Room acoustics and vocal comfort in untrained vocalists

Talkers have long been studied in their speech accommodation strategies in noise. Vocal effort and comfort within noisy situations have also been studied. In this study, untrained vocalists were exposed to a range of room acoustic conditions. In each environment, the subject performed a vocal task, with a goal of being “heard” by a listener 5 m away. After each task, the subject completed a series of questions addressing vocal effort and comfort. Additionally, using a head and torso simulator (HATS), the environment was assessed using a sine sweep presented at the HATS mouth and recorded at the ears. It was found that vocal clarity (C50) and the initial reflection related to vocal comfort. The results are not only relevant to room design but also to understanding talkers’ acuity to acoustic conditions and their adjustments to them.