André Fiebig - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by André Fiebig

… on Acoustics, ICA …, 2010

A short term scientific mission initiated through Cost TD0804 was carried out for evaluation, mea... more A short term scientific mission initiated through Cost TD0804 was carried out for evaluation, measurement and analysis of soundscapes. Several young researchers were introduced in binaural measurement technology, enhanced sound analysis, evaluation techniques, procedures and had the opportunity to perform field and laboratory tests. For the course measurement technology and workstations were available and a team of experienced researchers trained and supported the young researchers. In collaboration with qualified soundscape researchers short case studies including measurement, analysis, evaluation, and classification of defined environmental areas was carried out. The teaching was based on educational modules of the different research steps. This education concept will be presented and discussed based on experiences of both the teachers and the young scientists. Acknowledgements: COST TD 0804: Soundscape of European Cities and Landscapes.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2014

ABSTRACT In the context of the ISO/TC 43/SC 1/WG 54, different aspects of soundscape will be subj... more ABSTRACT In the context of the ISO/TC 43/SC 1/WG 54, different aspects of soundscape will be subject to standardization. Besides a standardized soundscape definition, understanding and terminology, minimum reporting requirements for measuring soundscapes including measurement uncertainties are currently discussed and will be subject to standardization later. All in all, a wide range of measurement procedures is applied for measuring, describing, documenting, and analyzing soundscapes. However, several aspects of and conditions for measurements are still unclear, which limits the comparability and compatibility of soundscape investigations. It is evident that a common basis of measurement procedures is needed to bring forward current standardization efforts. Consequently, it is very important to share experiences and knowledge about measurement procedures and their general applicability in soundscape context. A thorough discussion about the data quality achieved by certain measurement procedures is inevitable as well. Observations and experiences made in different soundscape studies regarding different measurement procedures will be presented and discussed with respect to their significance and applicability.

ATZ worldwide eMagazine, 2011

Acta Acustica united with Acustica

Summary In a case study the soundscape of an urban area was investigated in order to show the adv... more Summary In a case study the soundscape of an urban area was investigated in order to show the advantages of a soundscape approach for environmental noise research. The carrying out of the detailed study was motivated by complaints, sleep disturbances and impediments ...

Acta Acustica united with Acustica

The increase of complaints about environmental noise shows the unchanged necessity of researching... more The increase of complaints about environmental noise shows the unchanged necessity of researching this subject. By only relying on sound pressure levels averaged over long time periods and by suppressing all aspects of quality, the specific acoustic properties of environmental noise situations cannot be identified. Because annoyance caused by environmental noise has a broader linkage with various acoustical properties such as frequency spectrum, duration, impulsive, tonal and low-frequency components, etc. than only with SPL [1]. In many cases these acoustical properties affect the quality of life. The human cognitive signal processing pays attention to further factors than only to the averaged intensity of the acoustical stimulus. Therefore, it appears inevitable to use further hearing-related parameters to improve the description and evaluation of environmental noise. A first step regarding the adequate description of environmental noise would be the extended application of existing measurement tools, as for example level meter with variable integration time and third octave analyzer, which offer valuable clues to disturbing patterns. Moreover, the use of psychoacoustics will allow the improved capturing of soundscape qualities.

Today, vehicle interior noise is an important customer satisfaction criterion. Acoustical enginee... more Today, vehicle interior noise is an important customer satisfaction criterion. Acoustical engineers need to identify and eliminate disturbing noise components to maintain a competitive advantage. In fact, vehicle sound must be deliberately designed. This means that, to create driving satisfaction, certain noise aspects have to be emphasized and others reduced. Vehicle engineering needs to be extended to design-engineering and the exploration of preferred sounds. Furthermore, simulation of new engine sounds or even the sound of the entire vehicle at early stages in the development phase has become increasingly important. For example, different engine mounts can be virtually built in and their effects on interior sound can be examined without expensive iteration loops using physical prototypes. This article presents new tools for sound design and target sound development. In particluar, we introduce a new subject-centered method -Explorative Vehicle Evaluation (EVE), for determining target sounds.

