Resonance detection thresholds rise with higher Q and lower frequency

Evidence

Olive et al. (1997) elaborated the study to include lower frequencies, finding again that increasing Q yielded increasingly high detection thresholds as revealed by the amplitude peak in a room curve. Decreasing frequency also yielded increasing thresholds except for the lowest Q resonances. Q = 1 resonances were detected at low threshold levels whether they were resonances (peaks) or anti-resonances (dips) but it must be noted that such low-Q, wide-bandwidth, resonances embrace most of the frequency range of a typical subwoofer, so this result is hardly surprising. It really is changing the overall spectral balance in an unsubtle way. Here it was found that impulsive signals increased the audibility of high-Q resonances, suggesting that ringing was itself a contributor to audibility. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1647

Categorization

• XREF: Directly extends the reader’s psychoacoustic modeling of resonance audibility thresholds across frequency.