Loud bass masking spreads upward to cover the voice frequency range

Evidence

The masking contours shown in Figure 9.14(b) are especially revealing in that a loud bass sound can have an effect on sounds covering much of the audible spectrum, including the critical voice-frequency range. This may explain why it is sometimes difficult to understand the lyrics in a loud, bass-heavy rock concert, or the dialog in a movie when loud bass rumbles are used for dramatic effect. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 987

Categorization

• SEED: A concrete, teachable insight: mixing engineers and movie sound designers should expect loud bass to mask dialogue.
• XREF: connects to: Loud masking sounds asymmetrically mask higher frequencies more than lower ones — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1638