Conference_programme: 17.4 - Annoyance due to low-level sounds transmitted to dwellings
Lecture: The influence of the reproduction system on the results of the listening tests in building acoustics
Author(s): Benklewski Jakub, Horvat Marko, Chmelik Vojtech, Zelem Lukas , Müllner Herbert, Jambrosic Kristian, Rychtarikova Monika , Glorieux Christ
Summary:
The way humans perceive sound has become an important factor in building acoustics, thus opening a path to subjective evaluation of sound insulation properties of building elements through listening tests. Different approaches have been taken in order to present the sound stimuli to listeners in the most realistic way possible.\nThe reproduction of sound stimuli during listening tests related to building acoustics is usually carried out over headphones, being a very convenient way for the reproduction of acoustic stimuli in general. Nevertheless, in some cases a realistic reproduction over headphones is impossible. On the other hand, loudspeaker systems allow the subject to perceive the sound in a more natural way, related first and foremost to source localization. However, the use of a loudspeaker system implies the interaction of the system with the listening room; a problem that can be minimized provided that the listening room has been properly treated in the acoustic sense.\nTo examine the influence the sound reproduction system itself has on the results of the listening tests carried out in building acoustics, a listening test was designed and executed with the stimuli reproduced over two different reproduction systems. The same sound stimuli was reproduced once over the headphones, and in the second experiment a stereo listening setup made of two bookshelf-size studio monitor loudspeakers aided by a subwoofer was used. The listening test itself was designed to assess the quality of airborne sound insulation of different building elements through loudness judgements. Namely, the test compared the sound insulation properties of a typical lightweight and massive inner wall, as well as a typical outer wall with and without an ETICS façade (external thermal insulation composite system). Pink noise, music and traffic noise were filtered using the sound reduction index vs. frequency curve, and then used as the stimuli in the experiment.
Corresponding author
Name: Mr Jakub Benklewski
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Country: Austria
