Über die gewünschte hörerlautstärke bei kammermusik

Abstract

One of the acoustic criteria that have a major influence on the auditory experience during a concert is that of volume. This is something that is not always felt to be satisfactory, especially among chamber music audiences. It is not yet known, however, which volume levels listeners of chamber music pieces consider to be desirable. By means of suitable listening experiments, an attempt was made to find an answer to this question. In a medium-sized auditorium, comparable in size to a small chamber music hall, individual listeners were played excerpts from various pieces of chamber music. Each listener was requested to adjust the volume to what he or she felt to be the optimal level. The following values were then measured for each excerpt: the equivalent continuous sound level L eq, the mean maximum level L 1% and the lower limiting level L 95%. The measurements, which covered a sample of 24 people, show that: 1. 1.|There are clear upper and lower limits for acceptable sound volume levels. 2. 2.|The preferred volume levels can differ considerably within these limits. 3. 3.|There is an individual volume range for each individual listener. 4. 4.|A volume with an equivalent continuous sound level L eq around 70 dB(A) is the single most satisfactory level for listeners overall.