Principles of Hearing Aid Audiology, 3Rd Edition
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NOISE-CON 2004 the Impact of A-Weighting Sound Pressure Level
Baltimore, Maryland NOISE-CON 2004 2004 July 12-14 The Impact of A-weighting Sound Pressure Level Measurements during the Evaluation of Noise Exposure Richard L. St. Pierre, Jr. RSP Acoustics Westminster, CO 80021 Daniel J. Maguire Cooper Standard Automotive Auburn, IN 46701 ABSTRACT Over the past 50 years, the A-weighted sound pressure level (dBA) has become the predominant measurement used in noise analysis. This is in spite of the fact that many studies have shown that the use of the A-weighting curve underestimates the role low frequency noise plays in loudness, annoyance, and speech intelligibility. The intentional de-emphasizing of low frequency noise content by A-weighting in studies can also lead to a misjudgment of the exposure risk of some physical and psychological effects that have been associated with low frequency noise. As a result of this reliance on dBA measurements, there is a lack of importance placed on minimizing low frequency noise. A review of the history of weighting curves as well as research into the problems associated with dBA measurements will be presented. Also, research relating to the effects of low frequency noise, including increased fatigue, reduced memory efficiency and increased risk of high blood pressure and heart ailments, will be analyzed. The result will show a need to develop and utilize other measures of sound that more accurately represent the potential risk to humans. 1. INTRODUCTION Since the 1930’s, there have been large advances in the ability to measure sound and understand its effects on humans. Despite this, a vast majority of acoustical measurements done today still use the methods originally developed 70 years ago. -
White Paper: Acoustics Primer for Music Spaces
WHITE PAPER: ACOUSTICS PRIMER FOR MUSIC SPACES ACOUSTICS PRIMER Music is learned by listening. To be effective, rehearsal rooms, practice rooms and performance areas must provide an environment designed to support musical sound. It’s no surprise then that the most common questions we hear and the most frustrating problems we see have to do with acoustics. That’s why we’ve put this Acoustics Primer together. In simple terms we explain the fundamental acoustical concepts that affect music areas. Our hope is that music educators, musicians, school administrators and even architects and planners can use this information to better understand what they are, and are not, hearing in their music spaces. And, by better understanding the many variables that impact acoustical environ- ments, we believe we can help you with accurate diagnosis and ultimately, better solutions. For our purposes here, it is not our intention to provide an exhaustive, technical resource on the physics of sound and acoustical construction methods — that has already been done and many of the best works are listed in our bibliography and recommended readings on page 10. Rather, we want to help you establish a base-line knowledge of acoustical concepts that affect music education and performance spaces. This publication contains information reviewed by Professor M. David Egan. Egan is a consultant in acoustics and Professor Emeritus at the College of Architecture, Clemson University. He has been principal consultant of Egan Acoustics in Anderson, South Carolina for more than 35 years. A graduate of Lafayette College (B.S.) and MIT (M.S.), Professor Eagan also has taught at Tulane University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Washington University. -
Physics of Music PHY103 Lab Manual
Physics of Music PHY103 Lab Manual Lab #6 – Room Acoustics EQUIPMENT • Tape measures • Noise making devices (pieces of wood for clappers). • Microphones, stands, preamps connected to computers. • Extra XLR microphone cables so the microphones can reach the padded closet and hallway. • Key to the infamous padded closet INTRODUCTION One important application of the study of sound is in the area of acoustics. The acoustic properties of a room are important for rooms such as lecture halls, auditoriums, libraries and theatres. In this lab we will record and measure the properties of impulsive sounds in different rooms. There are three rooms we can easily study near the lab: the lab itself, the “anechoic” chamber (i.e. padded closet across the hall, B+L417C, that isn’t anechoic) and the hallway (that has noticeable echoes). Anechoic means no echoes. An anechoic chamber is a room built specifically with walls that absorb sound. Such a room should be considerably quieter than a normal room. Step into the padded closet and snap your fingers and speak a few words. The sound should be muffled. For those of us living in Rochester this will not be a new sensation as freshly fallen snow absorbs sound well. If you close your eyes you could almost imagine that you are outside in the snow (except for the warmth, and bizarre smell in there). The reverberant sound in an auditorium dies away with time as the sound energy is absorbed by multiple interactions with the surfaces of the room. In a more reflective room, it will take longer for the sound to die away and the room is said to be 'live'. -
