The measurement of quality in auditorium acoustics by subjective scaling methods—A review of developments in theory and practice

A review is given of subjective measurement methods in auditorium acoustics. Particular emphasis is laid on research in what may be termed the field of psychometric room acoustics. In the past, traditional psychophysical methods have proved useful for the more limited purpose of determining the effects of physical changes on subjective attributes, but more recent developments in psychometric theory now permit aesthetic characteristics, such as quality, to be evaluated on valid subjective measurement scales. At present there is contention concerning the best approach to adopt in applying such subjective scales to the evaluation of auditoria. Two schools of thought have emerged: one favouring preference comparisons, the other semantic differential ratings. The advantages and disadvantages of both methods are discussed in relation to recent projects. It is suggested that the advantages of these two approaches could be combined to derive a reliable subjective measure for evaluating auditoria in the field.