Annoyance response to vehicle noise is commonly reported by many people in society. A need to improve the sound quality of vehicles is therefore apparent. The engine is one of the most predominant sources of vehicle noise causing annoyance. Judgments of annoyance due to engine noise were made by 160 subjects in five separate listening tests. An M-S "mid-side… stereo microphone was used to record engine sounds under idling and running conditions for listening Tests A-C, and E. For listening test D, two microphones were used to record engine sounds in stereo under idling conditions. All sound stimuli were presented to the subjects through a pair of loudspeakers in an anechoic room. One of the listening tests was conducted using a paired comparisons method and the other listening tests were conducted using a sequential rating method known as the method of successive intervals. A prediction model of annoyance response was developed by the use of principal component analysis and partial least-squares regression. In this case, all original annoyance scores for all five separate tests were transformed into a common annoyance scale. The prediction model was based on three psychoacoustic descriptors: loudness, sharpness, and harmonic ratio. The model was validated internally and also externally by three new sound stimuli. The prediction of annoyance for these three sounds was found to be consistent when judged by 20 additional subjects. The model gave good predictions of annoyance judgments for 6-cylinder in-line engine noise.

In the past, musical instruments were developed overlong periods of time by skilled craftsmen. Today,most instruments are mass-produced. Design of musical instruments as mass-produced products requires using strategies which makeiteasier to identify customer needs and develop exact specifications. To develop useful specifications it is necessary to convert general descriptions into something which can be commonly understood and also be interpretable in terms of acoustic metrics. In this study,m ethods for analysis and specification of steady state parts of alto saxophone sounds were developed. Saxophonists' use of verbal descriptions of saxophone sounds wasi nvestigated. Sound stimuli were binaurally recorded. Judgements upon perceivedq ualities were made by saxophonists and non-saxophonists using the method of verbal attribute magnitude estimation. Perceptual dimensions were identified using principal component analysis of listening test data. Three prominent dimensions were found and described using the verbal attributes: 1) warm/soft, 2) back vowel analogues and 3) sharp/rough. The perceptual dimensions were modelled as linear functions of acoustic metrics. The results were validated through listening tests with news ubjects and news timuli. Based on the findings, the method wass een as an approach which can enhance the musical instrument design process. PACS no. 43.66.Jh, 43.66.Lj, 43.75.Pq ACTA ACUSTICA UNITED WITH ACUSTICA Nykänen et al.:P erceptual dimensions of saxophone sounds Vol. 95 (2009)

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