Binaural hearing makes perceptual sense of acoustically chaotic rooms.

Evidence

Figure 5.16 illustrates the so-called Central Paradox, in which the communication of sound, live or reproduced, through a room appears acoustically to be a chaotic mess, and yet two ears and a brain make perceptual sense of it. As envisioned by its creator, Dr. Arthur Benade, it applied to live performances, but it turns out to be true for reproduced performances as well. It is wise not to underestimate the power of the binaural perceptual process. — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 611

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines Benade’s ‘Central Paradox’ — a named concept worth retaining.
• BMF: Echoes how Janson in ‘A Very Minor Prophet’ / or the trust systems in other titles rely on perceiving order beneath apparent noise — but more directly connects to the reader’s noise/silence interests: the brain’s filtering capacity mirrors soundscape research.
• XREF: connects to: Binaural hearing transforms in-room comb filtering into perceived spaciousness; Floor reflections are perceptually benign and removing them sounds unnatural.; Binaural hearing separates direct and reflected sound while monaural microphones cannot — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 376 (+2 more)

Related

• Binaural hearing transforms in-room comb filtering into perceived spaciousness (similarity 0.88)
• Floor reflections are perceptually benign and removing them sounds unnatural. (similarity 0.83)
• Reflections that appear as destructive comb filtering actually create perceived spaciousness. (similarity 0.82)
• Loudspeaker level differences become inter-ear phase differences via cross talk (similarity 0.81)
• Binaural hearing separates direct and reflected sound while monaural microphones cannot (similarity 0.80)
• Sitting near walls creates repetition-pitch coloration in perceived sound (similarity 0.80)
• Objectionable room perceptions are unlikely to stem from comb filtering (similarity 0.79)
• Ceiling reflections are as detectable as lateral ones despite weak binaural cues (similarity 0.79)
• Lateral sounds drive spatial perception more than frontal or rear sounds (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Binaural hearing separates direct and reflected sound while monaural microphones cannot #expands (0.88) — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 376
• Delayed sounds arriving from different angles are perceived as spaciousness, not comb filtering #expands (0.82) — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 729
• Interaural level differences of 1-2 dB produce just-audible lateral displacement #exemplifies (0.72) — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1714