Subjective Evaluation of the Rustling Sound of Fabrics

Abstract

The fabric rustling sounds were evaluated subjectively from two points of views such as unpleasantness and the similarity of sounds. Some sound parameters are also obtained by the recorded sounds. When subjects evaluate the fabric sound as unpleasant, the subjective evaluation is mostly influenced by the overall sound level. It was found that the sounds, which do not show any obvious peaks in the power spectrum shape, were evaluated as more unpleasant. The similarity of sounds obtained by the subjective test was analyzed by statistical Multidimensional Scaling analysis (MDS). The results showed that the similarity in the power spectra shapes of sounds was related to the subjective evaluation of similarity.