Psychoacoustics can be regarded as an interface between physics and humans, and the main question is how humans perceive sound. Apart from some fundamental questions, psychoacoustic research at the ITA is mainly focused on "sound quality". The goal is to find out a set of technical parameters which yield the sound which fits a certain product best. Modifications on the real object are often quite extensive, so that - as a time-saving alternative - simulation models are also used for the generation of sounds. The evaluation of the sounds can be carried out either directly by humans (in listening tests) or by instrumental quantities.



Projects at the ITA include
the sound quality of starting electric railbound vehicles,
of switched reluctance drives,
of blastings as well as
neighbourhood and impact noise in buildings.
As a further subject of research, spatial hearing is also investigated, and the related projects are introduced within the research areas "binaural hearing" and "room acoustics".