Acoustic Textiles - the Case of Wall Panels for Home Environment
Acoustic Textiles - The case of wall panels for home environment Bachelor Thesis Work Bachelor of Science in Engineering in Textile Technology Spring 2013 The Swedish school of Textiles, Borås, Sweden Report number: 2013.2.4 Written by: Louise Wintzell, Ti10, [email protected] Abstract Noise has become an increasing public health problem and has become serious environment pollution in our daily life. This indicates that it is in time to control and reduce noise from traffic and installations in homes and houses. Today a plethora of products are available for business, but none for the private market. The project describes a start up of development of a sound absorbing wall panel for the private market. It will examine whether it is possible to make a wall panel that can lower the sound pressure level with 3 dB, or reach 0.3 s in reverberation time, in a normally furnished bedroom and still follow the demands of price and environmental awareness. To start the project a limitation was made to use the textiles available per meter within the range of IKEA. The test were made according to applicable standards and calculation of reverberation time and sound pressure level using Sabine’s formula and a formula for sound pressure equals sound effect. During the project, tests were made whether it was possible to achieve a sound classification C on a A-E grade scale according to ISO 11654, where A is the best, with only textiles or if a classic sound absorbing mineral wool had to be used. To reach a sound classification C, a weighted sound absorption coefficient (αw) of 0.6 as a minimum must be reached. -
Making It Sound As Good As It Tastes: Noise Reverberation Reduction in a Micro Distillery Tasting Room Andrew Sheehy Montana Tech of the University of Montana
Montana Tech Library Digital Commons @ Montana Tech Graduate Theses & Non-Theses Student Scholarship Spring 2016 Making it Sound as Good as it Tastes: Noise Reverberation Reduction in a Micro Distillery Tasting Room Andrew Sheehy Montana Tech of the University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.mtech.edu/grad_rsch Part of the Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene Commons Recommended Citation Sheehy, Andrew, "Making it Sound as Good as it Tastes: Noise Reverberation Reduction in a Micro Distillery Tasting Room" (2016). Graduate Theses & Non-Theses. 89. http://digitalcommons.mtech.edu/grad_rsch/89 This Publishable Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at Digital Commons @ Montana Tech. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses & Non-Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Montana Tech. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 Making it Sound as Good as it Tastes: Noise Reverberation Reduction in a Micro Distillery Tasting Room Andrew John Sheehy, Dan Autenrieth, Julie Hart, and Scott Risser Montana Tech Publishable Paper submitted to Artisan Spirit Magazine 2 Abstract Noise reverberation in micro distillery tasting rooms can interfere with speech communication and negatively impact the acoustic quality of live music. Noise reverberation was characterized in a tasting room in Butte, MT by calculated and quantified methods. Sound absorbing baffles were then installed in an effort to reduce reverberation and improve room acoustics. The overall reverberation time and speech interference level were decreased by measureable amounts that corresponded with an increase in overall absorption in the space. Reverberation time decreased from 0.85 seconds to 0.49 seconds on average. -
Decibels, Phons, and Sones
Decibels, Phons, and Sones The rate at which sound energy reaches a Table 1: deciBel Ratings of Several Sounds given cross-sectional area is known as the Sound Source Intensity deciBel sound intensity. There is an abnormally Weakest Sound Heard 1 x 10-12 W/m2 0.0 large range of intensities over which Rustling Leaves 1 x 10-11 W/m2 10.0 humans can hear. Given the large range, it Quiet Library 1 x 10-9 W/m2 30.0 is common to express the sound intensity Average Home 1 x 10-7 W/m2 50.0 using a logarithmic scale known as the Normal Conversation 1 x 10-6 W/m2 60.0 decibel scale. By measuring the intensity -4 2 level of a given sound with a meter, the Phone Dial Tone 1 x 10 W/m 80.0 -3 2 deciBel rating can be determined. Truck Traffic 1 x 10 W/m 90.0 Intensity values and decibel ratings for Chainsaw, 1 m away 1 x 10-1 W/m2 110.0 several sound sources listed in Table 1. The decibel scale and the intensity values it is based on is an objective measure of a sound. While intensities and deciBels (dB) are measurable, the loudness of a sound is subjective. Sound loudness varies from person to person. Furthermore, sounds with equal intensities but different frequencies are perceived by the same person to have unequal loudness. For instance, a 60 dB sound with a frequency of 1000 Hz sounds louder than a 60 dB sound with a frequency of 500 Hz. -
Reverb 101: Room Reverberation and Better Listening Experiences
