Comment on “Relative variance of the mean squared pressure in multimode media: Rehabilitating former approaches” [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 136, 2621–2629 (2014)]

Models for the statistics of responses in finite reverberant structures, and in particular, for the variance of the mean square pressure in reverberation rooms, have been studied for decades. It is therefore surprising that a recent communication has claimed that the literature has gotten the simplest of such calculations very wrong. Monsef, Cozza, Rodrigues, Cellard, and Durocher [(2014). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 136, 2621-2629] have derived a modal-based expression for the relative variance that differs significantly from expressions that have been accepted since 1969. This Comment points out that the Monsef formula is clearly incorrect, and then for the interested reader, points out the subtle place where they made their mistake.