Sweet spot

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

With the term sweet spot , the sweet spot or sweet area a kind of effective zone is referred to in different topic areas. If something is in the sweetspot, it has or receives the optimal effect.

The name comes from English and means "sweet point". Similar to German , the word sweet is used in a broader sense, i.e. as dear or friendly . A possible free translation is an optimal point , ideal point or optimal area .

music

While natural hearing only emits sound from one source, there are at least two different sound sources in electroacoustic stereo reproduction. If the loudspeaker signals are coherent and have the same level, the impression of a fictitious sound source is created in the correct listening position. This is also called a phantom sound source.

In the hi-fi sector, the optimal listening location or listening position is given when the two loudspeakers and the listener occupy the corner points of an equilateral triangle. This so-called stereo triangle is usually shown in two-dimensional images as an upside-down triangle. The tip below is the ideal listening location and the tips above represent the position of the loudspeakers. If you stay at this "sweet spot", the music you hear should have the optimal stereo effect there. For music producers, the optimal hearing impression is essential during mixing, as otherwise individual instruments can get lost in the stereo panorama or the brilliance of the highs disappears.

Depending on the construction and quality of the loudspeakers, this sweet spot can also be closer to the loudspeakers or further away from them. This is where experimenting with your own equipment helps to achieve the optimum.

In the home cinema area, the effect loudspeakers (rear speakers) arranged at the side or rear are also included in this calculation. Since Dolby Digital 6.1 and 7.1, the whole thing has been supplemented by one or two rear center speakers. If you want to achieve the optimal cinema effect here, you have to sit in the sweet spot. In addition to the stereo triangle, this can be achieved by sensibly arranging the rear loudspeakers in relation to the seat or by changing the latter at the same time. In addition, the entire setup must of course be configured via the AV receiver , so that it does not happen that some speakers are too loud and others too quiet. As a rule, the distance to the listening position can be set for each individual loudspeaker in order to avoid running time differences, and the volume level can also be individually adjusted.

In an audio system, the sweet spot is the spatial area in which the sound reproduction achieves the desired optimum sound. For a mono playback z. B. with the distance to the loudspeaker the volume and the frequency spectrum of the sound.

With stereo sound, on the other hand, it is important to keep the same distance to both loudspeakers when listening, so that the spatial position of the sound sources can be correctly experienced. In addition, the sound should come "like a concert" from the front (the theoretical stage). The stereo sweet spot is quite small, according to a rule of thumb it lies on the third point of an equilateral triangle, the other points of which are the speakers.

However, the size of the sweet spot depends on more variables than the distance and the respective loudspeaker and its radiation angle. Space and surroundings also influence this.

With surround sound (multi-channel systems, such as five or seven channel surround sound in the cinema), the size of the playback sweet spot to be felt depends on the type of sound recording and the intelligent mixing of the mixer. Sound field microphone recordings and other coincident one-point recordings always result in a very small "sweet spot".

The sound in the cinema usually corresponds (if at all) to the exact idea of ​​the sound producer of the film only in a few places. A larger area, exact reproduction can be achieved with wave field synthesis .

Various static approaches exist to enlarge the sweet spot . A discussion can be found in Merchel et al. being found. Alternatively, the optimal listening area can also be dynamically adjusted to the listener position. As a result, a stable phantom source location can be achieved for a single listener. This approach is followed in the SweetSpotter project.

Sports

In racket sports such as tennis, badminton , etc., the sweet spot is an area in the string bed of the racket. This area does not necessarily have to be in the geometric center, but can also be closer to the neck or closer to the head, depending on the design of the club. The size and shape of its extension do not have to be round either, but can also be oval. If the ball is hit with the sweetspot, the greatest possible acceleration and accuracy is achieved. At the same time, impact shock and vibrations are optimally dampened, which is not the case with hits outside the sweet spot.

Since May 2005, Sweet Spot has also stood for a large-scale tennis initiative aimed at helping German tennis achieve a renaissance over the next few years. It was created on the initiative of the Verband Deutscher Sportfachhandel e. V. (vds) and brings together numerous partners from the tennis associations, media, trade associations, industry and trade fairs. The declared aim of the initiative is to bring tennis back to the fore in Germany and to reverse the loss of membership and image suffered over the past ten years.

In golf , the sweet spot describes the point on the club face where the golf ball is optimally hit. The same is true in baseball .

In paintball , setting the inline regulator of a marker to the optimal value is called a sweet spot. The working pressure of the marker is set in such a way that the speed of the ball does not exceed the maximum permitted speed of the field operator.

When riding, the “sweet spot” is reached when the right combination of relaxation, energy and balance is achieved within a lesson. The “sweet spot” here stands for harmony within the body.

physics

In physics, the sweet spot describes the point at which electromagnetic waves can be optimally received. With RFID z. B. the sweet spot is the area in which an RFID tag can best be read.

Camera lenses

In a camera lens, the sweet spot is the aperture at which a lens achieves its best sharpness and best contrast. In the case of zoom lenses, the same term also describes the optimal focal length, i.e. how far the lens must be extended to achieve maximum sharpness.

politics

In American English , Sweet Spot is also used in political language. In the 2016 election campaign , the strength of the debate, demographic aspects and geographical aspects were described as sweet spots for the respective candidates.

See also

literature

  • Thomas Görne: Sound engineering. Fachbuchverlag Leipzig in Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich et al. 2006, ISBN 3-446-40198-9 .
  • Volker Smyrek: Sound technology for event technicians in training and practice. 3. Edition. S. Hirzel Verlag 2016, ISBN 978-3-7776-2499-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ S. Merchel, S. Groth: Analysis and Implementation of a Stereophonic Playback System for Adjusting the “Sweet Spot” to the Listener's Position. In: Proceedings of 126th AES Convention, Munich, Germany, 2009.
  2. ↑ SWEET SPOT - The tennis initiative
  3. ↑ The "sweet spot": relaxation, energy and balance. In: Karen Rohlf: Dressage Naturally. Dressage in the sense of natural horsemanship. Cadmos, Schwarzenbek 2012, ISBN 978-3-8404-1025-3 , p. 68.
  4. ↑ Basics of Photography: Sweet Spot , fotografie.at
  5. ↑ Trump campaign: Town hall format is a 'sweet spot' for Donald Trump. In: Washington Times. 5th October 2016.
  6. ↑ Trump campaign: Debates 'are not Hillary Clinton's sweet spot'. In: Washington Times. 26th September 2016.
  7. ^ The Daily 202: Why the GOP establishment embraces Trump in Iowa more than any other battleground. In: Washington Post. 29th August 2016.