Resonant power dissipation actually grows when damping decreases

Evidence

The key idea being communicated in Figure 4.10 is that neither the amplitude of the peak in the frequency response nor the duration of ringing is a reliable clue to the audibility of the resonances, at least above the transition frequency. It is counterintuitive. Adding damping reduces the Q, and therefore the ringing. It also reduces the amplitude of the peak in the frequency response, all of which would seem to be good. But the peak is now much wider and is therefore more frequently energized by components of the program. This means that it will be more often heard; the threshold ends up being lower—this well-damped resonance is easily heard. In contrast, the Q = 50 resonance is energized only when a musical component is precisely at the right frequency and remains there long enough to allow it to accumulate energy—to build up—which is easily seen in the center column of data. — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 385 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Friction acts like rent proportional to the energy an oscillator stores; Resonance connects to the balance between power input and frictional loss; Adding damping to a resonance paradoxically makes it more audible by widening its bandwidth (+4 more)

Related

• Adding damping to a resonance paradoxically makes it more audible by widening its bandwidth (similarity 0.94)
• Lower-Q resonances are more audible than high-Q ones despite seeming better-damped (similarity 0.90)
• Well-damped low-Q resonances are easier to hear than high-Q ones. (similarity 0.89)
• Partition sound attenuation rises with frequency except at coincident resonances, which damping reduces (similarity 0.88)
• High-Q resonances are rarely heard but catastrophically audible when music hits their exact frequency (similarity 0.86)
• Higher-Q resonances become less audible because music rarely energizes them (similarity 0.86)
• Reflections increase sensitivity to low and mid-Q resonances in reproduced sound (similarity 0.85)
• Resonance Q reductions below about 16 are subjectively imperceptible (similarity 0.85)
• Low-Q subwoofer resonances are audible mainly as spectral balance shifts (similarity 0.84)
• Resonant confinement can backfire when internal dissipation exceeds radiation loss (similarity 0.84)
• Total damping equals neck friction plus radiated sound, with friction dominant (similarity 0.84)
• Partition mass provides isolation at higher frequencies until coincident resonances degrade it (similarity 0.83)
• Broad, low-Q resonances are the most audible transducer defects (similarity 0.83)
• On resonance, releasing sound reduces its loudness (similarity 0.83)
• Reverberation masks high-Q ringing but amplifies low-Q resonances (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Adding damping to a resonance paradoxically makes it more audible by widening its bandwidth #corroborates (0.90)
• Lower-Q resonances are more audible than high-Q ones despite seeming better-damped #corroborates (0.90) — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 385
• Partition sound attenuation rises with frequency except at coincident resonances, which damping reduces #contradicts (0.75)
• Long-sustaining vibrations favor narrow frequency ranges #expands (0.72)