A laboratory experiment on subjective evaluation of the sound quality of aircraft noise

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between aircraft noise's sound quality and subjective impressions. Laboratory experiments were conducted to examine how the impression of aircraft noise differs depending on its sound quality. First, an experiment by the semantic differential method was conducted using sounds of various aircraft models, including those from the 2000s and earlier, as stimuli. The results showed that even when the A-weighted sound pressure levels were equal, the sounds of recent aircraft were perceived more positively, suggesting that a decrease in sharpness was the cause. In addition, another experiment by the method of adjustment was conducted to examine the effect of extraordinary tonal sounds included in aircraft noises. As a result, it could not be said that the extraordinary tonal sounds negatively affected the evaluation of aircraft noise.