Loudspeaker-based sound reproduction for evaluating noise transmission into the car cabin

Virtual and laboratory-based design techniques can accelerate the development process over conventional prototype-and-field-test procedures. In car acoustics, the transmission of outside airborne noise into the cabin needs to be understood and managed. Here, we evaluate the accuracy of sound field recording and reproduction techniques for investigating the transmission of airborne noise into the driver's cabin of a car. Reference measurements of a real sound field, generated by a truck with idling engine to create a realistic scenario, were carried out in a semi-anechoic chamber. The reference sound field was recorded inside and around a test car. Additionally, a spatial recording of the reference sound field was carried out and used to reproduce the reference sound field over a loudspeaker array in a different, fully anechoic chamber, where the sound field was again measured inside and around the same test car. A comparison of the measured loudness inside the test car shows that this key parameter for sound quality could be reproduced rather faithfully over a loudspeaker array in a controlled testing facility.