Narrowband noise can carry clearer pitch than some periodic signals

Evidence

Pitch strength has been measured using psychoacoustic tests with different types of signal, as shown in Figure 10.1 (Fastl and Stoll, 1979; Fastl and Zwicker, 2007). … Periodicsignalsareclearlyperceivedtohavehigherpitchstrengththanaperiodicones. Sinusoids produce the clearest pitch perception, closely followed by low-pass filtered harmonic complexes, both of which are perfectly periodic signals. Quite interestingly, an aperiodic sound, narrowband noise, is reported to have a pitch strength just below that of a low-pass filtered harmonic complex and a higher strength than an AM tone and band-pass filtered complex tones, both of which are periodic signals. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1082

Categorization

• QUESTION: Why would an aperiodic noise outrank periodic tones in pitch strength? Worth chasing the Fastl-Stoll methodology to understand the auditory mechanism.
• XREF: connects to: Periodicity in the acoustic waveform determines whether a sound is perceived as pitched. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 828