I have not received many responses to the question below, but some
replies off-list, showing a great interest in this question.
Although it is not much, let me just sum up the pointers to the
literature I have received.
- Glasberg, B.R., and Moore, B.C.J. 2005. Development and evaluation
of a model for predicting the audibility of time-varying sounds in
the presence of background sounds. Journal of the Audio
Engineering Society 53: 906-918.
- Bradter and Hobohm, Loudness calculation for individual acoustical
objects within complex temporally variable sounds, AES 124th
- Verhey and Heise, Einfluss der
Zeitstruktur des Hintergrundes auf die Tonhaltigkeit und
Lautheit des tonalen Vordergrundes
(in German), DAGA, 2010.
I think it is a very interesting topic, with many potential
All the best,
Am 01.02.2011 12:34, schrieb Christian Uhle:
this is my first post here: Hello everyone.
The question which puzzles me for quite some time is related to
The loudness of a sound is reduced if it is presented in noise.
Models exist which are capable of predicting the partial loudness,
My understanding is that in  the interferer (the masker, or
background) is stationary noise.
Are there also models for partial loudness if the interferer is a
complex signal, e.g. music or speech?
I assume that such a model needs to determine a timbral similarity
between the target and the interferer.
(For example: In an extreme case where both signals sound (are)
the same, the interferer would not reduce but increase the
loudness of the signal.
If we start to modulate the frequency of one of the signals
slightly, this will affect the partial loudness, but how
The similarity of both signals depends on comodulation of sub-band
amplitude envelopes of signal and interferer, and on other cues as
well, as in stream segregation mechanisms.
Pointers to related work and papers as well as your thougths about
this are highly appreciated.
Another question would be if experimental data about partial
loudness in complex signals exist, and where to find them.
All the best,
 Moore, Glasberg, Baer, "A Model for the Prediction of
Thresholds, Loudness, and Partial Loudness", JAES, 1997.
Dr.-Ing. Christian Uhle
Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS
Am Wolfsmantel 33
Phone: +49(0) 9131 / 776 - 6230
Fax: +49(0) 9131 / 776 - 6099
Meet us at these events:
Workshop Digital Broadcasting, September 15-16, 2010
CEATEC Tokyo, Oktober 06-09, 2010
Medientage Munich, Oktober 13-15, 2010