Evaluating sound quality leads to difficulties. Conventional tests neglect the context-sensitivit... more Evaluating sound quality leads to difficulties. Conventional tests neglect the context-sensitivity of human perception evaluation; they only reflect artificial realities which do not correspond with perceptual authenticity. Since the subjective evaluation is influenced by different modifiers, it is necessary to extend methods in order to be able to survey and represent various objective variables as well as subjective variables sufficiently. It is known that experiments in laboratories only constitute artificial realities and disregard important parameters like context, relevance or external validity. The test design lacks the consideration of the usual interaction between the self-stimulated sound and the driver as well as the context, in which the driver experiences and evaluates the perceived sound. A 3D Sound Simulation System (H3S) has been developed for the realistic reproduction of airborne sound in driving simulators. Mobile H3S is capable of simulating a vehicle soundscape -consisting of engine sound, tire and wind noise -according to a real driving situation. A vehicle equipped with this interactive technique can be driven regularly on the road while the acoustic impression for the driver originates from a different or modified vehicle. The soundscape adapts online to changes in speed, engine rpm and load caused by the vehicle controls.

Background: Railway noise is considered to exhibit less severe effects on health. However, railwa... more Background: Railway noise is considered to exhibit less severe effects on health. However, railway noise exposure has changed substantially near the main corridors (frequency of occurrence, number of nightly freight trains). In sensitive areas standard noise analyses and indicators may give misleading results. Methods: A series of classical and binaural sound measurements were carried out in an alpine valley with complex topography and sensitive land use. Railway noise is the dominant source. Various acoustic and psychoacoustic analyses were applied across the valley towards the opposite slopes and compared with classical assessments. Results: Freight trains are about 7 dBA louder than passenger trains. Noise propagation towards the slopes is largely underestimated beyond 500m by classical means. Even at distances greater than 1000 m the peak noise exposure from the freight trains stands out 20 to 30 dBA during night. The noise is broadband (25 Hz to 2 kHz) contains strong low frequency components and some impulsive noise. The psychoacoustic loudness analysis results in an even stronger picture of the signal to noise ratio. Conclusion: In complex acoustic situations classical analyses can lead to a severe underestimation of the annoying and awakening potential of railway noise. The application of a rail bonus is inappropriate under these conditions.

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering, 2010

ABSTRACT Noise vibration harshness (NVH) issues are still a very important topic in the automotiv... more ABSTRACT Noise vibration harshness (NVH) issues are still a very important topic in the automotive industry, where the avoidance of disturbing noises and the creation of highest acoustical comfort and perceived NVH-quality are important targets. In this context, it is becoming more widely understood that sound and vibration must not only be considered as disturbing elements regarding NVH-comfort. They can be used to develop an acoustic and vibration environment, which positively influences customer satisfaction. The creation of sounds (and vibrations), which give the impression of high product quality, helps manufacturers to stand out against their competitors and to meet increasing requirements. The research of sound and vibration is difficult and numerous methods, theories, and simulations have been developed to obtain a deeper understanding of multi-sensory perception. The present paper reviews current sound and vibration studies and introduces established as well as novel concepts and theories. Moreover, the meaning of driving simulators for sound and vibration studies will be discussed. Finally, experimental results will be shown to underline the complexity and future challenges in the scope of automotive applications regarding multi-sensory perception. Overall, it was found that evaluations differ depending on context and test situation; even the presented stimuli are almost identical. Such effects have to be considered with respect to the selection of the test method and test surrounding as well as concerning the interpretation of test results.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2007

