Equal-loudness-level contours for pure tones

Abstract

Equal-loudness-level contours provide the foundation for theoretical and practical analyses of intensity-frequency characteristics of auditory systems. Since 1956 equal-loudness-level contours based on the free-field measurements of Robinson and Dadson [Br. J. Appl. Phys. 7, 166-181 (1956)] have been widely accepted. However, in 1987 some questions about the general applicability of these contours were published [H. Fastl and E. Zwicker, Fortschritte der Akustik, DAGA '87, pp. 189-193 (1987)]. As a result, a new international effort to measure equal-loudness-level contours was undertaken. The present paper brings together the results of 12 studies starting in the mid-1980s to arrive at a new set of contours. The new contours estimated in this study are compared with four sets of classic contours taken from the available literature. The contours described by Fletcher and Munson [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 5, 82-108 (1933)] exhibit some overall similarity to our proposed estimated contours in the mid-frequency range up to 60 phons. The contours described by Robinson and Dadson exhibit clear differences from the new contours. These differences are most pronounced below 500 Hz and the discrepancy is often as large as 14 dB.

Crossmodal correspondences between sounds and tastes

“…This implies that pitch and loudness were most likely somewhat confounded in Spence's (2009, 2010b) studies, since all sounds were reportedly presented at a volume of 70 dB. Had these authors used pure tones (instead of synthetic instrumental sounds with more complex frequency spectra), the lowest pitch (D2073.4 Hz) would roughly equal a loudness of 40 phon or 1 sone, while the highest pitch (C601046.5 Hz) would roughly equal a loudness of 70 phon or 8 sone (Suzuki & Takeshima, 2004). This means the latter sound would, in theory, have been 8 times louder than the former (Stevens, 1936).…”

“…Similarly, although not proposed previously, specific phonetic qualities of the speech sounds inherent in the food names themselves may, through a process of subvocalization, have influenced participants' choice of pitch. 3 Finally, given that loudness perception in humans is nonlinear across the audible frequency range (Robinson & Dadson, 1957;Suzuki & Takeshima, 2004), changing the pitch or fundamental frequency of a harmonic sound while keeping the volume constant necessarily results in sounds with unequal loudness (remember that loudness is the perceptual correlate of physical sound intensity/volume that accommodates the human ear's differential sensitivity to specific frequencies and sound levels). This implies that pitch and loudness were most likely somewhat confounded in Spence's (2009, 2010b) studies, since all sounds were reportedly presented at a volume of 70 dB.…”

Loudness Perception in the Domestic Cat: Reaction Time Estimates of Equal Loudness Contours and Recruitment Effects

“…Threshold function for cats was derived by averaging the three data sources in Figure 5A. Human data are taken from Suzuki and Takeshima (2004).…”

Induced loudness reduction as a function of frequency difference between test tone and inducer

“…Most of the experiments deriving contours have used loudness-matching paradigms that required listeners to match the loudnesses of tones at different frequencies to a reference tone at 1 kHz (see Suzuki & Takeshima, 2004, for a review). The results from the present experiment suggest that the reference tone may have reduced the loudness of matched tones that were nearby in frequency.…”