Investigation into Background Noise Conditions During Music Performance

Designers and professional organizations have adopted disparate background noise criteria for such spaces as high as NC-25 and as low as the threshold of hearing, and commonly used standardized metrics are not defined for levels below NC-15. This paper presents conclusions and further questions raised by a series of studies of the perceptual role of low levels of background noise in quiet spaces for music listening; these studies have been reported previously in greater detail.