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In audio signal processing, auditory masking occurs when the perception of one sound is affected by the presence of another sound. [1] Auditory masking in the frequency domain is known as simultaneous masking, frequency masking or spectral masking. Auditory masking in the time domain is known as temporal masking or non-simultaneous masking.
So the masking threshold is the sound pressure level of a sound needed to make the sound audible in the presence of another noise called a "masker". This threshold depends upon the frequency, the type of masker, and the kind of sound being masked. The effect is strongest between two sounds close in frequency.
These two properties of the auditory filter are thought to contribute to the upward spread of masking, that is low frequencies mask high frequencies better than the reverse. As increasing the level makes the low frequency slope shallower, by increasing its amplitude, low frequencies mask high frequencies more than at a lower input level.
Masking of high frequency tinnitus (>6,000 Hz) is difficult because of the resonance characteristics of the human ear as well as high frequency limitations of in-ear devices. The ear has a resonance frequency (highest frequency response) at 3,000 Hz and rolls off at a very steep 26 dB/octave on the high frequency side.
Audio masking graph. Suppose a listener can hear a given acoustical signal under silent conditions. When a signal is playing while another sound is being played (a masker), the signal has to be stronger for the listener to hear it. The masker does not need to have the frequency components of the original signal for masking to happen.
Sound masking is the inclusion of generated sound (commonly, though inaccurately, referred to as "white noise" or "pink noise") into an environment to mask unwanted sound. It relies on auditory masking. Sound masking is not a form of active noise control (noise cancellation technique); however, it can reduce or eliminate the perception of sound ...
The spectral mask is generally intended to reduce adjacent-channel interference by limiting excessive radiation at frequencies beyond the necessary bandwidth. Attenuation of these spurious emissions is usually done with a band-pass filter, tuned to allow through the correct center frequency of the carrier wave, as well as all necessary ...
The size of the improvement is known as the "binaural masking level difference" (BMLD), or simply as the "masking level difference". Binaural unmasking is most effective at low frequencies. The BMLD for pure tones in broadband noise reaches a maximum value of about 15 decibels (dB) at 250 Hz and progressively declines to 2-3 dB at 1500 Hz.