Annoyance of Floor Impact Noise in Relation to the Factors Extracted from the Autocorrelation and the Interaural Cross-correlation Functions

This study investigates the effects of the factors extracted from the autocorrelation function (ACF) and the interaural cross-correlation function (IACF) on annoyance of heavy-weight floor impact sound. First, heavy-weight floor impact sound was measured in rooms of apartments which have different sound insulation treatments and characterized by the ACF and IACF factors. Then, paired comparison tests were conducted to obtain scale values of annoyance. Finally, the effects of the above factors on annoyance were examined by multiple regression analysis. The results of the measurements shows that the τ1 may describe the dominant frequency of floor impact sound, such as resonance frequency, and IACC can describe the spatial distribution of floor impact sound. The relationship between annoyance and ACF and IACF factors shows that important factors for evaluating annoyance are Φ(0) and variances of Φ(0), τe, and IACC.