Soundscape Quality Research Articles

Soundscape in Times of Change: Case Study of a City Neighbourhood During the COVID-19 Lockdown.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown meant a greatly reduced social and economic activity. Sound is of major importance to people’s perception of the environment, and some remarked that the soundscape was changing for the better. But are these anecdotal reports based in truth? Has traffic noise from cars and airplanes really gone down, so that more birdsong can be heard? Have socially distanced people quietened down? This article presents a case study of the human perception of environmental sounds in an urban neighborhood in the Basque Country between 15 March and 25 May 2020. The social restrictions imposed through national legislation divided the 69-day period into three phases. We collected observations, field audio recordings, photography, and diary notes on 50 days. Experts in soundscape and architecture were presented with the recordings, in randomized order, and made two separate perceptual analyses. One group (N = 11) rated the recordings for pleasantness and eventfulness using an adapted version of the Swedish Soundscape Quality Protocol, and a partly overlapping group (N = 12) annotated perceived sound events with free-form semantic labels. The labels were systematically classified into a four-level Taxonomy of Sound Sources, allowing an estimation of the relative amounts of Natural, Human, and Technological sounds. Loudness and three descriptors developed for bioacoustics were extracted computationally. Analysis showed that Eventfulness, Acoustic Complexity, and Acoustic Richness increased significantly over the time period, while the amount of Technological sounds decreased. These observations were interpreted as reflecting changes in people’s outdoor activities and behavior over the whole 69-day period, evidenced in an increased presence of Human sounds of voices and walking, and a significant shift from motorized vehicles toward personal mobility devices, again evidenced by perceived sounds. Quantitative results provided a backdrop against which qualitative analyses of diary notes and observations were interpreted in relation to the restrictions and the architectural specifics of the site. An integrated analysis of all sources pointed at the temporary suspension of human outdoor activity as the main reason for such a change. In the third phase, the progressive return of street life and the usage of personal mobility vehicles seemed to be responsible for a clear increase in Eventfulness and Loudness even in the context of an overall decrease of Technological sounds. Indoor human activity shared through open windows and an increased presence of birdsong emerge as a novel characteristic element of the local urban soundscape. We discuss how such changes in the acoustic environment of the site, in acoustic measurements and as perceived by humans, point toward the soundscape being a crucial component of a comprehensive urban design strategy that aims to improve health and quality of life for increasingly large and dense populations in the future.

A mixed-reality approach to soundscape assessment of outdoor urban environments augmented with natural sounds

To investigate the effect of augmenting natural sounds in noisy environments, an in-situ experiment was conducted using a mixed-reality head-mounted display (MR HMD). Two outdoor locations close to an expressway were selected for the experiment. A natural sound (birdsong or stream) along with a hologram (sparrow/fountain or loudspeaker) was projected through the MR HMD. Participants were asked to adjust the natural sound levels to their preferred level under ambient traffic noise conditions at each location. Participants also assessed the perceived loudness of traffic (PLN) and overall soundscape quality (OSQ) in conditions with and without the augmented natural sounds. The results showed that both natural sounds significantly reduced the PLN and enhanced the OSQ. No significant differences in subjective responses were found between the loudspeaker and visual representations of the natural sound source as holograms. Analysis on the preferred signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), i.e. ratio of natural sound to traffic levels, indicated a strong negative correlation between the preferred SNRs and ambient traffic noise levels. Overall, the preferred SNR of the birdsong was significantly higher than that of the water sound. Among the acoustic parameters tested, the A-weighted traffic noise level was the strongest predictor for the preferred SNR of both the birdsong and water sound. However, the correlation for the water sound was relatively higher than the birdsong. This was due to the larger variance in the subjective evaluation for the birdsong.

Influence of sound level on diners’ perceptions and behavior in a montreal restaurant

This study investigates the effect of ambient sound level on diners’ perception and behavior in an upscale restaurant in Montreal. A questionnaire was administered to 247 diners and their behavior (time and money spent) was observed in the restaurant during four consecutive weeks. The questionnaire pertained to the restaurant experience, including satisfaction and perceived conviviality; the sound environment (using the Swedish Soundscape Quality Protocol); and person-related variables, such as noise sensitivity. We ran a conditional process analysis to explore how the influence of ambient sound level might be mediated by evaluation of the sound environment, and moderated by noise sensitivity. We observed a significant direct positive influence of ambient sound level on diners’ behavior (time and money spent) but no effect on their perception of satisfaction and conviviality. For every decibel increase, time and money spent increased by 3.3 min and CA$2.2 respectively. Ambient sound level also significantly influenced the perception of the sound environment: as sound level increased, so did the ratings of eventfulness, while ratings of perceived chaos and unpleasantness decreased.