Reverb 101: Room Reverberation and Better Listening Experiences A great listening experience involves more than just high-quality audio equipment—the way sound moves around the room matters just as much. You don’t have to be an expert acoustician to create an impressive listening environment —just an understanding of some basic acoustic concepts will get you well on your way. The Basics of Reverberation Reverberation (or reverb) is important to think about when planning the acoustical treatments for your room. To define reverb, we first need to understand how sound travels from the source to your ear. When sound is emitted, sound waves take off in every direction. Some waves will travel the straight path from the source to your ear, and the rest will bounce around the room, ricocheting off of hard surfaces until they reach your ear or lose steam and die out. You hear the unadulterated direct sound first—then you start hearing indirect sounds as they arrive. Given that sound travels roughly 770 miles per hour, this happens very fast, and your brain interprets all the copies of sound together as one. The ratio of direct and indirect sounds determines the sound quality. That is where reverberation comes in. Reverberation is the collection of indirect sounds in an enclosed space. The more sound copies that pile up, the muddier the sound becomes. How Does Reverberation Affect the Listening Experience? When direct sound and reverberation combine in a favorable ratio, the sound is rich and full. The effect can bring music to life and even smooth out transitions between musical notes, creating a pleasant, desirable sound. -
Web-Based Psychoacoustics: Hearing Screening, Infrastructure, And
bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.10.443520; this version posted May 11, 2021. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. Web-based Psychoacoustics: Hearing Screening, Infrastructure, and Validation Brittany A. Moka, Vibha Viswanathanb, Agudemu Borjiginb, Ravinderjit Singhb, Homeira Kafib, and ∗Hari M. Bharadwaja,b aDepartment of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States bWeldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States Abstract Anonymous web-based experiments are increasingly and successfully used in many domains of behavioral research. However, online studies of auditory perception, especially of psychoacoustic phe- nomena pertaining to low-level sensory processing, are challenging because of limited available control of the acoustics, and the unknown hearing status of participants. Here, we outline our approach to mitigate these challenges and validate our procedures by comparing web-based measurements to lab- based data on a range of classic psychoacoustic tasks. Individual tasks were created using jsPsych, an open-source javascript front-end library. Dynamic sequences of psychoacoustic tasks were imple- mented using Django, an open-source library for web applications, and combined with consent pages, questionnaires, and debriefing pages. Subjects were recruited via Prolific, a web-based human-subject marketplace. Guided by a meta-analysis of normative data, we developed and validated a screening pro- cedure to select participants for (putative) normal-hearing status; this procedure combined thresholding of scores in a suprathreshold cocktail-party task with filtering based on survey responses. -
Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI)
Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI) m kg s cd SI mol K A NIST Special Publication 811 2008 Edition Ambler Thompson and Barry N. Taylor NIST Special Publication 811 2008 Edition Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI) Ambler Thompson Technology Services and Barry N. Taylor Physics Laboratory National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, MD 20899 (Supersedes NIST Special Publication 811, 1995 Edition, April 1995) March 2008 U.S. Department of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez, Secretary National Institute of Standards and Technology James M. Turner, Acting Director National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 811, 2008 Edition (Supersedes NIST Special Publication 811, April 1995 Edition) Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. Spec. Publ. 811, 2008 Ed., 85 pages (March 2008; 2nd printing November 2008) CODEN: NSPUE3 Note on 2nd printing: This 2nd printing dated November 2008 of NIST SP811 corrects a number of minor typographical errors present in the 1st printing dated March 2008. Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI) Preface The International System of Units, universally abbreviated SI (from the French Le Système International d’Unités), is the modern metric system of measurement. Long the dominant measurement system used in science, the SI is becoming the dominant measurement system used in international commerce. The Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of August 1988 [Public Law (PL) 100-418] changed the name of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and gave to NIST the added task of helping U.S. -
Musical Elements in the Discrete-Time Representation of Sound
