A-weighting underestimates low-frequency components, inflating perceived loudness of road noise
Evidence
As an explanation for the railway-bonus at least two hypotheses can be put forward. From an engineering point of view, it can be argued that road traffic noise shows more pronounced lowfrequency components which are underestimated by A-weighting. Hence, at same LAeq, road-traffic is perceived as louder than rail-traffic. By and large, the problems of A-weighted levels for sounds with strong low-frequency components could account for some four dB of the railway-bonus. — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1813
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
- DEFINE: Explains the mechanism behind the railway-bonus in terms of A-weighting’s failure on low-frequency sounds.
Related
- A-weighting’s underestimate of low-frequency energy explains about four dB of the railway bonus. (similarity 0.97)
- A-weighting’s low-frequency blind spot explains roughly four dB of the railway bonus (similarity 0.97)
- At equal A-weighted level, railway noise is judged quieter than road and aircraft noise (similarity 0.86)
- The railway bonus persists even when sound sources are obscured, ruling out cognitive effects (similarity 0.85)
- Low-frequency urban noise that meters underestimate may harm health most (similarity 0.78)