Investigating contextual influences on urban soundscape evaluations with structural equation modeling

Previous soundscape research has shown a complex relationship between soundscapes, public space usage and contexts of users’ visits to the space. Yet many of these findings are restricted to one study site at a time and may not generalize to a global understanding of urban sound environments. The present study is a comparative analysis of in situ questionnaires collected over four study sites in Montreal (N = 1429) in both French and English. At each site, the questionnaire included items from the Swedish Soundscape Quality Protocol and other soundscape variables, as well as person-related (age, gender, extraversion, noise sensitivity) and situation-related (social interaction) variables. We first tested measurement invariance between the French and English versions of the used soundscape questionnaire. We then investigated the influence of contextual factors (combining person-related and situation-related variables) on soundscape evaluations. The analyses confirmed the underlying conceptualizations of proposed soundscape assessment questionnaires, confirmed metric invariance between French and English questionnaires, and revealed significant influences of contextual factors on soundscape dimensions. Our analysis further suggests that younger people, women, and extraverted people occupy the public space more in groups, and that people in groups rate the soundscape as more pleasant and less eventful. Older people and women were found to be more sensitive to noise, and more sensitive people tended to perceive the soundscape as less pleasant and less monotonous. This research represents a critical step in rigorously assessing soundscape evaluation methods and establishes solid groundwork to build more complex models of contextual influences on soundscape evaluation.

Effects of contexts in urban residential areas on the pleasantness and appropriateness of natural sounds

Before introducing natural sounds to potentially improve the soundscape quality, it is important to understand how key contextual factors (i.e. expected activities and audio-visual congruency) affect the soundscape in a given location. In this study, the perception of eight natural sounds (i.e. 4 birdsongs, 4 water sounds) at five urban recreational areas under the constant influence of road traffic was explored subjectively under three laboratory settings: visual-only, audio-only, and audio-visual. Firstly, expected socio-recreational activities of each location were determined in the visual-only setting. Subsequently, participants assessed the pleasantness and appropriateness of the soundscape at each site, for each of the eight natural sounds augmented to the same road traffic noise, in both audio-only and audio-visual settings. Interestingly, it was found that the expected activities in each location did not significantly affect natural sound perception, whereas audio-visual congruency of the locations significantly affected the pleasantness and appropriateness of the natural sounds. Particularly, the pleasantness and appropriateness decreased for water sounds when water features were not visually present. In contrast, perception with birdsongs was unaffected by their visibility likely due to the presence of vegetation. Hence, audio-visual coherence is central to the perception of natural sounds in outdoor spaces.

Indoor soundscape assessment: A principal components model of acoustic perception in residential buildings

Models of perceived affective quality of soundscapes have been recently included into standards to guide the measurement and improvement of urban soundscapes. Such models have been developed in outdoor contexts and their validity in indoor built environments is unclear. A laboratory listening test was performed in a mock-up living room with a window sight, in order to develop an indoor soundscape model for residential buildings. During the test, 35 participants were asked to rate 20 different scenarios each. Scenarios were defined by combining four indoor sound sources and five urban environments, filtered through a window ajar, on 97 attribute scales. By applying principal component analysis, Comfort, Content, and Familiarity, were extracted as the main perceptual dimensions explaining respectively 58%, 25% and 7% of the total variance. Relationships between the principal component scores, acoustic parameters and indoor and outdoor sound categories were investigated. Comfort, Content, and Familiarity were found to be better predicted respectively by loudness N10, level variability LA10-LA90 and sharpness S. The magnitude of linear-mixed-effect model predictions sensibly improved by accounting for sound categories, thus pointing at the importance of semantic meaning of sounds in indoor soundscape assessment. A measurement system is proposed, based on a 2-D space defined by two orthogonal axes, Comfort and Content, and two additional axes, Engagement and Privacy – Control, rotated 45° on the same plane. The model indicates the perceptual constructs to be measured (e.g. in post-occupancy evaluations), the attribute scales to be employed and actions to improve indoor soundscape quality, thus providing a reference for both research and practice.