0 Musical elements in the discrete-time representation of sound RENATO FABBRI, University of Sao˜ Paulo VILSON VIEIRA DA SILVA JUNIOR, Cod.ai ANTONIOˆ CARLOS SILVANO PESSOTTI, Universidade Metodista de Piracicaba DEBORA´ CRISTINA CORREA,ˆ University of Western Australia OSVALDO N. OLIVEIRA JR., University of Sao˜ Paulo e representation of basic elements of music in terms of discrete audio signals is oen used in soware for musical creation and design. Nevertheless, there is no unied approach that relates these elements to the discrete samples of digitized sound. In this article, each musical element is related by equations and algorithms to the discrete-time samples of sounds, and each of these relations are implemented in scripts within a soware toolbox, referred to as MASS (Music and Audio in Sample Sequences). e fundamental element, the musical note with duration, volume, pitch and timbre, is related quantitatively to characteristics of the digital signal. Internal variations of a note, such as tremolos, vibratos and spectral uctuations, are also considered, which enables the synthesis of notes inspired by real instruments and new sonorities. With this representation of notes, resources are provided for the generation of higher scale musical structures, such as rhythmic meter, pitch intervals and cycles. is framework enables precise and trustful scientic experiments, data sonication and is useful for education and art. e ecacy of MASS is conrmed by the synthesis of small musical pieces using basic notes, elaborated notes and notes in music, which reects the organization of the toolbox and thus of this article. It is possible to synthesize whole albums through collage of the scripts and seings specied by the user. -
The Human Ear Hearing, Sound Intensity and Loudness Levels
UIUC Physics 406 Acoustical Physics of Music The Human Ear Hearing, Sound Intensity and Loudness Levels We’ve been discussing the generation of sounds, so now we’ll discuss the perception of sounds. Human Senses: The astounding ~ 4 billion year evolution of living organisms on this planet, from the earliest single-cell life form(s) to the present day, with our current abilities to hear / see / smell / taste / feel / etc. – all are the result of the evolutionary forces of nature associated with “survival of the fittest” – i.e. it is evolutionarily{very} beneficial for us to be able to hear/perceive the natural sounds that do exist in the environment – it helps us to locate/find food/keep from becoming food, etc., just as vision/sight enables us to perceive objects in our 3-D environment, the ability to move /locomote through the environment enhances our ability to find food/keep from becoming food; Our sense of balance, via a stereo-pair (!) of semi-circular canals (= inertial guidance system!) helps us respond to 3-D inertial forces (e.g. gravity) and maintain our balance/avoid injury, etc. Our sense of taste & smell warn us of things that are bad to eat and/or breathe… Human Perception of Sound: * The human ear responds to disturbances/temporal variations in pressure. Amazingly sensitive! It has more than 6 orders of magnitude in dynamic range of pressure sensitivity (12 orders of magnitude in sound intensity, I p2) and 3 orders of magnitude in frequency (20 Hz – 20 KHz)! * Existence of 2 ears (stereo!) greatly enhances 3-D localization of sounds, and also the determination of pitch (i.e. -
The Decibel Scale
Projectile motion - 1 VCE Physics.com The decibel scale • Sound intensity • Sound level: The decibel scale • Sound level calculations • Some decibel measurements • Change in intensity • Human hearing • The Phon scale The decibel scale - 2 VCE Physics.com Sound intensity • The intensity of sound decreases with the square of the distance from the source. power P 2 Sound intensity = I = (unit =W /m ) A area 2 I r P 2 = 1 I = 2 4πr I1 r2 The decibel scale - 3 VCE Physics.com Sound intensity • eg a sound source emitting a power of 1 mW, when heard at a distance of 1 vs 2 m P 1×10−3W I = = = 8×10−5W /m2 A 4π 1m 2 ( ) P 1×10−3W I = = =2×10−5W /m2 A 4π (2m)2 The decibel scale - 4 VCE Physics.com Sound level: The decibel scale • The decibel scale is a relative scale, based upon the threshold of -12 2 hearing I0 = 10 W/m . • It is a logarithmic scale, an increase of 10 corresponds to 10 times the intensity. • 20dB = 102 times, 30dB = 103 times the intensity. I L =10log I 0 L −12 10 2 I =10 W /m I L =10log −12 10 The decibel scale - 5 VCE Physics.com Sound level calculations • eg A sound has the intensity of 10-4 W/m2. This is a sound level of I 10−4 L =10log =10log =10log108 = 80dB I 10−12 0 eg The intensity of a 45 dB sound is L 45 −12 −12 10 10 −7.5 −8 2 I =10 =10 =10 =3.2×10 W /m What is the intensity of 120 dB? L 120 −12 −12 I =1010 =10 10 =100 =1W /m2 The decibel scale - 6 VCE Physics.com Some decibel measurements Source Intensity (W/m2) Sound level (dB) Threshold of hearing 10-12 0 dB Soft whisper 10-10 20 dB Quiet conversation 10-8 40 dB Loud conversation 10-6 60 dB Highway traffic 10-4 80 dB Tractor engine 10-2 100 dB Threshold of pain (Rock concert) 10-0 (1) 120 dB Jet engine (less than 50 m away) 102 (100) 140 dB Rocket launch (less than 500 m away) 104 (10,000) 160 dB + • Damage to hearing is due to both the sound level & exposure time.