Perception Modeling and Quantification of Sound Quality in Cabin

Sensory evaluation tests are conducted on locals in the US, Germany and Japan, and perceptions of vehicle interior sounds are analyzed. The results of statistical analysis indicate that perceptions are classified into two major categories: Luxury and Sporty, and that even people with different preferences have the same perception of luxury and sporty. Japanese having the highest percentage preferring sporty acceleration sound followed by American and German subjects. A sound quality evaluation application is developed for computing objective values for luxury and sporty sounds.

This sound quality evaluation system calculates psychoacoustic metrics. The psychoacoustic metrics are computed by processing sound recorded with an artificial head-microphone system, and the processing includes a computational method for modeling the major auditory characteristics of human hearing. The calculated values are elements to represent luxury and sporty. These psychoacoustic metrics incorporate a few original computational methods such as a method which expresses the intensity of sound fluctuations. These new methods enable the system to evaluate sound pressure level, sensational quantity, and comprehensive attribute step by step.