Model of psychoacoustic sportiness for vehicle interior sound: Excluding loudness

As vehicle interior noise control technology has significantly improved, focusing on vehicle interior sound quality has been suggested recently for improving user satisfaction. Research on the improvement of vehicle interior sound quality can be applied to the design of vehicle interior sound in order to achieve the desired image. For targeting the desired image, however, the subjective assessment of sound quality should be correlated with objective values because only quantitative and measurable data can be used for the control of vehicle interior sound. In this study, a model of psychoacoustic sportiness for vehicle interior sound was developed to target the “sporty” image of vehicles. The interior sounds of various vehicles were recorded under wide open throttle (WOT) acceleration condition, and subsequently modified to obtain additional sound samples. The loudness values of all stimuli were adjusted to the same value for excluding the impact of loudness on sportiness. In order to achieve subjective assessments of sportiness, a jury test was conducted, and sportiness was quantified using regression analysis. Therefore, the model for psychoacoustic sportiness was determined as a function of roughness, sharpness, and tonality. In a validity study, the sportiness estimated by this model was consistent with the observed sportiness of the additional jury test. Consequently, it was suggested that the sportiness model proposed in this paper is reliable and can be applied practically because the effect of loudness was excluded.