Psychoacoustics and sound design

Making audio impressions visible – shaping sound quality

Established measured values, such as the A-weighted sound pressure level, do not always correctly illustrate sound perception. In general, sounds have a particular frequency composition or a specific temporal structure, which do not permit any correlation to be made between the experienced volume and acoustic quality of a product. This means that an acoustic evaluation from these measured levels is not possible. Sound engineering is therefore oriented towards subjective evaluations, which are determined and evaluated as part of listening tests, for example.

Müller-BBM Industry Solutions GmbH's psychoacoustics division advises you and provides you with the appropriate tools to support the development of acoustic products and further develop them. Firstly we design listening tests with test subjects. From the various sounds and sound images, we derive measured levels and evaluations that are as objective as possible. Thanks to these objective descriptions, we begin the step-by-step improvement of the acoustic quality of your product in the development process. Psychoacoustic standard parameters such as loudness, sharpness, roughness, fluctuation intensity, tonality, in addition to specially developed quantities such as engine roughness, are used as a basis.

During the course of your product's acoustic development, you can have confidence in our many years' experience and comprehensive technical expertise. The firm understanding of the effects of noises and sounds on human perception, a distinct "feeling" for sounds and noises, as well as our knowledge about the mechanisms of sound origins provide us with the ability to identify the causes of a sound, improve sound quality and develop suitable sound images for your product. In the process, sound design does not end in the sound studio – it ends once specific modifications have been developed and your product has been acoustically validated. At the same time, we are always aware of the existence of other determining factors such as weight, costs and space requirements, in addition to acoustics.

For years, we have been successfully using the m|klang® software developed by our sister company Mueller-BBM AST to design suitable driving sounds for your vehicle and to define brand sounds together with you.   

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