Relative loudness change provides the key auditory cue for source distance

Evidence

Added to this, audio engineers utilize another method to control distance perception using reverberators, wherein the auditory events caused by at least some types of sounds (typically voice) can be moved closer or farther away by changing the pre-delay parameter. Reverberators are audio effects, which, in principle, convolve a monophonic sound signal with the room response. The pre-delay parameter controls the temporal gap between the direct sound and the rest of the response. Shortening the pre-delay moves the perceived source farther away and making it longer brings it closer. Physically this makes sense, since a long gap would correspond to a situation where the direct path is much shorter than the reflected path, which can only happen if the source is close. This is different from the direct-to-reverberant ratio cue, since the ratio does not change. A very similar effect has been found in virtual reality simulations. When the first reflections are moved temporally in an impulse response without changing the properties of the late reverberation, the perceived distance changes systematically (Pellegrini, 2002). — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1527 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Reverberator pre-delay controls perceived source distance independently of loudness ratio — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1527; Auditory models that extract distance cues from ear signals remain an open research direction — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1533

Related

• Reverberator pre-delay controls perceived source distance independently of loudness ratio (similarity 0.96)
• More reverberation relative to direct sound makes listeners judge a source as farther away. (similarity 0.92)
• Suppressing early reflections in one listening zone widens the perceived time-delay gap (similarity 0.89)
• Room reverberation improves rather than impairs distance judgment (similarity 0.87)
• Sound from a source falls 6 dB per distance doubling until reverberation takes over (similarity 0.86)
• Distance from a source changes the balance between direct and reverberant sound (similarity 0.85)
• Virtual sound source distance is limited by reproduction technology, not perception (similarity 0.85)
• Beyond the reverberation distance, loudness stays constant while reverberance increases. (similarity 0.84)
• Perceived loudness falls off with distance more slowly than physical intensity does (similarity 0.84)
• Auditory models that extract distance cues from ear signals remain an open research direction (similarity 0.83)
• Large path-length variation causes poor direct-to-reverberant ratio and feedback (similarity 0.83)
• Reverberant sound stays constant across a room while direct sound falls with distance (similarity 0.83)
• A critical distance exists where reverberant sound begins to dominate the direct field (similarity 0.83)
• Reverberant sound level stays constant with listener position while direct sound fades with distance (similarity 0.83)
• Reverberation multiplies perceived speech loudness well beyond measured level gains (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Reverberator pre-delay controls perceived source distance independently of loudness ratio #complicates (0.90) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1527