Pre-echo audibility?

[Dan Ellis <dpwe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear List -

I was sent the following inquiry by Soren Laugesen of Oticon in
Denmark <slu@oticon.oticon.dk400.dk>.  Please send any replies
directly to him, since he is not yet on the list.  Thanks.

  DAn.

------- Forwarded Message
From: SLU@Eriksholm.Oticon.OTICON.OTICON.dk400.dk
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 15:06:06 +0100

Dear Collegues,

Can anybody help me with information on the audibility of pre-echoes?
I have surveyed the literature for any reports on this subject and I
have found nothing. In the case of post-echo, as it occurs in room
acoustics, detection thresholds as a function of delay time has been
studied extensively (e.g.  Bilsen; Bilsen & Ritsma; Yost & Hill), but
similar studies of pre-echo appear to be non-existent.

Results from backward masking experiments (e.g. Fastl; Wilson &
Carhart) help to shed some light on the subject, but in that case the
probe sound (tone burst, noise burst or click) is very different from
the masker (usually a much longer noise burst). In the pre-echo
situation the "probe and masker" are filtered versions of the same
signal and that probably makes a lot of difference with respect to
detectability.

Thank you in advance,

Soren Laugesen, Ph.D
Oticon Research Centre
Kongevejen 243
3070 Snekkersten
Denmark
email: slu@oticon.oticon.dk400.dk

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