A-weighted sound power exaggerates perceived loudness differences in marketing

Evidence

For example it is stated frequently in advertisings that the noise emission of printer G is by 90% less than that of printer F. This is correct in physical terms of A-weighted sound power. However, the loudness difference perceived by the customer is only about 35%, in line with the indications by a loudness meter. … Therefore, reductions in noise emissions of products should be given in loudness ratios since with the exaggerating sound power ratios, in the end the public may no longer trust predictions of acoustic improvements. — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1778

Categorization

• SEED: Article angle: why advertised ‘90% quieter’ claims for products don’t match what people actually hear — a primer on why metric choice (A-weighting vs. loudness) misleads consumers.
• DEFINE: Contrasts A-weighted sound power with loudness measurement as two different metrics for noise emission.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1778
• XREF: connects to: A-weighted dB values misrepresent perceived loudness for complex sounds. — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1176; A-weighted decibels are a rough practical approximation of perceived loudness — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 633; A-weighted sound pressure level misrepresents the loudness of broadband noises (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• A-weighted decibels are a rough practical approximation of perceived loudness #corroborates (0.85) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 633
• A-weighted sound pressure level misrepresents the loudness of broadband noises #expands (0.80)
• The phon unit anchors loudness to perceived equality across frequencies rather than raw SPL #expands (0.72) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2002