Validation of a Perceptual Distraction Model in a Complex Personal Sound Zone System

This paper evaluates a previously proposed perceptual model predicting user’s perceived distraction caused by interfering audio programmes. The distraction model was originally trained using a simple sound reproduction system for music-on-music interference situations and it has not been formally tested using more complex sound systems. A listening experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of the model, using music target and speech interferer reproduced by a complex personal sound-zone system. The model was found to successfully predict the perceived distraction of a more complex sound reproducing system with different target-interferer pairs than it was originally trained for. Thus, the model can be used as a tool for personal sound-zone evaluation and optimization tasks.