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2008

ABSTRACT

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2008

ABSTRACT

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2010

ABSTRACT

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2012

ABSTRACT In order to understand the perception and evaluation of soundscapes, it appears mandator... more ABSTRACT In order to understand the perception and evaluation of soundscapes, it appears mandatory to concentrate not only on constellations of sources and their contributions to the acoustic environment, but also to consider attention processes towards sound sources. It is widely known that a listener can easily focus on a certain source and can suppress the noise of other sources, which is called cocktail-party effect. It is assumed that this effect greatly influences the general appreciation of the whole soundscape. However, the process, why people focus on certain sound sources and how this influences the overall evaluation, has to be explored. A detailed knowledge about the (often subconscious) focussing on sources in multi-source soundscapes would be very helpful for design purposes, to attract deliberately attention to certain sound sources leading to positive feelings for the majority of soundscape visitors. Laboratory results dealing with the effect of source attention and its impact on soundscape evaluation were already published. In these surveys it was found that the processes, in which way the global impression changes due to the attention attraction to certain sources, seem to be complex. The paper will focus now on in-situ assessments and will show new results gained in field experiments.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2005

Whenever the acoustical design of vehicles is explored, the crucial question about the appropriat... more Whenever the acoustical design of vehicles is explored, the crucial question about the appropriate method of evaluation arises. Research shows that not only acoustic but also non-acoustic parameters have a major influence on the way sounds are evaluated. Therefore, new methods of evaluation have to be implemented. Methods are needed which give the opportunity to test the quality of the given ambience and to register the effects and evaluations in their functional interdependence as well as the influence of personal and contextual factors. Moreover, new methods have to give insight into processes of evaluation and their contextual parameters. In other words, the task of evaluating acoustical ambiences consists of designating a set of social, psychological, and cultural conditions which are important to determine particular individual and collective behavior, attitudes, and also emotions relative to the given ambience. However, no specific recommendations exist yet which comprise particular descriptions of how to assess those specific sound effects. That is why there is a need to develop alternative methods of evaluation with whose help effects of acoustical ambiences can be better predicted. A method of evaluation will be presented which incorporates a new sensitive approach for the evaluation of vehicle sounds.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2005

Noise is defined as an audible sound which either disturbs the silence or an intentional sound li... more Noise is defined as an audible sound which either disturbs the silence or an intentional sound listening or leads to annoyance. Thus, it is clearly defined that an assignment of noise can not be reduced to simple determining objective parameters like the A-weighted SPL. The question whether a sound is judged as noise can only be made after the transformation from the sound event into an hearing event has been accomplished. The evaluation of noise depends on the physical characteristics of the sound event, on the psychoacoustical features of the human ear as well as on the psychological aspects of men. The subjectively felt noise quality does not only depend on the A-weighted sound pressure level, but also on other psychoacoustical parameters such as loudness, roughness, sharpness, etc. The known methods for the prediction of the spatial A-weighted SPL distribution in dependence on the propagation are not suitable to predict psychoacoustic parameters in an adequate way. Especially the roughness provoked by modulation or the sharpness generated by an accumulation of high frequent sound energy cannot offhanded be predicted distance-dependent.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2013

ABSTRACT Before the start of COST Action TD0804 (network on soundscape of European cities and lan... more ABSTRACT Before the start of COST Action TD0804 (network on soundscape of European cities and landscapes) in 2009, the Working Group 54 of ISO/TC 43/SC 1 was established to start consideration of a standardized protocol for assessment of soundscape. The progress is slow since many different protocols are available, which make it difficult to define a harmonized protocol reflecting diverse requirements. No protocol covers all needs, which is characteristic in research dealing with quality of life, where space, social and built environment and culture are often very different. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of open-mindedness to use new soundscape techniques, e.g., in noise action plans and for the protection of quiet areas. The situation differs, however, broadly from country to country. The Working Group 54 of ISO/TC 43/SC 1 works on reaching consensus to provide the necessary stimulus for further worldwide progress. Currently, the ISO WG 54 is working on measurement procedures and techniques that will trigger the procedures in soundscape research. Psychoacoustics and explorative interviews play a major role, and the triangulation of the respective data is offering consolidated findings. This paper will present related techniques and will discuss their advantages.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2005

