Listening Matters in Building and Room Acoustics

Listening tests play a crucial role in research and in the development of applications in room and building acoustics. Complementary to classical setups in which sound is presented to listeners via loudspeakers, advanced binaural auralisation tools nowadays allow for realistically presenting acoustic scenarios to listeners. In this work, we report on research results obtained by listening using both approaches, and the comparison between them. In room acoustics, revising existing or developing new acoustic parameters can only be achieved by means of listening test experiments. Today, binaural auralization e.g. allows to assess the quality of spaciousness quantifiers, and to investigate people's ability for sound source localization in different virtual scenarios. In building acoustics, the auralisation of airborne and impact noise in buildings helps to understand and predict the consequences of new regulations proposed in drafts or in existing standards. Listening test experiments are used as a decisive tool in the harmonization of European and international standards related to (proposals for) single number rating assessments, and in the preparation of broadly accepted sound insulation classes. © European Acoustics Association.

ISBN:9788001050132

Publication year:2012