An improved service quality measurement model for soundscape assessment in urban public open spaces

The well-known service quality measurement (SQM) models, Importance-Satisfaction (I-S) model and Improvement index (Ii) model, have been recently proved useful in the analysis of soundscape quality. By combining the concepts of soundscape and quality management, this paper proposes an improved SQM model for soundscape assessment in urban public open spaces. Instead of using the I-S model, the Preference-Satisfaction (P-S) model was developed for soundscape quality evaluation, which can simultaneously assess the importance, satisfaction and improvement direction of soundscape elements and provide more accurate and comprehensive information for guiding the soundscape management and improvement. The proposed methods were subsequently applied to case studies in eight ordinary urban public open spaces in Fujian Province, China, and provided detailed information about the soundscape quality of these surveyed open spaces as well as their improvement strategies. The results have demonstrated the practicality and effectiveness of the proposed method. To the authors' knowledge, practical applications of quality management methods (or its variations) to urban soundscape study are still limited in the literature; therefore, the proposed method and findings of the current study could be valuable for both practical soundscape design and academic research.

Effect of the appropriateness of sound environment on urban soundscape assessment

Sound environment is a critical factor to be considered in the development of sustainable and healthy urban communities and cities. We investigated the effect of the appropriateness of the sound environment on urban soundscape perception through individuals' subjective evaluation in a laboratory condition. Our aim was to propose design guidelines to enhance urban soundscape quality. Virtual reality technology was used to simulate a realistic soundscape: visual information was generated via a head-mounted display, and spatial audio information was provided via headphone-based first-order ambisonic head-tracking technology. The appropriateness and perceived degree of sound sources, perceived visual elements, and soundscape quality (such as satisfaction, desire to stay, and comfort) were evaluated with 30 participants in two experimental setups: a visual environment and an audio-visual environment. The results revealed that the appropriateness of the sound sources interacted with individuals' perception of visual elements, and “traffic” sounds and “birdsongs” were critical factors that influenced participants’ initial perception of urban soundscape quality. Further, “human” sounds originating from human activity were related to the “comfort” aspects of soundscape quality. The findings and soundscape design guidelines will be useful for the planning and development of urban soundscapes.

Spatial variations in pedestrian soundscape evaluation of traffic noise

Walking is necessary for experiencing urban space, but pedestrians are seriously disturbed by traffic noise. This study aimed to clarify spatial variations in soundscape evaluation in pedestrian spaces used solely for walking, including traffic noise annoyance, the dominance of various sound sources, and the perceptual dimensions of the soundscape. Three traffic noise level areas, at various distances from the road, were evaluated in a typical pedestrian space in China, using a questionnaire survey in an on-site study. The results reveal that, first, the soundscape evaluations in the high-noise area (70 dBA) and middle-noise area (60 dBA) are more similar, but present a larger difference with the low-noise area (50 dBA). The latter is more complicated, and more subjective evaluations in this area are required than for higher sound-level areas. Second, the correlation between the soundscape evaluations of the middle-noise area and the low-noise area demonstrates more similarity, but presents a larger difference with the high-noise area, meaning the effectiveness in the high-noise area may differ from lower sound level areas even with the same soundscape improvement measures. Finally, the relationship of the dominance of natural sound with other soundscape evaluations become weaker as the distance from the road increases; this means that deliberately increasing natural sound might be an effective method to improve the soundscape quality in the high-noise area. These findings can provide a reference for soundscape evaluations and landscape design in pedestrian spaces where traffic noise is a problem.

Tranquillity mapping in New Zealand national parks – a pilot study

Abstract The tranquillity in national parks worldwide is currently under threat from intrusion of anthropogenic noise of a growing tourism industry and activity related to park management. This was addressed by creating informative tranquillity maps, where perceived tranquillity can be considered a key indicator of soundscape quality in natural areas. Tranquillity of an area can be assessed using TRAPT (Tranquillity Rating Prediction Tool), that has been developed and refined for assessing urban green spaces, national parks and wilderness areas in the United Kingdom. The subjective response to helicopter noise levels of a sample group of 35 people representing the general New Zealand population was obtained, based on visual and audio stimuli that were collected in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park. These results were used to produce a revised TRAPT equation. It was discovered that levels under 32 dBA correspond to an excellent level of tranquillity. This threshold was used to produce a noise level exposure calculation for two national parks using noise prediction model AEDT (Aviation Environmental Development Tool). Contours representing tranquillity duration were then calculated and plotted, to serve as a planning tool for use by the Department of Conservation. A similar approach could be used for other national parks worldwide.

