Narrow-band noise’s intrinsic amplitude jitter masks external amplitude modulation detection

Evidence

The most important variable in this context seems to be bandwidth. For very small bandwidths, the statistical fluctuation of the amplitude of the narrow-band noise becomes dominantly audible, and thereby strongly disturbs the subjects who are trying to hear periodical amplitude modulations. This is why the just-noticeable degree of amplitude modulation is much larger for narrow bands of noise than for sinusoidal tones, even though the spectral configurations are very similar in the two cases. — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1033

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains that narrow-band noise carries its own inherent amplitude fluctuation that interferes with detecting externally imposed modulation — a key concept in modulation perception.