Tools and techniques for understanding the fundamentals of automotive sound quality

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Tools and techniques for understanding the fundamentals of automotive sound quality

Jennings, P A / Dunne, G / Williams, R / Giudice, S

Understanding the sounds that create the most positive subjective and emotional responses for customers and, importantly, linking this knowledge to objective engineering specifications is a major challenge. This paper presents research to create the tools and techniques to achieve this. It starts with work carried out to understand the language of sound perception and a means to capture it succinctly. Two perceptual dimensions were established that enabled the positioning of current, competitor, and target vehicles in a subjective space to be determined. Early work involved the study of fixed sounds, both real and simulated, in a listening room. However, this approach has been improved by enhancing the level of context and interactivity. Perception of the sounds of on-road cars is affected by stimuli for other senses (e.g. visual and vibrational), and the fact that an assessor is also concentrating on driving. Furthermore, drivers experience a full range of vehicle sounds, rather than fixed stimuli. The development and use of interactive simulation tools are therefore introduced. They provide a more confident assessment of preferences but also allow a greater understanding of the contributing factors to these preferences, e.g. those aspects of real-world driving that are most important in forming overall impressions of vehicle sound.