Sone

The Sone [ soʊn ] is the psychoacoustic unit of subjective loudness N of a sound event, which goes back to a suggestion by Stanley Smith Stevens in 1936.

Definition

The definition of loudness in Sone N based on the definition of the volume level of LN in Phon.

A volume level of 40 phon loudness is 1 sone assigned to these. A volume of 40 phon is defined by the volume of a sinusoidal tone of frequency 1 kHz and a sound pressure level of 40 dB. A sound perceived twice as loud then has a loudness of 2 sones and a four-fold as loud sound has perceived loudness 4 sone, half as loud perceived sound gets a loudness of 0.5 sones.

This applies to sone loudness greater than 1, ie for volume levels greater than 40 phon that an increase in the volume level by 10 phon leads to a doubling of loudness in sone value. For loudness less than 1 sone, that is, for volume level less than 40 phon, this relationship does not apply here already to a doubling / halving of the loudness impression lead enlargements / reductions of the volume level by less than 10 phon (see the picture above right).

The unit Sone is therefore scaled to the loudness of a sine tone of 40 dB. If one wants to determine the loudness of other sounds, this must be done either by comparative listening tests or the perception of loudness by the people must be followed by appropriate mathematical models.

DIN 45631 and ISO 532 B describe measurement procedures for loudness measurement. This measurement method to determine either the volume level in phon or loudness in sone.

For volume level above 40 phon, ie loudness greater than 1 sone can also be determined according to the below simplified formula, the relationship between the loudness N in sones and loudness level LN in Phon be ( ISO Recommendation ISO / R 131-1959, dashed curve in the figure above). For volume level below 40 or loudness phon less than 1 sone describes this formula the perceived volume no longer correct.

Loudness N ( for LN> 40 phon ):

Or

Volume level of LN (for N > 1 sone ):

Influences on the sense of volume of

The loudness perception of the people and thus the loudness in sone depend on the sound pressure level, the frequency spectrum and the temporal structure of the sound from. Sound signals with the same sound pressure level but different frequency spectrum and time response can lead to very different loudness in sone.

Significant influence on the loudness, the implementation of sound signals into nerve impulses in the inner ear. Depending on the strength of the excitation of nerve cells a sound is judged louder or quieter. Therefore, methods for loudness measurement model the behavior of the human ear. Among the most famous one, the process of Pinch, which is based on the modeling of masking effects.

A measure of the loudness in sone is useful when a sound immission should be assessed. Several computer magazines measure the computers and their components radiated and acting on the human sound in sone. The effect of sound on humans is available for all measurements of the noise disturbance in the foreground.

Examples

Sone