Beat perception occurs even when partials go to separate ears, ruling out physical nonlinearity

Evidence

If humans cannot hear the phases at all (which, we have already seen, is not the case), then some other explanation of waveform beating is needed. The 2 Hz beating sensation for the combination 101 + 200 Hz is consistent with a nonlinear aural harmonic of 2 x 101 = 202 Hz generated by the ear itself, beating in the 1:1 way at 2 Hz with the “real” 200 Hz partial. The plot thickens, however, when we try to explain the 3 Hz beats heard when 201 Hz and 300 Hz partials are present. The third harmonic of 201 and the second of 300 are 3 Hz apart and could cause 3 Hz beats, but this is starting to feel like a nonlinear conspiracy theory. Remarkably, the beating is heard even if one partial is fed to the right ear and the other to the left. This eliminates some types of physical nonlinear effects as responsible for the beating. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2239

Categorization

• QUESTION: The spatial separation of partials shows beat perception arises centrally, not in the cochlea — worth chasing the neural mechanism further.