title: Disentangling preference ratings of concert hall acoustics using subjective sensory profiles.
abstract: Subjective evaluation of acoustics was studied by recording nine concert halls with a simulated symphony orchestra on a seat 12 m from the orchestra. The recorded music was spatially reproduced for subjective listening tests and individual vocabulary profiling. In addition, the preferences of the assessors and objective parameters were gathered. The results show that concert halls were discriminated using perceptual characteristics, such as Envelopment/Loudness, Reverberance, Bassiness, Proximity, Definition, and Clarity. With these perceptual dimensions the preference ratings can be explained. Seventeen assessors were divided into two groups based on their preferences. The first group preferred concert halls with relatively intimate sound, in which it is quite easy to hear individual instruments and melody lines. In contrast, the second group preferred a louder and more reverberant sound with good envelopment and strong bass. Even though all halls were recorded exactly at the same distance, the preference is best explained with subjective Proximity and with Bassiness, Envelopment, and Loudness to some extent. Neither the preferences nor the subjective ratings could be fully explained by objective parameters (ISO3382-1:2009), although some correlations were found.
authors.affiliation: Department of Media Technology, Aalto University School of Science, P.O. Box 15500, FI-00076 AALTO, Finland. tapio.lokki@aalto.fi
authors.forename: Tapio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lokki
authors.forename: Jukka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pätynen
authors.forename: Antti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuusinen
authors.forename: Sakari
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tervo
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000162:Acoustics / Q000295:instrumentation; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001307:Auditory Perception; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005160:Facility Design and Construction / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008144:Loudness Perception; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009038:Motion; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009146:Music; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013016:Sound; D013017:Sound Localization; D014160:Transducers, Pressure; D014732:Vibration; D055815:Young Adult