Equal-power masking assumption is wrong and only partly power detection holds

Evidence

Since all the methods, except that using Fletcher’s assumption, lead to similar values of the critical bandwidth, it seems reasonable to accept the latter estimates and conclude that the equal power assumption is wrong. It will be shown in Chap. 7 that threshold is reached when the signal power is one half (at low frequencies) to one quarter (at higher frequencies) that of the masker. Introducing these ratios, masking of a tone by noise (Fletcher’s method) leads to the same critical bandwidth as found using the five methods described. — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 912

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the ‘equal power assumption’ and shows why it fails, clarifying the actual ratio condition.
• XREF: connects to: Equal non-interference does not secure equal status where power asymmetries exist — Philip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and…, 430