustic center correction values (from four microphones combined in six pairs) were calculated using the parameters obtained from the fit and found to be in good agreement with published values calculated by the boundary element method, as well as with values predicted by scaling published values of the acoustic center correction for microphones with a geometrical configuration similar to that of IEC type LS1P microphones.
Standardized methods for the primary free-field calibration of laboratory standard microphones deal with Type L (ANSI S1.10-1967, R1977) “one-inch” diameter microphones. However, the use of “1/2-inch” diameter microphones for measurement of the sound pressure level in acoustic fields is increasing. Consequently, the NBS has developed a fixed-cost measurement service for the free-field calibration of these microphones by the reciprocity method over the range 2.5 kHz to 20 kHz. For this service, the apparatus and procedures, including essential properties of the anechoic chamber in which the calibrations are performed, are described. Opportunities for improvements are noted. The frequency-dependent positions of the apparent acoustic centers of the microphones were obtained. The overall uncertainty estimate for free-field calibration, expressed as the sum of the magnitude of credible bounds on the systematic component (s) and the random component (2 σ , where σ is the standard deviation) is 0.16 dB or better (s=0.06 dB, 2 σ =0.10 dB) at frequencies 1.25 kHz ⩽ f ⩽ 5kHz, and 0.07 dB or better (s=0.02 dB, 2 σ =0.05 dB) for 5 kHz ⩽ f ⩽ 20 kHz. Comparison for given microphones of the measured difference between free-field and pressure response levels with the difference calculated by diffraction theory (derived by Matsui) indicates agreement of 0.16 dB or better in the low-frequency range (1.25 kHz to about 4 kHz) where free-field reciprocity measurements encounter the greatest experimental difficulties. This agreement is consistent with the estimated uncertainties of free-field and pressure calibration by the reciprocity method.
A new National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) measurement service has been developed for determining the pressure sensitivities of American National Standards Institute and International Electrotechnical Commission type LS2aP laboratory standard microphones over the frequency range 31.5 Hz to 20 000 Hz. At most frequencies common to the new service and the old service, the values of the expanded uncertainties of the new service are one-half the corresponding values of the old service, or better. The new service uses an improved version of the system employed by NIST in the Consultative Committee for Acoustics, Ultrasound, and Vibration (CCAUV) key comparison CCAUV.A-K3. Measurements are performed using a long and a short air-filled plane-wave coupler. For each frequency in the range 31.5 Hz to 2000 Hz, the reported sensitivity level is the average of data from both couplers. For each frequency above 2000 Hz, the reported sensitivity level is determined with data from the short coupler only. For proof test data in the frequency range 31.5 Hz to 2000 Hz, the average absolute differences between data from the long and the short couplers are much smaller than the expanded uncertainties.
The electrical measurements required during the primary calibrations of laboratory standard microphones by the reciprocity method can be influenced by power line interference. Because of this influence, the protocols of international inter-laboratory key comparisons of microphone calibrations usually have not included measurements at power line frequencies. Such interference has been observed in microphone output voltage measurements made with a microphone pressure reciprocity calibration system under development at NIST. This system was configured for a particular type of standard microphone in such a way that measurements of relatively small signal levels, which are more susceptible to the effect of power line interference, were required. This effect was investigated by acquiring microphone output voltage measurement data with the power line frequency adjusted to move the frequency of the interference relative to the center frequency of the measurement system passband. These data showed that the effect of power line interference for this system configuration can be more than one percent at test frequencies harmonically related to the power line frequency. These data also showed that adjusting the power line frequency to separate the interference and test frequencies by as little as 1.0 Hz can reduce the effect of the interference by at least an order of magnitude. Adjustment of the power line frequency could enable accurate measurements at test frequencies that otherwise might be avoided.
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