Spatial Sampling Artifacts of Wave Field Synthesis for the Reproduction of Virtual Point Sources

Spatial sound reproduction systems with a large number of loudspeakers are increasingly being used. Wave field synthesis is a reproduction technique using a large number of densely placed loudspeakers (loudspeaker array). The underlying theory, however, assumes a continuous distribution of loudspeakers. Individual loudspeakers placed at discrete positions constitute a spatial sampling process that may lead to sampling artifacts. These may degrade the perceived reproduction quality and will limit the application of active control techniques like active room compensation. The sampling artifacts for the reproduction of plane waves have already been discussed in previous papers. This paper derives the spatial sampling artifacts and anti-aliasing conditions for the reproduction of virtual point sources on linear loudspeaker arrays using wave field synthesis techniques.