FIELD OF THE INVENTION:

This invention relates to the field of electronics and sound engineering.

Particularly, this invention relates to systems and methods for controlling loudness.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:

Human species has evolved over thousands of years and it has had a direct impact on the way they hear sounds. A fundamental desire, of any species, is continuation of that species. To an adult of a species, a baby fulfils that need. To that end, a baby’s cry draws our immediate attention because it signifies that the species is in danger.

Therefore, humans are extremely sensitive to sounds in that frequency range.

Also, most sounds in nature are in a mid-band of frequencies and the human species has evolved to be extra sensitive to such mid-band sounds as it helps the species to sense and stay away from danger. Thus, the human species can hear, even, a faint sound if it is in the mid-band of frequencies.

Fletcher and Munson first studied this and published their findings in 1933. They published a set of curves which have come to be known as the ‘Fletcher Munson curves’ which can be seen in FIGURE 1.

Equal Loudness Contours:

These show how hearing, in the human species, is more sensitive to mid frequencies as SPL (Sound Pressure Level) goes lower. For humans to perceive lower frequencies to be of the same ‘Loudness’, the SPL of these low frequencies need to be much higher. This effect is more pronounced at lower SPL than at higher SPL.

At high levels, humans’ hearing tends to be almost the same for all frequencies. At higher sound levels, humans are as sensitive to low frequencies as to midband frequencies. This is the main reason why music sounds relatively more ‘punchy’ when one increase volume. When listening to music, if a listener reduces volume, they find that the ‘Bass’ has reduced a lot. Generally speaking, the ‘punch’ tends to diminish. This is a big reason why people tend to play music at a high volume.

Variable Loudness Control:

A simple ‘Volume Control’, on a music system, increases or decreases all frequencies together. This changes the perceived ‘Tone Balance’ as volume changes as per the Fletcher Munson curves of Figure 1.

There is a need for a ‘variable loudness control’ that closely tracks the ‘Loudness Contours’, of human hearing, and thus maintains the same perceived ‘Tone Balance’ even if SPL is reduced by controlling this loudness control.

According to prior art, one of the practical difficulties has been that ‘Variable Loudness control’ is, normally, left at an arbitrary position and ‘Volume’ is, then, set by operating Volume Control. Most people, mistakenly, do it this way and are unable to get a proper ‘tone balance’ as the ‘Variable Loudness control’ was not in a ‘Flat’ position when the volume was set.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION: An object of the invention is to assist a listener to achieve a ‘variable loudness control’ that closely tracks the ‘Loudness Contours’ and thus maintains the same perceived ‘Tone Balance’ even if SPL is reduced by controlling this loudness system.

Another object of the invention is to obtain a proper ‘tonal balance’ correlative to Sound Pressure Level (SPL).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:

According to this invention, there is provided a system for controlling loudness.

This system helps a user achieve a proper tonal balance, intuitively.

In the first part, when the system is first powered on, the Variable loudness control is automatically set to flat position which is the maximum clockwise rotation of the knob.

Simultaneously, the volume knob also moves to its zero position. The listener will now, intuitively, increase the volume control as this is what they see to be at zero position. The listener, now, needs to set the volume to a desired maximum setting that they would listen to. The tone controls (bass and treble) are then adjusted, as and if required, and set to the listeners liking. From now on, the listener will use the Variable Loudness control to lower the ‘volume’ to the desired listening level.

Lowering, and then increasing (if desired) the sound level, by adjusting the Variable Loudness control, now maintains the same tonal balance; thus, facilitating a pleasure filled audio experience at any SPL or ‘volume’. The second part is towards the way its remote control is configured so as to assist the listener to use the loudness control system, effectively. On power up, the remote control is deactivated for a few seconds allowing the system to initialise to the acoustic ‘flat’ position. The user will not be able to interfere in this initialisation process. Then the Volume Up / Down buttons can be used to change the position of the Volume Control, which the listener needs to set first. The listener, then, presses the toggle switch on the remote and the same Up / Down buttons on the remote are now used to change the position of the ‘Variable Loudness Control’. The user now needs to only use the Variable Loudness Control to change the ‘Volume’ and the tonal balance will remain the same at any level. This greatly enhances the listening experience.