ABSTRACT

… on Acoustics, ICA …, 2010

A short term scientific mission initiated through Cost TD0804 was carried out for evaluation, mea... more A short term scientific mission initiated through Cost TD0804 was carried out for evaluation, measurement and analysis of soundscapes. Several young researchers were introduced in binaural measurement technology, enhanced sound analysis, evaluation techniques, procedures and had the opportunity to perform field and laboratory tests. For the course measurement technology and workstations were available and a team of experienced researchers trained and supported the young researchers. In collaboration with qualified soundscape researchers short case studies including measurement, analysis, evaluation, and classification of defined environmental areas was carried out. The teaching was based on educational modules of the different research steps. This education concept will be presented and discussed based on experiences of both the teachers and the young scientists. Acknowledgements: COST TD 0804: Soundscape of European Cities and Landscapes.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2014

ABSTRACT In the context of the ISO/TC 43/SC 1/WG 54, different aspects of soundscape will be subj... more ABSTRACT In the context of the ISO/TC 43/SC 1/WG 54, different aspects of soundscape will be subject to standardization. Besides a standardized soundscape definition, understanding and terminology, minimum reporting requirements for measuring soundscapes including measurement uncertainties are currently discussed and will be subject to standardization later. All in all, a wide range of measurement procedures is applied for measuring, describing, documenting, and analyzing soundscapes. However, several aspects of and conditions for measurements are still unclear, which limits the comparability and compatibility of soundscape investigations. It is evident that a common basis of measurement procedures is needed to bring forward current standardization efforts. Consequently, it is very important to share experiences and knowledge about measurement procedures and their general applicability in soundscape context. A thorough discussion about the data quality achieved by certain measurement procedures is inevitable as well. Observations and experiences made in different soundscape studies regarding different measurement procedures will be presented and discussed with respect to their significance and applicability.

ATZ worldwide eMagazine, 2011

Acta Acustica united with Acustica

Summary In a case study the soundscape of an urban area was investigated in order to show the adv... more Summary In a case study the soundscape of an urban area was investigated in order to show the advantages of a soundscape approach for environmental noise research. The carrying out of the detailed study was motivated by complaints, sleep disturbances and impediments ...

Acta Acustica united with Acustica

The increase of complaints about environmental noise shows the unchanged necessity of researching... more The increase of complaints about environmental noise shows the unchanged necessity of researching this subject. By only relying on sound pressure levels averaged over long time periods and by suppressing all aspects of quality, the specific acoustic properties of environmental noise situations cannot be identified. Because annoyance caused by environmental noise has a broader linkage with various acoustical properties such as frequency spectrum, duration, impulsive, tonal and low-frequency components, etc. than only with SPL [1]. In many cases these acoustical properties affect the quality of life. The human cognitive signal processing pays attention to further factors than only to the averaged intensity of the acoustical stimulus. Therefore, it appears inevitable to use further hearing-related parameters to improve the description and evaluation of environmental noise. A first step regarding the adequate description of environmental noise would be the extended application of existing measurement tools, as for example level meter with variable integration time and third octave analyzer, which offer valuable clues to disturbing patterns. Moreover, the use of psychoacoustics will allow the improved capturing of soundscape qualities.

Today, vehicle interior noise is an important customer satisfaction criterion. Acoustical enginee... more Today, vehicle interior noise is an important customer satisfaction criterion. Acoustical engineers need to identify and eliminate disturbing noise components to maintain a competitive advantage. In fact, vehicle sound must be deliberately designed. This means that, to create driving satisfaction, certain noise aspects have to be emphasized and others reduced. Vehicle engineering needs to be extended to design-engineering and the exploration of preferred sounds. Furthermore, simulation of new engine sounds or even the sound of the entire vehicle at early stages in the development phase has become increasingly important. For example, different engine mounts can be virtually built in and their effects on interior sound can be examined without expensive iteration loops using physical prototypes. This article presents new tools for sound design and target sound development. In particluar, we introduce a new subject-centered method -Explorative Vehicle Evaluation (EVE), for determining target sounds.

