Multidimensional characterisation of perceptual and preference judgements of vehicle and environmental noises

The economic and social stakes in the domain of sound quality require us to think seriously about th problem of subjectively qualifying the noises produced by the machines present in our daily environment. It is not simply a question of reducing the level of noise, but of decreasing annoyance without sacrificing the important acoustic information carried by the noise concerning the functioning of the vibrating object. Techniques for multidimensional analysis of perceptual aspects of sounds and their subjective evaluation in terms of preference or disagreableness are presented. This approach allows both an analysis of the acoustic parameters to which listeners are sensitive and their importance for the subjective judgment being tested.