Loudness of Pure Tones at Low and Infrasonic Frequencies

Abstract

Contours of equal loudness were determined in the frequency range 2–63 Hz and the loudness range 20–100 phon. The loudness curves run almost parallel in the infrasonic frequency range and much closer than in the audio region. Infrasound only a few dB above the hearing threshold will therefore seem loud and possibly annoying. The subjects were 20 normal hearing students aged between 18 and 25, and the psychometric method was based on maximum-likelihood estimation of psychometric functions.