SOUN - Page 12

SOUN refers to a unit of measurement used to quantify the perceived loudness of a sound. It is a psychoacoustical scale that reflects how humans perceive sound intensity, taking into account the sensitivity of human hearing across different frequencies. The SOUN unit is defined such that a sound at 1 kHz with a sound pressure level of 40 dB is assigned a loudness of 1 SOUN. This measurement helps standardize the way we understand and compare loudness across various sounds, providing a more relatable metric for assessing noise levels in different contexts, such as music, environmental sounds, or industrial applications. SOUN is particularly useful in fields like acoustics and audiology, where understanding and quantifying human perceptions of sound is critical for designing sound environments, hearing aids, and other audio technology.