Utilization of psychoacoustic parameters for occupancy-based acoustic evaluation in eating establishments

Psychoacoustic parameters are mostly used for determining the sound quality of mechanical sounds. They have also started to be used for evaluating soundscapes of open areas and enclosed spaces. This research aims to find out the relationship between the psychoacoustic parameters and acoustic comfort in non-acoustic enclosed public spaces, specifically in eating establishments. Both on-site measurements and laboratory listening tests were conducted for five eating establishments. During on-site measurements, a simultaneous questionnaire study was also carried out. Subjective and objective data were comparatively evaluated. Listening tests were based on auralizations with calibrated simulation models. This provided a research model, that allows control over the acoustic environment without having to make real changes in the physical elements of the eating establishments. The auralization sound files were presented to listening test participants with headphones and they evaluated soundscapes with different psychoacoustic properties. As results, better acoustic comfort was found to be related with higher sharpness, lower reverberation time, lower loudness and lower roughness values for the examined parameter ranges.