Auralisation: Noise Reduction of 3, 6, and 10 dB

Road noise is typically measured in decibels (dB) and presented as an average over the course of a year. But what does a reduction of 3, 6, or even 10 dB sound like ? These examples show noise reduction of motorway noise reduced by 3, 6, and 10 dB.

What is 0 dB?

0 dB means there is no noise reduction – the noise is undamped.

Instructions

• Connect your headset to your computer and ensure both left and right channels are correctly set.
• Press the black boxes to start the playback.
• During playback, feel free to jump between options for comparison.
• Important: Do not adjust the volume, as this will affect the calibration. 

How to listen to auralisations

You can adjust the sound level of your playback system (PC, tablet, or smartphone) using the sound file for adjustment of volume on this page.

Adjust the level to the point where it sounds like a person speaking at normal volume one meter in front of you. You can compare it to a real person speaking at a meter’s distance. You may have to adjust the level a couple of times before you’re confident the level is right.

Get the most out of auralisations

In order to get the most out of the auralisations, you should do the following:

• Read the prerequisites below. You get the full information on the different situations (traffic flow, type of road etc.) in the grey tabs below.
• Adjust the “playback level” as described to get the correct volume in your headset.
• Listen to the auralisations by clicking the appropriate text in the box. When the sound files are loaded into your browser you can instantly switch between different sound files – which makes differences appear immediately.