Leo Beranek, Acoustics Designer and Internet Pioneer, Dies at 102

[FrantzM]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/18/business/leo-beranek-dead.html

A true Giant. RIP Dr Beranek.

 

[amirm]

Ah that is a big loss. I doubt that anyone in audiophile arena knows who he is but you can't read an acoustic paper without Beranek being in the references some place. I must have dozens of papers from him.

Per the article and him being founder of BBN, I actually have a personal connection to that company/government contractor. Back in early 1980s, we sold one of our computers to them. They hit a bug and I sent them an email about it as the guy who had to troubleshoot that bug. Fast forward many years later and I run into that very email spinning on some computer!

Anyway, rest in peace Dr. Beranek. We all enjoy better sound because of you.

 

[RayDunzl]

102 years old...

Dr Leo Beranek is presented with the Rayleigh Medal for his lifetime of contribution to the field of acoustics at the IOA 40th Anniversary Conference at the NEC, Birmingham, 15th October 2014. He then gives the Conference Keynote Speech on the design of concert halls.

 

[Cosmik]

From the NY Times obituary:

From 1948 to 1958 he did work on noise control, creating standards that are used internationally today.

“I looked into how quiet do spaces have to be to be pleasant for people,” he told an interviewer in 2009. “In other words, can you write a specification saying that if you’re going to have an office, the noise should not be any greater than so much? What are acceptable noise standards in a home, in a factory, in a concert hall? I wrote those.”

Just as an aside, I heard a radio programme about this sort of thing recently. One interesting thing was that they now think that an office can be too quiet, such that people feel self-conscious about disturbing other people when they use the phone and so on. In some offices they now even pump white noise into small speakers distributed throughout the space.

At the Chicago headquarters of financial research company Morningstar, simple ceiling speakers direct white noise down into cubicle spaces, creating noise-canceling cones of silence that allow colleagues working within feet of each other to carry on simultaneous phone or in-person conversations.

https://hbr.org/2015/12/muting-unwanted-noise-in-an-open-office

 

[Daudio]

I doubt that anyone in audiophile arena knows who he is

Not quite I read his "Music, Acoustics, and Architecture" long ago. In fact, just before the Audio Pulse 1 came out, with controls for major hall variables. Cool ! Well, except that a good recording already has that information, and I find that trying to synthesize audio stuff is never truly satisfying


P.S. 1st post here !

 

[Thomas savage]

Not quite I read his "Music, Acoustics, and Architecture" long ago. In fact, just before the Audio Pulse 1 came out, with controls for major hall variables. Cool ! Well, except that a good recording already has that information, and I find that trying to synthesize audio stuff is never truly satisfying


P.S. 1st post here !

Welcome aboard