Effects of Sounds from Water on Perception of Acoustic Environments Dominated by Road-Traffic Noise

As a complement to conventional noise mitigation, addition of wanted sounds, in particular sounds from water structures, has been suggested as a method for improving noise-polluted acoustic environments. The effect of adding water sounds to road-traffic noise was explored in a listening experiment with 31 listeners. Recordings of road-traffic noise were combined with recordings of waters sounds of varying pleasantness, and the listeners assessed the sounds on eight adjective scales, representing the perceptual dimensions Pleasantness and Eventfulness. The results showed that overall pleasantness increased when a highly pleasant water sound was added to the road-traffic noise. For less pleasant water sounds, no effect, or a decrease in pleasantness, was found. In addition, pleasant water sounds increased perceived eventfulness.