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Abstract

A subjective experiment was conducted involving assessment of acoustical environments for solo performance by two different instruments, the cello and the xylophone. The sound fields were produced by digital convolution of binaural impulse responses with recorded “dry” music. A group of professional listeners and a group representing the general public were asked to evaluate simulated music via headphones. A forced-choice comparison was used. Participants picked their preferred sound field for each of 66 pairs of test signals. Multiple regression analyses yielded 3 orthogonal measures. They were early level (G₈₀), reverberation time (RT) or early decay time (EDT), and treble ratio of early level (T(G₈₀)) according to their respective significance of correlation with preference score. The minimum acceptable overall level (G) was 5.6 dB and the preferred reverberation time (RT) was 1.4 sec. Both groups of listeners preferred a 0.19-sec longer reverberation time for the cello music than for the xylophone music.

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Subjective Evaluation of Acoustical Environments for Solo Performance

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