Evaluating sound quality leads to difficulties. Conventional tests neglect the context-sensitivit... more Evaluating sound quality leads to difficulties. Conventional tests neglect the context-sensitivity of human perception evaluation; they only reflect artificial realities which do not correspond with perceptual authenticity. Since the subjective evaluation is influenced by different modifiers, it is necessary to extend methods in order to be able to survey and represent various objective variables as well as subjective variables sufficiently. It is known that experiments in laboratories only constitute artificial realities and disregard important parameters like context, relevance or external validity. The test design lacks the consideration of the usual interaction between the self-stimulated sound and the driver as well as the context, in which the driver experiences and evaluates the perceived sound. A 3D Sound Simulation System (H3S) has been developed for the realistic reproduction of airborne sound in driving simulators. Mobile H3S is capable of simulating a vehicle soundscape -consisting of engine sound, tire and wind noise -according to a real driving situation. A vehicle equipped with this interactive technique can be driven regularly on the road while the acoustic impression for the driver originates from a different or modified vehicle. The soundscape adapts online to changes in speed, engine rpm and load caused by the vehicle controls.

Background: Railway noise is considered to exhibit less severe effects on health. However, railwa... more Background: Railway noise is considered to exhibit less severe effects on health. However, railway noise exposure has changed substantially near the main corridors (frequency of occurrence, number of nightly freight trains). In sensitive areas standard noise analyses and indicators may give misleading results. Methods: A series of classical and binaural sound measurements were carried out in an alpine valley with complex topography and sensitive land use. Railway noise is the dominant source. Various acoustic and psychoacoustic analyses were applied across the valley towards the opposite slopes and compared with classical assessments. Results: Freight trains are about 7 dBA louder than passenger trains. Noise propagation towards the slopes is largely underestimated beyond 500m by classical means. Even at distances greater than 1000 m the peak noise exposure from the freight trains stands out 20 to 30 dBA during night. The noise is broadband (25 Hz to 2 kHz) contains strong low frequency components and some impulsive noise. The psychoacoustic loudness analysis results in an even stronger picture of the signal to noise ratio. Conclusion: In complex acoustic situations classical analyses can lead to a severe underestimation of the annoying and awakening potential of railway noise. The application of a rail bonus is inappropriate under these conditions.

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering, 2010

ABSTRACT Noise vibration harshness (NVH) issues are still a very important topic in the automotiv... more ABSTRACT Noise vibration harshness (NVH) issues are still a very important topic in the automotive industry, where the avoidance of disturbing noises and the creation of highest acoustical comfort and perceived NVH-quality are important targets. In this context, it is becoming more widely understood that sound and vibration must not only be considered as disturbing elements regarding NVH-comfort. They can be used to develop an acoustic and vibration environment, which positively influences customer satisfaction. The creation of sounds (and vibrations), which give the impression of high product quality, helps manufacturers to stand out against their competitors and to meet increasing requirements. The research of sound and vibration is difficult and numerous methods, theories, and simulations have been developed to obtain a deeper understanding of multi-sensory perception. The present paper reviews current sound and vibration studies and introduces established as well as novel concepts and theories. Moreover, the meaning of driving simulators for sound and vibration studies will be discussed. Finally, experimental results will be shown to underline the complexity and future challenges in the scope of automotive applications regarding multi-sensory perception. Overall, it was found that evaluations differ depending on context and test situation; even the presented stimuli are almost identical. Such effects have to be considered with respect to the selection of the test method and test surrounding as well as concerning the interpretation of test results.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2007