Toward Crowd-sourced Soundscape Monitoring in Protected Areas: Integrating Sound Dominance and Triggers to Facilitate Proactive Management

This research expanded on prior use of visitor perception data to inform potential social indicators of soundscape quality, by integrating existing urban-context soundscapes work, and the emerging use of triggers to help managers identify concerns before they reach the threshold level. Along with existing measures of sound appeal and acceptability, sound dominance helped provide a sense of how the extent of particular sounds influenced visitor experiences and a desire to visit more. Geospatial data collection for 899 visitors and eight sites within the Coyhaique National Reserve (CNR) in southern Chile during the summer high visitation season of 2019, allowed researchers to examine perceptual similarities and differences, facilitating an evaluation of new perceptual variables for soundscape monitoring. Correlation analyses identified informative relationships between the dominance (sound duration and foreground/background placement) of natural and anthropogenic sounds, and overall soundscape ratings. The duration of natural sounds was positively correlated with soundscape-level ratings, while the duration of anthropogenic sounds was negatively correlated with these ratings. Unique trends and relationships were identified across specific sites, demonstrating the value of adding measures of perceived sound dominance to soundscape monitoring processes. Observed Protected Area (PA) visitor enthusiasm for sounds and soundscapes suggests potential for crowd-sourced citizen science-based methods that could be done voluntarily and regularly using simple and accessible applications and technologies.

Effects of adding natural sounds to urban noises on the perceived loudness of noise and soundscape quality

Introducing pleasant natural sounds to mask urban noises is an important soundscape design strategy to improve acoustic comfort. This study investigates the effects of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) between natural sounds (signal) and the target noises (noise) and their temporal characteristics on the perceived loudness of noise (PLN) and overall soundscape quality (OSQ) through a laboratory experiment. Two types of urban noise sources (hydraulic breaker and traffic noises) were set to A-weighted equivalent sound pressure levels (SPL) of 55, 65, and 75 dB and then augmented with two types of natural sounds (birdsong and stream), across a range of SNRs. Each acoustic stimulus was a combination of noise and natural sound at SNRs from −6 to 6 dB. Averaged across all cases, the subjective assessment of PLN showed that augmenting urban noise separately with the two natural sounds reduced the PLN by 17.9%, with no significant differences found between the birdsong and stream sounds. Adding natural sounds increased the OSQ by on average 18.3% across the cases, but their effects gradually decreased as the noise level increased. The OSQ of the birdsong and stream sounds were similar for traffic noise, whereas the stream sound was rated higher than the birdsong for the breaker noise. The results suggest that increasing the dissimilarity in temporal structure between the target noise and natural sounds could enhance the soundscape quality. Appropriate SNRs were explored considering both PLN and OSQ. The results showed that the SNR of −6 dB was desirable when the A-weighted SPL of the noise rose to 75 dB.

Associations between soundscape experience and self-reported wellbeing in open public urban spaces: a field study

BackgroundPrevious studies, mainly conducted in laboratory experiments, showed there are associations between the perception of acoustic environments (ie, soundscapes, as per the International Organization for Standardization [ISO] 12913-1:2014 definition) and measures of individual health and wellbeing. The aim of this study was to confirm these findings in more ecologically realistic settings, by exploring associations between soundscapes and wellbeing via a questionnaire campaign. MethodsStudy design We performed a socioacoustic field survey with adult volunteers from members of the public who we approached across seven public spaces in London (UK), two in Venice (Italy), and two in Granada (Spain), including parks, urban squares, and commercial streets. Questionnaires gathered individual data about self-reported soundscape experience and wellbeing. Analysis The soundscape assessment protocol relied on the ISO/TS 12913-2:2018, whereas wellbeing measures were based on the WHO-five well-being index (WHO-5). A k-means cluster analysis was performed on the scores of the 15-item soundscape questionnaires, resulting in a two-group stratification of the sample into positive and negative soundscape experiences. The primary outcomes were WHO-5 scores and soundscape experience cluster membership. FindingsWHO-5 scores were computed for 825 (97%) of 849 surveyed participants following WHO instructions. An independent-samples t test showed statistically significant differences in WHO-5 scores between the groups who had a positive (n=445) or negative (n=380) soundscape experience; t(823)=–3·578; p<0·001. The positive group had higher WHO-5 scores (mean 63·5 [SD19·1]) than the negative group (mean 58·7 [18·9]). InterpretationTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first field study to explore associations between (perceived) soundscapes and self-reported measures of wellbeing. Although no causal effects can be established at this stage, results suggest that people with higher levels of wellbeing are more likely to report positive soundscapes, whereas people with lower levels of wellbeing might have a more negative attitude towards the acoustic environments. Self-reported data should be interpreted with caution: to contain any consequent bias, future studies might consider non-participatory methods of investigation and look at temporal effects in longitudinal designs. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of taking into account personal traits when characterising the quality of urban soundscapes and complementing conventional assessments by decibel-related metrics. FundingEuropean Research Council Advanced Grant (no 740696) on Soundscape Indices.