According to this invention, there is provided a system for controlling loudness, of an associated system, said system, for controlling loudness, comprising:

- a master control mechanism configured, for each instance of power up, to: o reset an associated ‘volume control’ to a default ‘minimum’ position on each instance of power-up of said system; o reset an associated ‘variable loudness control’ to a default flat ‘maximum’ position on each instance of power-up of said system; o block any changes to said volume control and said variable loudness control, via a blocking mechanism, for the duration of the power-up; o block any activity from a communicably coupled remote, for the duration of the power-up;

- said remote being communicably coupled with said master control mechanism in order to allow a listener, upon complete powering up of said system, to set a Loudness Contour, for said system, to desired level/s, said remote comprising: o a singular control (singular up key and singular down key) for controlling volume, through volume control, and loudness, through loudness control; and o a toggle switch configured to toggle between volume control (for volume) and loudness control (for loudness).

In at least an embodiment, said master control mechanism drives motor drivers configured to drive:

- at least a loudness motor driving said variable loudness control; and

- at least a volume motor driving said volume control.

In at least an embodiment, said system drives a potentiometer coupled to a control knob of the variable loudness control potentiometer.

In at least an embodiment, toggle switch, being configured to,

- in a first step, switch to volume control only so that a listener is able to set volume to a level of choice, keeping loudness as flat, where they find a user-defined ‘tonal balance’; and

- in a second step, switch control to a toggle aspect of said toggle switch; thereby, allowing the listener to switch to loudness control only so that the listener, is, now, capable of controlling loudness keeping the ‘tonal balance’ the same as what was selected correlative to volume control, in said first step.

In at least an embodiment, said method, for controlling loudness, comprising the steps of: - upon powering up the system, each time, initialisation takes place wherein volume control goes to minimum pre-calibrated value, for that system, and loudness control goes to maximum pre-calibrated value, for that system; until initialisation occurs, the user cannot make any changes;

- system actuates, via a first actuation protocol, the volume control; thereby, allowing a listener to select a maximum SPL [with suitable ‘tonal balance’], of choice, through ‘volume control’;

- for that powered up time, the listener can adjust, volume control;

- system actuates, via a second actuation protocol, a toggle switch; thereby, allowing a listener to switch from volume control to loudness control;

- system actuates, via a third actuation protocol, the loudness control; thereby, allowing a listener to control loudness of the output, of the system, whilst keeping the perceived tonal balance same as initially chosen; and

- for that powered-up time, the listener can adjust, loudness control, whilst being ensured that ‘tonal balance’ is as chosen and, thereby, receiving the best possible sound output at any volume level.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS:

FIGURE 1 illustrates ‘Fletcher Munson curves.’

The invention will now be described in relation to accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 2 illustrates a schematic block diagram of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS: According to this invention, there is provided a system for controlling loudness.

FIGURE 2 illustrates a schematic block diagram of this invention.

In at least an embodiment, of this invention, there is provided a master control mechanism (12) configured to reset ‘variable loudness control potentiometer’ (14) to a default ‘flat’ (maximum) position on each instance of power up (13) of an associated sound system (10).

In at least an embodiment, of this invention, there is provided a master control mechanism (12) configured to reset ‘volume control potentiometer’ (16) to a default (minimum) position on each instance of power up of an associated sound system (10). Typically, the volume control potentiometer (16) is driven by a volume motor (16a)

As soon as the system (for controlling loudness), of this invention, receives electrical power, upon powering up, the Variable Loudness Control, vide its potentiometer (14), will automatically turn to its ‘flat’ (maximum) position due to actuation of the master control mechanism (12) and the volume control, vide its potentiometer (16) will automatically turn to its minimum position due to actuation of the master control mechanism (12)Typically, the variable loudness control potentiometer (14) is driven by a loudness motor (14a). Motor drivers (11) are configured to drive the motors (14a, 16a).

Reference numeral 15 refers to a control circuit.

