Phase relations of partials do not affect perceived timbre.

Evidence

This difference in peakiness has been studied further by Laitinen et al. (2013), where the timbral characteristics produced by various phase alterations are addressed. The study shows that phase randomization of the partials of a sawtooth signal perceptually creates a slightly larger change in timbral characteristics than when the amplitudes of the harmonics are randomized within a standard deviation of 4 dB. In other tests it was found that hearing is sensitive to the peakiness of the signal integrated within bandwidths of about two octaves. This can be simulated using an auditory model which estimates the neural firing rate at different critical bands depending on time. If the firing rate is synchronized in time within neighbouring critical bands, a buzzy character is perceived in the sound. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1269 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

Related

• Phase alignment creates a ‘buzzy’ timbre perceptible without room reflections (similarity 0.86)
• Phase randomization alters timbre more than 4 dB amplitude randomization (similarity 0.85)
• Synchronized phase harmonics produce a ‘buzzy’ sharpness perceptible without room reflections (similarity 0.84)
• Piano timbre would be unstable if we heard phase changes. (similarity 0.84)
• Hearing perceives synchronized neural firing across critical bands as buzzy timbre (similarity 0.83)
• Timbre perception arises from basilar membrane vibration patterns, not pitch alone (similarity 0.83)
• The power spectrum is blind to the relative phase of a sound’s components (similarity 0.82)
• Timbre depends on sound order over time, not just spectral content. (similarity 0.82)
• The ear cannot sense a tone’s absolute phase but does sense phase differences. (similarity 0.82)
• Aligned harmonic phases make sounds sharper and buzzy (similarity 0.82)
• Timbral neutrality drives 69.5 percent of sound-quality preference (similarity 0.81)
• Spectrum magnitude, not phase, drives the perceived timbre of a sound (similarity 0.81)
• Mixing noise with its own delayed copy can create a sense of pitch (similarity 0.81)
• Accurate hearing cannot be acutely sensitive to the relative phase of partials. (similarity 0.81)
• Perceived timbre depends on partial amplitudes but not their phases (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Phase alignment creates a ‘buzzy’ timbre perceptible without room reflections #contradicts (0.95)
• Reversing a sound changes perceived timbre without any spectral change. #contradicts (0.95)
• Phase randomization alters timbre more than 4 dB amplitude randomization #contradicts (0.95) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1269
• A note’s onset phase matters most for perceived timbre #contradicts (0.90) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1444