A personal sound zone (PSZ) is a section in a space in which audio content can be received and customized for a listener separate from other listeners when using the same loudspeaker system. The approach for this is the creation of a bright zone (BZ) and a dark zone (DZ) where the desired output is targeted and where the sound pressure level of that desired output is reduced respectively. When sharing a space and playback system, interference will occur as different content is played simultaneously. Previous research in minimizing this audio-on-audio interference and evaluating the perceptual experience of it has led to the determination of thresholds of acceptability between programs for certain listening tasks. However, further investigation within the tasks, specifically frequency content, has not been explored. This study investigates how varying frequency in classical and jazz program content impacts one`s perception of audio-on-audio interference in PSZs. With the BZ as broadband content and the DZ as band-limited content, 4 attributes concerning audio-on-audio interference were rated comparing the accepted thresholds and an optional new threshold made by participants. From the responses, the accepted thresholds were not robust across all frequency content and it is suggested that separate thresholds are needed to consider different hearing sensitivities across the frequency spectrum, especially at higher frequencies. This investigation evaluated predetermined thresholds of acceptability on the perception of audio-on-audio interference in personal sound zones, suggesting that further work is warranted to create new values that consider varying frequency content.
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