Auditory filter bandwidth scales nonlinearly with center frequency

Evidence

Sound of a given frequency can block our ability to hear softer sounds at nearby frequencies, but distant frequencies are not affected. The threshold for detecting the softer sound is raised by the presence of a louder sound within the same critical bandwidth. Even if the softer sound is audible, it will not seem as loud as it would if played alone. Similarly, two tones that fall within the same critical bandwidth will appear to be less loud together than two tones of the same total energy that fall outside each others’ critical bandwidths. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2009 (#expands, via linked claim)

At test-tone frequencies near 1.4 kHz, the subject indicates audibility of an additional tone at the relatively low test-tone level of 40 dB. A careful examination of these results and discussions with experienced subjects show that inexperienced subjects do not hear the test tone at that frequency and level, but a difference tone near 600 Hz. This difference tone is produced through nonlinear distortions that originate in our own hearing system. — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 430 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The critical-band-rate scale mirrors hearing better than raw frequency; The auditory filter width is what matters for sound and voice technology design.; Speech recognition models can derive subband and modulation power from 22 gammatone filters (+8 more)

Related

• The critical-band-rate scale mirrors hearing better than raw frequency (similarity 0.87)
• Critical bandwidth marks the perceptual shift from rough to smooth tone resolution (similarity 0.86)
• Auditory filters respond asymmetrically, favoring frequencies below center (similarity 0.86)
• Frequency discrimination stems from steep filter slopes plus 1 dB level sensitivity (similarity 0.85)
• Auditory masking depends only on energy within a band surrounding the signal. (similarity 0.85)
• The ear’s frequency selectivity is imperfect and worsens at higher frequencies (similarity 0.85)
• The auditory filter width is what matters for sound and voice technology design. (similarity 0.85)
• Higher-frequency auditory filters carry more intensity-difference information than the signal-centered filter (similarity 0.85)
• Psychophysical tuning curves map masker level needed to just mask a fixed tone. (similarity 0.85)
• Masking acts within critical bandwidths, leaving distant-frequency sounds unaffected (similarity 0.85)
• The human hearing system compromises between frequency and time resolution, unlike ideal filters (similarity 0.85)
• The ear’s frequency response is level-dependent, favoring mid frequencies at low volume (similarity 0.84)
• Increasing stimulus level broadens auditory filters and causes upward spread of masking (similarity 0.84)
• Frequency discrimination is finest around 0.3% near 500 Hz. (similarity 0.83)
• Auditory threshold for broadband noise is set by the most sensitive frequency region only (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Masking acts within critical bandwidths, leaving distant-frequency sounds unaffected #expands (0.82) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2009
• Combination tones arise from the hearing system’s own nonlinearity #expands (0.75) — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 430