Rationale for Critical Bands

[Wiebe Horst <j.w.horst@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear all,

I am getting more and more confused by this discussion.
It would help if every contributor started by giving his/her  
definition of Critical Band.
I am used to using Scharf's (1970) definition:
"The critical band is a band of that width at which subjective  
responses  change rather abruptly."
So the CB may be related to auditory filters, but it is not in the  
definition.

Martin Braun wrote:
"1) The quality of speech perception does not deteriorate when sound  
level increases from 50 to 80 dB.

2) The consonance vs. dissonance balance of a musical chord does not  
change when sound level increases from 50 to 80 dB.

These observations tell us that spectral filtering, including band  
filtering, in the auditory system is as good as unchanged in this  
level range."

To me it is not clear to me where you refer to auditory filter and  
where to critical band. It might help a great deal if you would  
clarify this.


Wiebe

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wiebe Horst
Department of Otorhinolaryngology
University Medical Center Groningen
P.O.Box 30.001, 9700 RB Groningen, THE NETHERLANDS
Phone: +31 50 3613357  Fax : +31 50 3611698
Email: J.W.Horst@xxxxxxxxxxx