Steady-state comb-filter measurements fail to represent how transient sounds are heard

Evidence

Comb filtering is often thought to be involved in all delayed sounds. However, a delayed sound arriving from a different horizontal angle than the direct sound is perceived as spaciousness, not comb filtering. It adds to the information about the room. — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 729 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

This argument can be reversed to show that when the output of an acoustic system, such as a musical instrument, changes slowly, its spectrum occupies a narrow bandwidth, whereas when it changes quickly, it must occupy a larger bandwidth. This can be due to an increase in the number of harmonics present in the spectrum, as would be the case if the waveform becomes sharper or more spiky. … Or, as in the band-pass case described earlier, it would be due to an increase in the bandwidths occupied by the individual partials, or harmonics, of the sound. This would be the case if the envelope of the sound changed more rapidly. Figures 1.62 and 1.63 compare two similar systems—one with a slow and one with a fast rate of amplitude decay, the latter being due to a higher loss of energy from the system. The figures clearly show that in the system that decays more rapidly, there are more harmonics, and there is a higher bandwidth due to the more rapid change in the sound’s envelope. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 489 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A time delay of a reflection imprints a comb of enhanced and suppressed frequencies; Delays too short for echoes still audibly alter timbre through spectral combs; Delayed correlated sources produce frequency-dependent comb filtering (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Delayed sounds arriving from different angles are perceived as spaciousness, not comb filtering #qualifies (0.82) — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 729
• Binaural hearing transforms in-room comb filtering into perceived spaciousness #corroborates (0.80)
• Rapid changes in a sound’s amplitude envelope force broader spectral bandwidth #expands (0.75) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 489