Week 8 Lab Activitites

This week in lab, we concluded our preparation for the testing, which will be completed this week. The following tasks were completed, both regarding the testing and the project as a whole.

1. Review Project Scope/Timeline: As the term comes to a close (there are only 2 weeks remaining to complete the project), adherence to the project timeline will be crucial to ensure completion.

2. Review of Project Final Draft: The draft of our final report was returned to us and Dr. Knight's critiques were reviewed. This process will help us not only for this project, but for any amount of technical writing which will be done in the future.

3. Discussion of Testing Methods: In order to properly complete the project, there are two rounds of testing that must be performed. First isolation testing must be performed to determine the best orientation of the isolation materials that effectively dissipate external vibrations and remove them from the speaker cabinet. This will be comprised of two separate factors: vibration testing using the Seismometer application and a sound analysis using the Similariy application. High-quality, FLAC versions of 3 songs that have a dynamic range of frequencies will be chosen in an attempt to be able to discern a difference in the resulting sound quality.

Once these values are accrued, the group will be able to choose a final stand/isolation design to use in subjective testing. While this segment may be perhaps less scientific, it is arguably the most important component of the project (as the goal was to produce a stand that improved the listening experience for a consumer at a lower price than those commercially available). A test track that we believe results in a noticeable increase in sound quality will be chosen and shown to our test subjects. In addition, prior research has discerned that often tracks that individuals are most familiar with will be more prone to being analyzed with deep scrutiny. Therefore, we will ask our subjects to choose a song that they know intimately to see whether they were able to discern a difference.

4. Final Report and Presentation Preparation:  While testing needs to still be completed, some discussion on the timing and logistics in preparing the final deliverables was included in the lab activities so we were able to keep the final objectives very much in mind.