Masking barely affects modulation perception once signals sit 20 dB above masked threshold

Evidence

For signal levels more than 20 dB above this defined excitation pattern of the masker, the masker scarcely influences the thresholds for modulation. This means that about 20 dB above masked threshold and higher, the just-noticeable degree of amplitude modulation and the just-noticeable frequency deviation remain almost the same, regardless of whether the masker is present. This is not obvious, but represents the basis of the fact that we are able to communicate with speech even though our communication may take place in noisy surroundings. — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1115

Similar to amplitude modulation, just-noticeahle frequency modulation is not greatly influenced by masking noise if levels of the modulated tone 20 to 30 dB above masked threshold are used. Similar measurements have been performed for centre frequencies of 250 and 4000 Hz with similar results. — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1113

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• SHARE: The counterintuitive claim that masked noise hardly degrades modulation detection 20 dB up is a neat fact for anyone in audio engineering or hearing science.

Related

• Maskers’ influence on modulation thresholds vanishes beyond 20 dB above their excitation pattern. (similarity 0.87)
• Maskers affect modulation detection through their excitation patterns, not their raw level (similarity 0.86)
• Masking release from modulated noise also improves speech perception. (similarity 0.85)
• Masking shifts detection thresholds and may affect just-noticeable sound changes (similarity 0.84)
• Masked tones recover pitch strength as their level rises above masked threshold (similarity 0.84)
• Beyond threshold, masker and signal levels rise one-for-one in decibels (similarity 0.84)
• Noise bandwidth below the critical band does not raise masked threshold. (similarity 0.83)
• Equal-level narrow-band maskers mask less at higher centre frequencies (similarity 0.83)
• Post masking outlasts premasking and can skew frequency-modulation measurements by nearly 20 dB. (similarity 0.82)
• Masking shifts thresholds upward and may alter just-noticeable sound changes at all levels. (similarity 0.82)
• Reducing audible fluctuations in a masker lowers post-masked thresholds by up to 24 dB (similarity 0.82)
• Auditory modulation processing is frequency-selective in detecting masked targets (similarity 0.82)
• White noise masked thresholds rise 10 dB per decade above 1 kHz (similarity 0.82)
• A masker raises the audibility threshold of a test sound. (similarity 0.82)
• Masking spreads from a noise band to tones further away as masker level rises (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Masked thresholds shift but modulation sensitivity recovers 20-30 dB above them #corroborates (0.95) — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1104