Making cities smarter with new soundscape indices

The core objectives of smart city design are to increase quality of life, enhance efficiency, and move towards the sustainability of cities. While this will involve increased integration of new and smarter technologies into urban design, the implementation of these technologies as applied to acoustics should be made within a design approach which considers these core objectives. Soundscape strategies have a focus on people’s perception and experience, considering the many factors which influence their perception. A recognized demand in the field of soundscape is a new set of metrics that can reliably measure both the acoustic environment and its perception. The European Research Council acknowledged this need and recently funded the Advanced Grant project “Soundscape Indices” (SSID), which aims at providing more advanced tools, compared to conventional dB-based metrics, by taking into account psychological, (psycho)acoustical, neurophysiological, and contextual factors for soundscape assessment. The SSID project will: characterise soundscapes, by capturing acoustic environments and establishing a comprehensive database; identify key factors and their influence on soundscape quality based on the database, by conducting laboratory psychological evaluations, acoustical/psychoacoustic factors analysis; and research the neural and psychophysiological underpinnings of soundscape experience. It is expected that SSID will provide a vital tool in guiding the implementation of the technological infrastructure of smart cities.

Comparing soundscape assessment methods with natural-language expressions and a questionnaire survey: A case study in Seoul, Korea

A Swedish soundscape quality protocol was developed and has been used as a representative soundscape-quality assessment method around Europe. However, this protocol has limitations in Asian countries because the countries have distinctly different social and cultural backgrounds and form their own unique soundscapes. Consequently, this study examined the utility of a soundscape assessment survey for Koreans by comparing unconstrained natural-language expressions and existing protocol survey questions. To this end, soundscape data from a variety of places, e.g., parks, tourist attractions, and commercial areas in Seoul, Korea, were collected using 360-deg cameras and Soundfield microphones. In addition, a virtual-reality (VR) assessment environment was constructed using a head-mounted device (HMD) and 3-D audio technology under laboratory conditions, and the collected soundscapes were assessed. The participants were encouraged to freely and verbally express their thoughts about the sound environment of each place, and text data were obtained through voice-recognition technology. The protocol survey was conducted for the same subjects after the assessment. The results showed that it is necessary to develop a soundscape assessment standard that is appropriate for Koreans because differences from the existing European-style soundscape protocol were revealed in the assessment items, when an emotional analysis was conducted using text-mining technology.

The effects of spatial separations between water sound and traffic noise sources on soundscape assessment

Many studies have investigated the effects of water sound on soundscape with an assumption that target noise coincides with the masker (co-location), while no attention has been paid to spatial separations between target noise and water sound sources. This study aims to explore the effects of spatial separations between target noise and water sound on perceived loudness of target noise (PLN) and overall soundscape quality (OSQ) through laboratory experiments. Traffic noise (target) and a water sound (masker) were recorded as acoustic stimuli and a spherical panoramic video recording of a water fountain was also used as visual stimuli. The audio-visual stimuli were reproduced through a virtual reality head-mounted display and a multichannel ambisonic loudspeaker setup. The traffic noise and water sound were played simultaneously at various azimuthal separations and were combined with a panoramic recording of a water fountain as visual stimulus. Participants assessed the audio-visual stimuli in terms of PLN and OSQ. The effect of the spatial separation between the traffic noise and water sound was significant in both PLN and OSQ. Specifically, the PLN increase at 135° separation was equivalent to an estimated target noise level increment of ~1–2 dB. Similarly, the OSQ decrease at 135° and 180° separation was equivalent to an estimated target noise level increase of ~2–5 dB. Since the typical field of view of users in space is less than 135°, the results suggest that placing water features within a user's field of view could achieve better soundscape.

