What field of engineering deals with audio electronics and speaker design?

[SN93]

I'm entering school and strongly considering pursuing an engineering degree. I've been working building electrical and automation control panels, and through experiences and talking with the engineers at work, it seems like an interesting field for me.

I've long had a hobby and fascination with sound and studio electronics, and was wondering what field of engineering would deal with working with audio electronics, maybe even speaker design and acoustics? This includes both analog and digital devices used in broadcasting and recording studios, or even home audio systems. I would leap at the chance to learn how to design these kinds of electronics.

I've been looking over articles and various information online, but can't find an answer. The community college I'm going to has "pre-engineering" associates degrees that work towards a BA at the nearby state school. I will mostly be doing the general education and basic courses, but these are some decisions to be made based on which field of engineering I'm aiming towards.

I'm thinking that I should be looking at electrical engineering, but through reading, it seems that computer engineering could even be beneficial. I do primarily want to work with hardware, although software integration is important in modern studios and stations. I haven't seen anything that suggests which field would deal with acoustics designs, speakers, etc either.

Should I start researching electrical, computer, or another field? I'm not sure where to start reading and getting information about this sort of thing, and the academic advisors are useless.

I apologize for posting such a broad question here, but I can't seem to find anything to get e started i the right direction.

 

[SN93]

Does anybody know what field of engineering would deal with everything from analog hardware, to computer software integration, and acoustic sciences?

 

[scoe]

You could look at a course called sound engineering. It's called that in SA, anyway - I'm sure there must be something similar in the states.
Otherwise electronics engineering is a good start.

 

[SN93]

If I'm not mistaken, sound engineering is a field of music production, not really engineering. There's similar courses here in the states that come up in my Google searches. It could be something different there though. Thanks.

 

[Travis_King]

Electrical engineering will teach you what you will need in sound engineering. Many schools offer minors in sound/acoustics that would do very well as a supplement to an E.Eng degree.

 

[SN93]

Thanks Travis_King, I did some digging on the website, and it looks like one of the colleges I will be transferring to has a minor in electro-acoustics. That would supplement an electrical engineering degree nicely, and has many shared classes. That looks like the perfect route for me.

 

[Travis_King]

Great. Electrical engineering is a tough major, but if you enjoy it and dedicate yourself to it, the jobs are some of the most varied and most well-paid in industry. If you can't find a job in acoustics or sound engineering off the bat, you'll most certainly find something in a similar field to gain some experience, and pay off some of that student debt (if you have any).

 

[psparky]

Sounds like you need to go EE all the way.

Which specialty of EE you take you can figure out as you go.

I took the general EE version and my electives and senior design were in Digital.

I now work on the power side of EE...so, how you plan things isn't always the way they go...but things seem to work out nonetheless.