Product Description

Psychoacoustics – Facts and Models offers a unique, comprehensive summary of information describing the processing of sound by the human hearing system. It includes quantitative relations between sound stimuli and auditory perception in terms of hearing sensations, for which quantitative models are given, as well as an unequalled collection of data on the human hearing system as a receiver of acoustic information. In addition, many examples of the practical application of the results of basic research in fields such as noise control, audiology, or sound quality engineering are detailed. The third edition includes an additional chapter on audio-visual interactions and applications, plus more on applications throughout. Acoustic demonstrations on a CD included with this edition further illustrate and amplify basic and applied psychoacoustic phenomena. Reviews of previous editions have characterized it as "an essential source of psychoacoustic knowledge," "a major landmark ," and a book that "without doubt will have a long-lasting effect on the standing and future evolution of this scientific domain."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #195415 in Books
• Published on: 2006-12-28
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 462 pages

Review

"[The book] contains the most comprehensive collection of psychoacoustic facts and models that I know.... for advanced students, researchers and experts, it is an essential source of psychoacoustic knowledge . . . I do recommend it."

-Applied Acoustics

"This volume is no ordinary textbook, but a major landmark . . . The publication of this volume must be regarded as a major event, and the book should find a place on the shelves of every acoustician with a concern for the perception of sounds."

-Journal of Sound and Vibration

"...It can be sincerely stated that this book contributes most significantly to the distribution of expert knowledge on the auditory system to science, technology, and practice. It will without doubt have a long-lasting effect on the standing and future evolution of this scientific domain."

-Acustica

"[The book] never presents data without a great deal of thought and sense of purpose. Data are chosen to demonstrate the operation of basic perceptual modelsate value to see how far a rigorous and systematic application of these fundamental ideas can go in explaining the richness of human auditory experience and this is the special significance of [this book]."

- Physics Today

Journal of Sound and Vibration 1991, on the first edition
"This volume is no ordinary textbook, but a major landmark.... the publication of this volume must be regarded as a major event, and the book should find a place on the shelves of every acoustician with a concern for the perception of sounds."

About the Author

Hugo Fastl is Professor of Technical Acoustics in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at the Technical University München, Germany. He graduated 1969 in Music from the Academy of Music München, and 1970, 1974, and 1981 he earned at the Technical University München the degrees of Dipl.-Ing., Dr.-Ing., and Dr.-Ing. habil., respectively. His research interests are basic psychoacoustics and its applications in fields like audio-communication, noise control, sound quality design, audiology, or music. In 1987 he was elected Guest Professor of Osaka University, Japan, and in 1990 he became a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America. He is head of the committee "Auditory Acoustics" of the Society for Information Technology (ITG), and with the German Acoustical Society (DEGA) he is member of the Board of Directors, and Treasurer. In 1983 he won the Award of the Society for Information Technology (ITG), in 1991 the Research Award in Audiology of the Forschungsgemeinschaft Deutscher Hörgeräte-Akustiker, in 1998 the Research Award of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), and in 2003 the Rayleigh Medal of the Institute of Acoustics (UK).

Eberhard Zwicker was one of the worlds top authorities in psychoacoustics. In his labs in Stuttgart and München he educated scientists and engineers who hold now key positions in basics and applications of (psycho-)acoustics. From his many honors, the Silver Medal of the Acoustical Society of America and the degree of Honorary Member of the Audio Engineering Society are among the more outstanding.

Customer Reviews

Very informaive...reads like a research paper
The book was written by "the source" for Psychoacoustics and was, as such, incredibly informative and detailed in the information provided. With that said, it read like a series of research papers (which, for all intents and purposes, is what it is) without drawing significant conclusions. The data is provided, with small inferences made about conclusions within each section. The book is provided at the graduate level of previous knowledge about physics and the functioning of inner ear. If you're looking for detailed data on Psychoacoustics, this is a tremendous book. If you're looking for an undergraduate "textbook" on psychoacoustics and what that means regarding the understanding of hearing and the microstructural anatomy of the inner ear...you may be better off with one of the other textbooks.

Essential for NVH
Even though it may not have been his direct intent, the (mostly) empirical information presented in Zwicker's book is essential for understanding how to integrate a customers perception of sound into the design of a consumer product (such as a washing machine or an automobile, for instance). If you are interested in the engineering field of noise and vibration, or wish to make a career out of designing for noise and vibration, this book is a MUST HAVE as a professional reference. Highly, highly recommended.

Be Ready to Get Hammered With Information
Zwicker is a major name in Psychoacoustics. He references his own publications in the field well over 100 times in this book. This book is probably the most comprehensive collection of psychoacoustical information I have seen to date. As with all works, it starts with a description of sound and the human audiotory system, and then moves into how the two entities interact and how perception is modeled by this. The discussion is very technical, and he has an average of one graph per page. I do not recommend this book to anyone not interested in the details of how psychoacoustics evolve.
It is also nice that he includes a methods section, as one would do in a technical journal. This describes how the data that he is presenting was obtained, and adds a load of credibilty to the work. Also most of the data presented is empirical, from experiments themselves. The amount of research underlying this work is huge.
My one complaint is the pace varies a bit, but not too bad. Some parts seem fast, others seem slow. Overall however, this is a great book for technical readers. I personally found this book tremendously useful.