An investigation of twenty-one cases of low-frequency noise complaints

Twenty-one cases of low-frequency noise complaints were thoroughly investigated with the aim of answering the question whether it is real physical sound or low-frequency tinnitus that causes the annoyance. Noise recordings were made in the homes of the complainants taking the spatial variation of the sound field into account. The complainants were exposed to the recordings in blind test listening experiments in order to investigate if they could hear the sound recorded in their own home and if it was the annoying sound. Furthermore, the low-frequency hearing function of each complainant was investigated and characteristics of the annoying sound was matched. The final data analysis is in progress at the time of abstract submission and the results will be presented in the paper and at the conference.