A Criterion for Predicting the Annoyance Due to Lower Level Low Frequency Noise

Abstract

In a study of the annoyance due to low frequency noise, 75 subjects (consisting of 21 complainants and 54 controls) carried out a magnitude estimation task and rated the annoyance due to lower-level low frequency noise (55dB–75dB). After allowing for a threshold effect, it was found that the E-weighted sound pressure level was, in general, the best predictor of lower-level low frequency noise annoyance. However, it was not a significantly better predictor than any of the other nine noise measures considered. The widely available dB(A) noise measure was therefore suggested as a useful predictor of group annoyance due to lower-level low frequency noise.