Online listening tests on sound insulation of walls:A feasibility study

As part of the COST Action TU0901 WG 2 activities a listening test was made on the annoyance potential of airborne noise from neighbours heard through walls. 22 assessors from 11 countries rated six simulated walls with four types of neighbour noise online at the assessor’s premises using the ISO/TS 15666 annoyance scale. A simple “calibration” procedure based on adjusting a speech sample to natural level for approximate calibration was used. Dose-response curves for neighbour noise, i.e. the annoyance potential of neighbour noise heard on the receiving side of the walls as function of the A-weighted levels or the loudness levels was found with high correlations between levels and annoyance. For the combination of the selected walls and noise types a high correlation was also found between the annoyance potential of the neighbour noise and the R’w-values for the simulated walls.As part of the COST Action TU0901 WG 2 activities a listening test was made on the annoyance potential of airborne noise from neighbours heard through walls. 22 assessors from 11 countries rated six simulated walls with four types of neighbour noise online at the assessor’s premises using the ISO/TS 15666 annoyance scale. A simple “calibration” procedure based on adjusting a speech sample to natural level for approximate calibration was used. Dose-response curves for neighbour noise, i.e. the annoyance potential of neighbour noise heard on the receiving side of the walls as function of the A-weighted levels or the loudness levels was found with high correlations between levels and annoyance. For the combination of the selected walls and noise types a high correlation was also found between the annoyance potential of the neighbour noise and the R’w-values for the simulated walls.