Walking sound annoyance vs. impact sound insulation from 20 Hz

There is a need to develop single number quantities (SNQ) of impact sound insulation that correlate better with walking sound annoyance. Previous research has indicated that impact sound insulation should be evaluated from 20 Hz in lightweight constructions, using modified spectrum adaptation terms. The purpose of our study was to verify whether frequencies between 20 and 50 Hz are important for perceived walking sound annoyance and to verify whether the proposed spectrum adaptation terms improve correlation with perceived walking sound annoyance. Binaural recordings of walking sound in one heavy and one lightweight construction were evaluated in a two-part listening test. The need to include frequencies from 20 Hz when evaluating lightweight constructions was verified. Both tested constructions achieved similar performance in terms of L′nT,w and L′nT,w + CI,50-2500, while a significant mismatch in the rated annoyance was observed. The correlation between SNQ and subjective response was considerably improved, when the impact sound insulation was evaluated from 20 or 25 Hz using a flat frequency-weighting factor.