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2008

ABSTRACT

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2008

ABSTRACT

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2010

ABSTRACT

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2012

ABSTRACT In order to understand the perception and evaluation of soundscapes, it appears mandator... more ABSTRACT In order to understand the perception and evaluation of soundscapes, it appears mandatory to concentrate not only on constellations of sources and their contributions to the acoustic environment, but also to consider attention processes towards sound sources. It is widely known that a listener can easily focus on a certain source and can suppress the noise of other sources, which is called cocktail-party effect. It is assumed that this effect greatly influences the general appreciation of the whole soundscape. However, the process, why people focus on certain sound sources and how this influences the overall evaluation, has to be explored. A detailed knowledge about the (often subconscious) focussing on sources in multi-source soundscapes would be very helpful for design purposes, to attract deliberately attention to certain sound sources leading to positive feelings for the majority of soundscape visitors. Laboratory results dealing with the effect of source attention and its impact on soundscape evaluation were already published. In these surveys it was found that the processes, in which way the global impression changes due to the attention attraction to certain sources, seem to be complex. The paper will focus now on in-situ assessments and will show new results gained in field experiments.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2005

Whenever the acoustical design of vehicles is explored, the crucial question about the appropriat... more Whenever the acoustical design of vehicles is explored, the crucial question about the appropriate method of evaluation arises. Research shows that not only acoustic but also non-acoustic parameters have a major influence on the way sounds are evaluated. Therefore, new methods of evaluation have to be implemented. Methods are needed which give the opportunity to test the quality of the given ambience and to register the effects and evaluations in their functional interdependence as well as the influence of personal and contextual factors. Moreover, new methods have to give insight into processes of evaluation and their contextual parameters. In other words, the task of evaluating acoustical ambiences consists of designating a set of social, psychological, and cultural conditions which are important to determine particular individual and collective behavior, attitudes, and also emotions relative to the given ambience. However, no specific recommendations exist yet which comprise particular descriptions of how to assess those specific sound effects. That is why there is a need to develop alternative methods of evaluation with whose help effects of acoustical ambiences can be better predicted. A method of evaluation will be presented which incorporates a new sensitive approach for the evaluation of vehicle sounds.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2005

Noise is defined as an audible sound which either disturbs the silence or an intentional sound li... more Noise is defined as an audible sound which either disturbs the silence or an intentional sound listening or leads to annoyance. Thus, it is clearly defined that an assignment of noise can not be reduced to simple determining objective parameters like the A-weighted SPL. The question whether a sound is judged as noise can only be made after the transformation from the sound event into an hearing event has been accomplished. The evaluation of noise depends on the physical characteristics of the sound event, on the psychoacoustical features of the human ear as well as on the psychological aspects of men. The subjectively felt noise quality does not only depend on the A-weighted sound pressure level, but also on other psychoacoustical parameters such as loudness, roughness, sharpness, etc. The known methods for the prediction of the spatial A-weighted SPL distribution in dependence on the propagation are not suitable to predict psychoacoustic parameters in an adequate way. Especially the roughness provoked by modulation or the sharpness generated by an accumulation of high frequent sound energy cannot offhanded be predicted distance-dependent.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2013

ABSTRACT Before the start of COST Action TD0804 (network on soundscape of European cities and lan... more ABSTRACT Before the start of COST Action TD0804 (network on soundscape of European cities and landscapes) in 2009, the Working Group 54 of ISO/TC 43/SC 1 was established to start consideration of a standardized protocol for assessment of soundscape. The progress is slow since many different protocols are available, which make it difficult to define a harmonized protocol reflecting diverse requirements. No protocol covers all needs, which is characteristic in research dealing with quality of life, where space, social and built environment and culture are often very different. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of open-mindedness to use new soundscape techniques, e.g., in noise action plans and for the protection of quiet areas. The situation differs, however, broadly from country to country. The Working Group 54 of ISO/TC 43/SC 1 works on reaching consensus to provide the necessary stimulus for further worldwide progress. Currently, the ISO WG 54 is working on measurement procedures and techniques that will trigger the procedures in soundscape research. Psychoacoustics and explorative interviews play a major role, and the triangulation of the respective data is offering consolidated findings. This paper will present related techniques and will discuss their advantages.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2005

ABSTRACT