Journal Article
The Transitivity of Loudness Level
Journal of the Audio Engineering Society · Volume 19 · Issue 8 · pp. 656–659 · September 1971
Abstract
The question of whether the law of transitivity holds for loudness level was investigated in this study, to confirm an observation made in a previous report without adequate proof [1]. A panel of eight women was presented octave bands of pink noise from 125 Hz to 250 Hz to 2 kHz to 4 kHz, known to be at 70-phon loudness level, referred to a one-third-octave band of pink noise centered at 1 kHz. They were asked to compare the loudness of any octave band to each of the other octave bands alo at 70 phons until all were compared. The stimuli were presented through a loudspeaker in a listening room with known acoustical properties. The results indicate that loudness level is indeed transitive at 70 phons.
