Sociologists have yet to theorize interactions with sonic materiality. In this article I introduce an analytical concept for the observation of interactions with sound. Sound has material effects in all situations. But the audibility of sonic objects is a relation of situated actors to material arrangements. Sonic object settings are dynamic material arrangements in which sonic qualities emerge for interpretation. The concept synthesizes research on sonic materiality, audibility, and interaction. After outlining the concept, I present an empirical illustration from an audio firm’s R&D laboratory arranged to support a new technology called object-based audio. I observed engineers conducting two concurrent but contrasting experiments; results indicate how settings both enable and constrain the interpretation of sound.
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