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🪵 The Threshold

Loud low-frequency tones mask high frequencies more than high tones mask low.

Properties2
tagsja-picks, definitional_content, corroborated, xref, contrarian_or_surprising, category/causal-relationships
aliases@howard_acoustics_2017, loc. 1628

2 min read

Loud low-frequency tones mask high frequencies more than high tones mask low.

Evidence

More subtly, it is possible for speech that is produced at high levels to mask itself. That is, if the speech is too loud, then, notwithstanding the improvement in signal-to-noise ratio, the intelligibility is reduced, because the low-frequency components of the speech mask the high-frequency components due to the upward spread of masking. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2480 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

When two or more pure tones are heard together an effect known as “masking” can occur, where each individual tone can become more diffi­ cult or impossible to perceive, or it is partially or completely “masked,” due to the presence of another tone. In such a case the tone which causes the masking is known as the “masker” and the tone which is masked is known as the “maskee.” These tones could be individual pure tones, but, given the rarity of such sounds in music, they are more likely to be individual fre­ quency components of a note played on one instrument which mask either other components in that note, or frequency components of another note. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1628 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

  • corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
  • XREF: connects to: Masking spreads from a noise band to tones further away as masker level rises; Low-level tones mask lower frequencies more than higher ones, reversing at high levels; Loud bass masks sounds across much of the audible spectrum, including vocals. (+5 more)

Broader Connections

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