Whether a sound counts as noise depends on subjective interpretation, not acoustics

Evidence

A sound is transformed into a noise after a subjective interpretation; definitively, noise does not exist, but in some cases the mixing of different sounds creates a white noise effect that does not allow distinguishing the component sounds. For instance, a bird chorus at the maximum level during springtime prevents distinguishing individual species and the sensation is of a diffuse “pleasant” noise. Some types of music are considered unpleasant by some people and classified as noise; for truck drivers, the sound of a truck engine can represent a familiar and attractive sound while for other people this is just an unpleasant noise. — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 1025

Categorization

• XREF: Reinforces earlier chapters’ claims that noise-level reduction alone fails to improve sonic environments — since noise is subjective, physical dose is only part of annoyance. — connects to: Subjective interpretation of animal calls can mislead even experienced observers — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac: With Other…, 90; Sonic processes are subjective and require a focal species to be identified. — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 210; Judged pleasantness does not track the physical quality of a sound — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 1078 (+14 more)
• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source

Broader Connections

• Noise is fundamentally subjective rather than an objective property of sound #corroborates (0.95) — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 614
• Whether a natural sound counts as noise depends on the perceiving species #exemplifies (0.90) — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 1242
• Whether a sound parses into separate notes is decided by perception, not physics #epitomizes (0.85) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 1701
• Subjective perception of sound cannot be predicted simply from its acoustic components #expands (0.80) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1609
• Sound quality judgments depend on listener context and expectations #expands (0.80) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 2313
• Subjective judgment remains the ultimate reference for loudness measurement schemes #corroborates (0.80) — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1185
• Objective sound amplitude measures do not describe perceived loudness. #corroborates (0.80) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 605
• Subjective experience dictates which measurements matter in audio research #expands (0.80)
• Subjective sound quality is authoritative and measurements must explain it #expands (0.80) — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1049
• Physical sound measurement cannot capture the subjective semantic meaning of a sonic environment #expands (0.75) — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 1159
• Subjective audio opinions can behave like facts when gathered under controlled conditions #complicates (0.70)