Audio event

The term auditory event describes how a physical sound event is subjectively perceived by a person. The auditory event is spatially, temporally and spectrally determined by subjective perception variables, such as B. timbre , transparency , spatial impression , loudness , etc. described. The connection between sound event (stimulus) and hearing event (sensation) is complex. Both quantities cannot be equated.

This term was introduced by Jens Blauert (Chair for General Electrical Engineering and Acoustics in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Ruhr University Bochum) in 1966 to ensure a clear conceptual separation of the sound event. An auditory event is the auditory object of perception.

Auditory events are the central subject of investigation in psychoacoustics . Is examined here in listening tests in particular, the relationship between physical quantities such. B. Sound field sizes , and the corresponding perceptions (psychoacoustic perception parameters) of test subjects. This in turn allows conclusions to be drawn about the processing methods of human hearing .

Aspects of the auditory event investigation can include:

• Will there be an audio event?
  Is a certain sound perceptible?
  ⇒ Determination of perception thresholds , such as hearing thresholds , listening thresholds , etc.
• What is the character of an audio event?
  ⇒ Determination of loudness , tone , tone , roughness (acoustics) , fluctuation strength
• What is the spatial impression of the audio event?
  ⇒ Determination of localization , lateralization , direction of hearing events , reverberation
• When do different hearing events occur?
  How high are the resolution possibilities of the hearing?
  ⇒ Determination of difference thresholds , such as Just Noticable Difference (JND).

Relationships between sound events and auditory events

Sound events can be described by physical quantities such as sound field quantities, while auditory events can be described by psychoacoustic perception quantities. In the following, some physical quantities for describing a sound event and related psychoacoustic perception quantities for describing the corresponding auditory event are compared. However, there is no clear association between these sizes. For example, loudness does not only depend on the sound pressure level , but also on the acoustic spectrum , among other things .

Sound event	Audio event
Sound pressure level	Loudness
frequency	Tonality
spectrum	Timbre
Position of the sound source	Localization of the sound source , direction of the auditory event

References and comments

1. ↑ Jens Blauert: Spatial hearing. S. Hirzel-Verlag, Stuttgart 1974, ISBN 3-7776-0250-7