Masking acts within critical bandwidths, leaving distant-frequency sounds unaffected

Evidence

Sound of a given frequency can block our ability to hear softer sounds at nearby frequencies, but distant frequencies are not affected. The threshold for detecting the softer sound is raised by the presence of a louder sound within the same critical bandwidth. Even if the softer sound is audible, it will not seem as loud as it would if played alone. Similarly, two tones that fall within the same critical bandwidth will appear to be less loud together than two tones of the same total energy that fall outside each others’ critical bandwidths. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2009

Categorization

• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2009
• XREF: connects to: Partial masking shifts pitch away from the masker’s spectral region; Fletcher defined critical bands as noise regions whose power equals a just-masked tone’s — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 865; White noise masked thresholds rise 10 dB per decade above 1 kHz (+32 more)

Broader Connections

• Narrowband noise at a given frequency masks nearby tones much more than distant ones #corroborates (0.90)
• Loud speech can mask its own high-frequency components via upward spread of masking #exemplifies (0.85) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2480
• Off-frequency listening can distort auditory filter measurement unless masked #expands (0.80)
• Upward masking makes intermodulation difference tones more audible than harmonics #complicates (0.75) — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 989