Ear localizes to first-arriving sound unless delayed signal exceeds 12 dB louder

Evidence

Rooms produce a complex acoustic field that consists of a direct path of sound from the source to the ear and multiple reflected paths because sound is reflected from surfaces and objects. These multiple sound paths produce a great deal of noise in the acoustic signal, yet we normally do not notice these sound reflections nor do they drastically affect our judgments of sound location. Wallach, Newman, and Rosenzweig (1949), who coined the term the precedence effect, demonstrated that sound localization is based on the acoustic cues associated with the sound that arrives first at the ears. That the reflections do not alter the perceived sound location of the source implies that the first arriving sound takes precedence over the reflections of that sound in determining its location. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1564 (#expands, via linked claim)

Consider a loud note played from stage. Direct sound reaches the audience first, followed shortly by sound that has bounced once off a wall or ceiling. This early sound is clearly directional, and we use it to determine the location of the source. Sound arriving later from the same note has traveled farther, bouncing many times off back and side walls and ceilings and diffracting off statuary, balconies, and so on, and is nearly omnidirectional. In a rather reverberant hall with a T60 of 3 seconds, the sound will have traveled a kilometer before its last remnants reach the audience’s ears. The late sound has spread uniformly throughout the space and is moreover propagating every which way, equally. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2471 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A delayed sound can be 10 dB louder and still lose the localization battle; Sound is localized to the first arriving acoustic source despite delayed reinforcement; Early reflected sound localizes sources while late sound becomes directionless — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2471 (+1 more)

Related

• The first arriving sound wave dominates perceived localization regardless of level (similarity 0.93)
• Sound is localized to the first arriving acoustic source despite delayed reinforcement (similarity 0.92)
• Earliest arriving sound dominates localization despite later room reflections (similarity 0.91)
• A delayed sound can be 10 dB louder and still lose the localization battle (similarity 0.91)
• Early reflected sound localizes sources while late sound becomes directionless (similarity 0.91)
• The first-arriving direct sound perceptually dominates despite carrying less energy (similarity 0.89)
• First-arriving direct sound dominates localization and loudspeaker images are built from mono and double-mono (similarity 0.88)
• Delayed loudspeakers preserve direct-sound localization in public venues. (similarity 0.88)
• Earlier-arriving sound from a less loud source dominates perceived location. (similarity 0.86)
• The first arriving sound wave dominates perceived direction of a source (similarity 0.86)
• Direct sound determines localization, loudness, and perceived spectrum quality (similarity 0.85)
• Leading sounds win localization when paired sounds onset close together (similarity 0.84)
• Acoustical interference dips cannot serve as reliable elevation cues (similarity 0.84)
• Precedence accumulates source information while late arrivals actively disrupt perception (similarity 0.84)
• The sound arriving first dominates perceived direction beyond 673 microseconds of delay (similarity 0.84)

Broader Connections

• Sound is localized to the first arriving acoustic source despite delayed reinforcement #corroborates (0.93)
• The first arriving sound wave dominates perceived localization regardless of level #expands (0.82) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1564
• Early reflected sound localizes sources while late sound becomes directionless #expands (0.80) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2471