The master control mechanism (12), typically, drives a potentiometer coupled to a control knob of the variable loudness control potentiometer (14). Upon powering up the system (10), the knob / potentiometer (14a) is turned to its maximum position. Here, the graph of frequency v/s signal level is a horizontal straight line (commonly referred to as ‘Flat’ in music / sound parlance) [see Figure 1].

The master control mechanism (12), additionally, comprises a blocking mechanism (12a) configured to block any changes to the control knob. Assuming that there’s no additional tone control in use, a listener can now control volume, of an output associated with the system (10) and will now hear it as it was recorded. Till the blocking mechanism is active, the listener cannot make any change. After the blocking mechanism’s functionality is over, the listener is allowed to make changes and set the controls as per their liking/s. The Variable Loudness Control also goes to its maximum pre-calibrated level / value; thus, the listener will, intuitively, increase the volume control first.

In at least an embodiment, of this invention, a remote (18) is communicably coupled with the master control mechanism (12) to allow the listener to set Loudness Contour, for the system (10), to desired level/s. This can be done from the remote control or from the front panel.

In at least an embodiment, of this invention, the remote (18) comprises a singular control (singular up key and singular down key) for controlling volume and loudness. Switching between volume control mechanisms (16), for volume, and loudness control mechanisms (14), for loudness, is provisioned by means of a toggle switch (19) on the remote (18). Reference numeral 18a refers to a remote-control receiver, configured to receive commands from the remote (18), communicably coupled with the system (10).

In at least an embodiment of the toggle switch (19), the system is configured to, in a first step, switch to volume control only so that the listener is able to set volume to a level of choice, keeping loudness as flat, where they find ‘tonal balance’ to be perfect / apt / right to their ear. In at least an embodiment of the toggle switch (19), the system is configured to, in a second step, switch control to the toggle aspect of the toggle switch (19); thereby, allowing the listener to switch to loudness control only so that the listener, is, now, capable of controlling loudness (high or low) keeping the ‘tonal balance’ the same as what was selected correlative to volume control, in the first step. This is possible because the ‘loudness control’ changes the ‘Equal Loudness Contours’ while keeping the ‘tonal balance’ constant which does not happen, merely, by changing ‘volume control’ .

The use of this invention enhances the listening experience, of the sound system, in a big way.

If electrical power goes off and comes back on, the system (10) will go through the initialising again and change the previous setting. This may not be appreciated in some venues like clubs or other commercial establishments. Thus, if needed, a switch / setting is additionally provided to defeat this initialisation feature.

FIGURE 3 shows a flowchart illustrating

STEP 1: upon powering up the system, each time, initialisation takes place wherein volume control goes to minimum pre-calibrated value, for that system, and loudness control goes to maximum pre-calibrated value, for that system; until initialisation occurs, the user cannot make any changes;

STEP 2: system actuates, via a first actuation protocol, volume control; thereby, allowing a listener to select the maximum SPL [with a suitable ‘tonal balance’], of choice, through ‘volume control’ ;

STEP 3: for that powered-up time, the listener can adjust volume control; STEP 4: system actuates, via a second actuation protocol, a toggle switch; thereby, allowing a listener to switch from volume control to loudness control; STEP 5: system actuates, via a third actuation protocol, a loudness control; thereby, allowing a listener to control loudness of the output, of the system, whilst keeping the perceived tonal balance same as initially chosen in STEP 2; STEP 6: for that powered up time, the listener can adjust loudness control whilst being ensured that ‘tonal balance’ is as chosen and, thereby, receiving the best possible sound output at any volume level.

For a given volume, for a listener, the invention initialises the tonal balance by giving control, to the listener, in correlation with volume control only and, only then, gives control, to the listener, in correlation with loudness control; the initial power-up initialisation and the toggle switch ensure that there is no confusion and that sequential steps are followed to obtain the best possible output.

The TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENT, of this invention, lies in, easily and logically, providing a system for ‘variable loudness control’ that closely tracks the ‘Loudness Contours’ and thus maintains the same perceived ‘Tone Balance’ even if SPL is reduced by controlling this loudness switch. This system obtains a proper ‘tone balance’ responsive to volume control. The objects, of this invention, are achieved by forcing an initialisation

While this detailed description has disclosed certain specific embodiments for illustrative purposes, various modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims, and it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.