Loudness Assessment of Musical Tones Equalized in A-weighted Level

The present study was carried out to determine whether recorded musical tones
played at various pitches on a clarinet, a flute, an oboe, and a trumpet are perceived
as being equal in loudness when presented to listeners at the same A-weighted level.
This psychophysical investigation showed systematic effects of both instrument type
and pitch that could be related to spectral properties of the sounds under consideration.
Level adjustments that were needed to equalize loudness well exceeded typical
values of JNDs for signal level, thus confirming the insufficiency of A-weighting as
a loudness predictor for musical sounds. Consequently, the use of elaborate computational
prediction is stressed, in view of the necessity for thorough investigation of
factors affecting the perception of loudness of musical sounds.