Researchers continue to study annoying sounds. Mueller-Trapet reports that “Whether it's the constant stomping of feet or the thump from dropping something . . . ‘impact sounds,’ are one of the main causes for complaints in multi-unit residential buildings and can negatively impact occupants' health and work. . . . According to Mueller-Trapet, long-term exposure to such unwanted sounds may potentially lead to cardiovascular problems and sleep disturbance. . . . [the research team] provided a living room-like situation and recorded impact sounds of objects dropping and people walking. Using different playback techniques and virtual reality, they presented the recordings to study participants. In addition to laboratory experiments, the group created an online survey to expand their sample. . . . Impact sounds are impulsive, meaning that they consist of one or more almost distinct sounds of short duration. This likely makes impact sounds more annoying in general than continuous sounds, such as music or speech.”
“Why Those Sounds From Your Upstairs Neighbor Are So Annoying #ASA183.” 2022. Press release, Acoustical Society of America, https://www.newswise.com/articles/why-those-sounds-from-your-upstairs-n…