Subjective evaluation of impact sound from footsteps

Paper in proceeding, 2023

Low-frequency impact sound caused by upstairs neighbors walking on the floor is a key acoustic challenge regarding lightweight floors and a major source of disturbance particularly in wooden buildings. To investigate the effect of floor design on the perceived walking sound, a virtual design tool has been developed, which allows for auralising the impact sounds containing low frequencies down to 20 Hz. Using this tool, footstep sounds on 10 different lightweight floors were auralised by a loudspeaker grid mounted in the ceiling of an acoustically controlled lab, which is furnished as a common living room. The walking sounds were subjectively evaluated through listening tests while the subjects were sitting freely on a sofa without needing to use any extra listening equipment. The listening test results suggest that loudness, thumpiness and reverberation are correlated with the perceived annoyance. The results also indicate a correlation between annoyance and age as well as the individual experience of earlier exposure to noise.