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Harmonic and Intermodulation Analysis of Nonlinear Devices Used in Virtual Bass Systems

Nonlinear devices (NLD) are used in the virtual bass system. NLD generates harmonics which in turn create the pitch perception and are used in the audio bass enhancement systems using psychoacoustics. This paper presents the mathematical derivations and analyses of five different NLD devices, together with intermodulation analysis of harmonics generated by these NLDs. The five NLDs are half-wave rectifier, full-wave rectifier, square wave, polynomial function and exponential function. The derivation of harmonic analysis equations are based on Fourier Theorems, Chebyshev Polynomials, and Taylor Series expansions. Besides the harmonics, intermodulation components are also resulted from NLDs. Both mathematical analysis and simulation results are presented for the intermodulation effects of harmonics generated by NLDs.

Authors: Gan, Woon-Seng; Oo, Nay
Affiliation: Nanyang Technological University
AES Convention:124 (May 2008) Paper Number:7403 Import into BibTeX
Subject:Signal Processing, Sound Quality Design

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