Auditory Adaptation to Loudspeakers and Listening Room Acoustics

Timbrai qualities of loudspeakers and rooms are often compared in listening tests involving short listening periods. Outside the laboratory, listening occurs over a longer time course. In a study by Olive et al. (1995) smaller timbrai differences between loudspeakers and between rooms were reported when comparisons were made over longer versus shorter time periods. This is a form of timbrai adaptation, a decrease in sensitivity to timbre over time. The current study confirms this adaptation and establishes that it is not due to response bias but may be due to timbrai memory, specific mechanisms compensating for transmission channel acoustics, or attentional factors. Modifications to listening tests may be required where tests need to be representative of listening outside of the laboratory.