Perception of complex tones in noise

Abstract

We are often surrounded by technical sounds that contain tonal components, which usually are generated by rotating parts of machinery. Tonal components commonly reduce the pleasantness of a sound, i.e., these sounds are perceived as less pleasant compared to equal-level sounds without tonal components. To consider the influence of tonal components on noise pollution, different standards include sections dedicated to this effect. For single tonal components, previous data showed that tone adjustments calculated on the basis of the German standard 45681 account quite well for the reduced pleasantness. However, the standard is limited to single tonal components only. It was also shown that the partial loudness of the tonal portion corresponds to the perceived magnitude of tonal content (also known as tonalness or tonality). The present study investigated the perception of complex tones in noise. To this end, the loudness of the tonal portion of the sound is determined for sounds containing a single tone or a complex tone with two or four components at different levels above the masked threshold. It is shown that an increase in components results in an increase in the magnitude of the tonal content. This likely also affects the pleasantness of the sound.We are often surrounded by technical sounds that contain tonal components, which usually are generated by rotating parts of machinery. Tonal components commonly reduce the pleasantness of a sound, i.e., these sounds are perceived as less pleasant compared to equal-level sounds without tonal components. To consider the influence of tonal components on noise pollution, different standards include sections dedicated to this effect. For single tonal components, previous data showed that tone adjustments calculated on the basis of the German standard 45681 account quite well for the reduced pleasantness. However, the standard is limited to single tonal components only. It was also shown that the partial loudness of the tonal portion corresponds to the perceived magnitude of tonal content (also known as tonalness or tonality). The present study investigated the perception of complex tones in noise. To this end, the loudness of the tonal portion of the sound is determined for sounds containing a single tone or a...