Effect of source azimuth on the perceived annoyance of domestic sounds

Although noise-induced annoyance has been extensively studied, the influence of spatial factors on annoyance perception remains underexplored. A listening experiment was conducted to assess the effect of sound source azimuth on perceived annoyance, for a variety of common domestic sounds. 54 participants graded the perceived annoyance caused by seven sound sources presented binaurally, situated at 45 ∘ azimuth intervals around the listener. The results indicated that in most cases, laterally placed sources caused the highest level of annoyance, and rear sources were the least annoying. A significant effect of source azimuth was identified. However, the type of sound source and acoustic condition also affected annoyance levels. Conventional psychoacoustic annoyance (PA) models are computed using omnidirectional audio signals, so although they may accurately predict the effect of sound source, they cannot account for the effect of azimuth. As a result, a binaural PA metric is suggested demonstrating the potential to predict the effects of source azimuth and acoustic condition. Following further experimentation, these findings will inform the future development of an improved PA model, that considers the spatial features of annoyance, with applications in optimisation of room acoustics and annoyance reduction.