Abstract

A-weighted sound pressure level is widely used to determine exposure limits. In addition this level is commonly found as an indicator of how annoying a noise can be. However, it is possible to get the same A-weighted level at the same point with a large number of noise spectra. If we think in social discomfort, the question emerging is the following: Does the spectral content of several noises having a particular A-weighted sound level cause similar degree of annoyance? In order to attempt to answer this question, an experiment was developed. It consisted in the airborne emission of five different constant and complex noises and the application of a survey intended to compare the induced annoyance.