Non-auditory factors strongly bias loudspeaker purchase preferences in sighted listening

Evidence

In contrast, the identification of the sound source can significantly influence annoyance rating. For example, the original sound of a coffee machine, brewing fresh coffee, was preferred in comparison to the processed version, despite same loudness-time function. Also the sound of clinking wineglasses produces much less annoyance for the original sound than for the processed sound. On the other hand, however, for many other sounds, not only the loudness rating but also the annoyance rating was only little influenced by the effect whether the sound source could be identified. — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1866 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Brand, cost, and prior exposure bias subjective audio judgments; Visual appearance of loudspeakers shifts listener preference ratings — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1058; Sighted listening evaluations are distorted by non-auditory cues like brand and price (+2 more)

Related

• Identifying a sound source can shift annoyance independent of loudness (similarity 0.92)
• Brand, cost, and prior exposure bias subjective audio judgments (similarity 0.88)
• Product sound quality depends on task context, not just pleasantness. (similarity 0.88)
• Visual appearance of loudspeakers shifts listener preference ratings (similarity 0.87)
• Sighted loudspeaker evaluations are contaminated by non-auditory visual and social cues (similarity 0.87)
• Visual and contextual cues bias human judgments of sound quality (similarity 0.85)
• Source identification affects annoyance but not loudness perception (similarity 0.85)
• Seeing the loudspeakers during evaluation actively stresses trained listeners (similarity 0.84)
• Annoyance rises with loudness, sharpness, roughness, and impulsive temporal components. (similarity 0.83)
• Louder playback can bias listeners into rating a device better (similarity 0.82)
• Loudness evaluation may be unchanged by obscuring the sound’s source identity (similarity 0.81)
• Sound power alone cannot predict listener preference for loudspeakers (similarity 0.81)
• Louder playback is unconsciously rated as better quality in audio listening tests (similarity 0.81)
• Knowing a sound’s source barely affects how loud we rate it (similarity 0.81)
• Early loudspeaker preference studies were too crude to validate any measurement model (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Identifying a sound source can shift annoyance independent of loudness #exemplifies (0.78) — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1866
• Subjects bias adjustment experiments by setting sounds louder for good audibility #exemplifies (0.72)