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Differences between ANSI S3.4-2007 and the proposed ISO532-2

Article  in  The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · September 2015

DOI: 10.1121/1.4933931

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 Background
Differences between ANSI S3.4-2007 and ANSI S3.4-2007 is based on the loudness model developed by Moore,
Glasberg and Baer (Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, 1997), but with
the proposed ISO532-2 the modified middle-ear transfer function described in Glasberg and Moore
(JASA, 2006)

Brian C.J. Moore

Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street,

Cambridge, CB2 3EB, U.K.
Model assumption: loudness simply sums across ears
Loudness is calculated for each ear and then added across ears
Implications:
(1) A diotic sound is twice as loud as the same sound presented monaurally
(2) The level difference required for equal loudness (LDEL) of monaural and
diotic sounds is about 10 dB for mid-range levels (since a change in level of
10 dB gives roughly a factor of 2 change in loudness)

Data on binaural loudness summation Implementing binaural inhibition

• Most recent data obtained using methods that reduce biases • Moore and Glasberg (JASA, 2007) modified the loudness
suggest that loudness does not simply sum across ears: model to include broadly tuned binaural inhibition
– A diotic sound is less than twice as loud as the same sound presented
monaurally: estimates for the ratio range from about 1.1 to 1.8
– The LDEL is typically about 5-6 dB for mid-range levels
• Binaural loudness summation may be affected by “higher-
level” factors
– The diotic/monaural ratio and the LDEL appear to be lower for speech
sounds presented audio-visually via a loudspeaker (Epstein and
Florentine, JASA, 2012) than for audio-alone headphone presentation
– Not handled by current loudness models
• Scharf (JASA, 1969) showed that the loudness of a tone
presented to one ear was reduced when a tone with a
different frequency was presented to the opposite ear
– Consistent with the concept of binaural inhibition
– The effect was broadly tuned in frequency
ISO 532-2 is based on this version of the model

Predictions of the model Prediction of the data of Scharf (1969)

• A diotic sound is 1.5 times as loud as the same sound
presented monaurally Circles show data
• The LDEL is 5-6 dB for mid-range levels and smaller at low Lines show predictions
levels
• Broadly consistent with empirical data The ordinate shows the
LDEL between a
• The model also gives reasonably accurate predictions of the monaural tone (frequency
loudness of sounds: close to 500, 1000 or
– whose spectra differ at the two ears (Zwicker & Zwicker, 1991, JASA; 2000 Hz) and that tone
Glasberg and Moore, JASA, 2010) together with a tone of
– whose level differs at the two ears (Keen, 1972, JASA; Zwicker & different frequency
Zwicker, 1991, JASA; Shao et al., 2015, JASA) presented to the other ear
 Summary: Binaural loudness summation
• The loudness model incorporating binaural inhibition
gives reasonably accurate predictions of:
– the loudness ratio of diotic and monaural sounds
– the LDEL
– the loudness of sounds with different spectra at the two
ears
– the loudness of sounds with different levels at the two ears
– the effect of a sound in one ear on the loudness of a
different sound in the other ear
• The model does not take into account “higher level”
factors:
– the influence of visual cues
– the impression of speaking effort of a talker
Block diagram of the model for time-varying sounds
Calculation of short-term loudness
• Short-term loudness corresponds to the loudness of
a brief segment of a sound, e.g., a specific syllable in
speech or note in music
• It is calculated from the instantaneous loudness
using a form of averaging that resembles an
automatic gain control (AGC)
• The “attack” time is short – loudness can increase
rapidly when a sound is turned on
• The “release” time is longer – this may correspond to
the persistence of activity at some level in the
auditory system
Loudness of time-varying sounds
• The models in ANSI S3.4-2007 and ISO532-2 apply only to
steady sounds
• The spectra of the sounds are used as input
• Glasberg and Moore (Journal of the Audio Engineering
Society, 2002) extended the 1997 model to deal with time-
varying sounds - the TVL model
• This version of the model was based on summation of
loudness across ears
• The model has been modified to incorporate binaural
inhibition (Moore, 2014, Trends in Hearing)
• It also incorporates the modified middle-ear transfer function
proposed by Glasberg and Moore (JASA, 2006)
Implementation details
• The model accepts a two-channel (stereo) waveform as its input (32-kHz
sample rate)
• Transfer through the outer and middle ear is modelled using a single finite
impulse response filter with 4097 coefficients
• Predefined filters for free-field, diffuse field and middle-ear alone
• To give good spectral resolution at low frequencies and good temporal
resolution at high frequencies, six FFTs are calculated in parallel, based
on Hanning-windowed signal segments with durations of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32
and 64 ms, all aligned at their temporal centres
• All FFTs are updated at 1-ms intervals
• Each FFT is used to calculate spectral magnitudes over a specific range:
20-80, 80-500, 500-1250, 1250-2540, 2540-4050 and 4050-15000 Hz
• An excitation pattern is calculated at 1-ms intervals, with centre
frequencies spaced by 0.25 Cam (units of the ERBN-number scale)
• “Instantaneous loudness” is calculated from the short-term excitation
pattern
• This is an intervening variable, not available for conscious perception
Calculation of long-term loudness
• Long-term loudness corresponds to the overall
loudness impression of a relatively long piece of
sound, e.g., a sentence or a musical phrase
• It is calculated from the short-term loudness, again
using a form of averaging that resembles an
automatic gain control (AGC)
• Time constants are longer than for the first averager
 Empirical tests of the model
• The model gives reasonably accurate predictions of the
overall loudness of technical sounds:
– Rennies, J., Wächtler, M., Hots, J., and Verhey, J. (2015). "Spectro-
temporal characteristics affecting the loudness of technical sounds:
data and model predictions," Acta Acust. - Acust. (in press).
The ordinate shows mean level
differences between test signal
and reference signal (jet linear)
at equal loudness
All models perform badly for
ratchet and planing machine
The long-term loudness of the
TVL model gives better
predictions than other models
for some sounds
Empirical tests (2)
• The model also gives reasonably accurate
predictions of the loudness of speech and speech-
like signals, including signals subjected to dynamic
range compression and expansion
– Moore, B. C. J., Glasberg, B. R., and Stone, M. A. (2003).
"Why are commercials so loud? - Perception and modeling
of the loudness of amplitude-compressed speech," J.
Audio Eng. Soc. 51, 1123-1132.
– Rennies, J., Holube, I., and Verhey, J. L. (2013).
"Loudness of speech and speech-like signals," Acta Acust.
- Acust. 99, 268-282.
• The long time constants used to calculate the long-
term loudness appear to be advantageous

Summary and conclusions

• There is now considerable evidence indicating that loudness
does not simply sum across ears, as is assumed in ANSI
S3.4-2007
• The model incorporating binaural inhibition as described in
ISO532-2 gives reasonably accurate predictions of binaural
loudness
– this model is proposed as a revision to ANSI S3.4-2007
• The model for stationary sounds has been extended to deal
with time-varying sounds
• The extended model gives reasonably accurate predictions of
the loudness of technical sounds and speech sounds
• The model for time-varying sounds incorporating binaural
inhibition is proposed as an extension of ANSI S3.4 and as
ISO532-3
– this model is suitable for use with signals picked up by a dummy head

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