Журнал эргономики
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Subjective and Objective Evaluation of the Air Conditioning Sound

Wagner V, Enigk H, Beitz T and Kallus KW

Nowadays, driver and passenger comfort is a major factor in the automotive industry and sound quality can be seen as one of the most important comfort aspects. In this study, one of the sounds, which can play a role in the customers’ perception of vehicle quality – the air conditioning sound – was investigated. In a laboratory experiment, 18 different blower sounds were assessed by 35 participants regarding sound quality, the subjective volume perception, the impression of powerfulness and the impression of hearing a cooling or heating sound. For every sound, the three acoustic parameters A-weighted sound pressure level (dB(A)), loudness and sharpness were analyzed. The results show that high-quality blower sounds are characterized by the fact that they are rather quiet, reserved and powerful. The combination of objective acoustic parameters and subjective assessment show several, more or less strong, connections between subjective and objective aspects of the air conditioning sound.