Representation of the soundscape quality in urban areas through colours

AbstractNoise mapping is a useful and widespread method to visualise various items like the exposure to noise pollution, statistics of affected population, different noise source contribution analysis, and it is also a useful tool in designing noise-control plans. Some researches have moved a step further, proposing maps to represent the people perception of the acoustic environment. Most of these maps use colours as mere tools to display the spatial variability of acoustic parameters. In this paper the colours associated by interviewed people to different urban soundscapes have been analysed, and the possibility of using meaningful colours to represent the soundscape quality in noise mapping has been examined. For this purpose, correspondence analysiswas applied on the data collected fromon-site interviews, performed in the water front of Naples and its surroundings. The outcomes show that in the pedestrian areas nearby the sea, the blue colour was often associated with the soundscape rating, whereas in the areas nearby the sea but open to road traffic the interviewees selected mainly the blue and grey colours. In the areas away from the sea, a wider selection of colours was observed: red and greywere predominantly selected in the areas open to road traffic and green, yellow and red in the green areas.

Soundscape in dementia care environment

Noise is an important sensory stimulus in any environment, especially in unfamiliar settings. Noise is impossible to ignore, and any disturbing noise or constant sound can be agitating, disturbing, and confusing for people who cannot escape the environment. People with dementia may already feel disoriented, isolated, and confined inside care facilities; uncontrolled sound can add to their anxiety and distress. Soundscape refers to the human perception of the auditory environment in context; it relies not only on the subjective quality of sound by quantifying the sound level but also the objective quality of the auditory environment based on people’s perception. The aim of this study is to describe the soundscape of the Specialized Dementia Unit at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, through data collection and observation, and to evaluate the quality of soundscape. Results show that the overall sound level (dB) of the unit is higher than recommendations, and also, the observation study shows that higher sound level not necessarily results in negative atmosphere, such as chaos or agitation. The findings prove a need for further study on the relation between the sound level and the perception of sound in dementia care units, which can foster improvement in quality of life for residents and staff.Noise is an important sensory stimulus in any environment, especially in unfamiliar settings. Noise is impossible to ignore, and any disturbing noise or constant sound can be agitating, disturbing, and confusing for people who cannot escape the environment. People with dementia may already feel disoriented, isolated, and confined inside care facilities; uncontrolled sound can add to their anxiety and distress. Soundscape refers to the human perception of the auditory environment in context; it relies not only on the subjective quality of sound by quantifying the sound level but also the objective quality of the auditory environment based on people’s perception. The aim of this study is to describe the soundscape of the Specialized Dementia Unit at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, through data collection and observation, and to evaluate the quality of soundscape. Results show that the overall sound level (dB) of the unit is higher than recommendations, and also, the observation study shows that higher...

Assessment of Soundscape Quality of Naghsh-e-Jahan Square in Isfahan

Assessment of Soundscape Quality of Naghsh-e-Jahan Square in Isfahan

Quality assessment of acoustic environment reproduction methods for cinematic virtual reality in soundscape applications

With the advent of virtual reality (VR) technology, spatial audio has been increasingly adopted to evaluate the acoustic environment in soundscape research. It is therefore imperative to assess the quality of commonly used spatial audio reproduction methods to determine their ecological validity. Through subjective evaluations with 30 participants, the same participant evaluated four outdoor in situ locations vis-à-vis its corresponding audio-visual recording in VR on a separate day. A total of three spatial audio reproduction methods were assessed in VR, and they were all down-mixed from the first-order ambisonics (FOA) recordings to headphone-based FOA-static binaural, FOA-tracked binaural; and FOA 2-dimensional (2D) octagonal speaker array. The participants evaluated the acoustic environment in terms of the overall soundscape quality and perceived spatial qualities at each location. Regarding overall soundscape quality, there were no significant differences in evaluating the sound-source dominance and affective soundscape qualities between in situ and all VR methods. However, significant differences were found in the perceived spatial qualities between three reproduction methods and in situ. Among the source-related spatial attributes, the perceived distance of the dominating sounds was farther in the virtual than in the in situ evaluations. In the localization of sound sources, both the FOA-tracked binaural and the FOA-2D speaker array exhibited higher spatial acoustic fidelity than FOA-static binaural. Regarding the environment-related spatial quality attributes, the 2D speaker array reproduction was perceived as more immersive and realistic than other reproduction methods. Overall, the FOA-tracked binaural appears to exhibit sufficient fidelity for cinematic VR evaluation of soundscapes.