ASSESSMENT OF THE WASHING MACHINES SOUND QUALITY BY THE BINAURAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS
Urgency of the research. Psychoacoustics is the study of the perception of sound. This includes how human listen, their psychological responses, and the physiological impact of sound upon the human nervous system. The level of emitted noise is not still the most important factor. Many different factors affect the acoustic quality of the products. Psychoacoustic study of these characteristic can brings new knowledge for the increasing of the sound quality. Target setting. There are two basic methods for valuation of sound quality, subjective and objective methods realized by the binaural measurement system. The aim of experimental measurements was determining psychoacoustic metrics for three washing machines and comparison the psychoacoustics metrics with measurements of sound quantity emitted by the washing machines that is represented by the determination of acoustic sound power level. Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. Binaural measurement systems are actually mainly used in automotive and aircraft industry. Also acoustic design of the other product is also important and increasing the sound quality can results as marketing advantage. Uninvestigated parts of general matters defining. This article provides only the results and analysis realized by the objective methods. Results of the subjective methods - jury study are not presented in this paper. The research objective. The aim of this paper was determination of the psychoacoustic parameters of three washing machines. According these parameters was proposed the valuation method. The statement of basic materials. For the determination of psychoacoustic parameters was used binaural measurement system artificial Head Acoustic HMS III and software product Artemis. Conclusions. Measurement was realized for three washing machines from different producers. Classic measurement was realized for determination of sound power level by the classic microphones. Result of these measurements presents the quantity of power emitted by the washing machine. Determination of psychoacoustic metrics was realized by the artificial head - binaural measurement systems. Result of these measurements presents the quality of the sound emitted by the washing machine. But these results should be verified by the jury study that can bring new knowledge. Correlation the jury study and realized measurements can provide more objective results.