Psychoacoustics

Psychoacoustics is the study of subjective human perception of sounds. Effectively, it is the study of psychology of acoustical perception.

What do we hear?

Human hearing is basically like a spectral analyzer, that is, the ear resolves the spectral content of the pressure wave without respect to the phase of the signal. In practice, though, some phase information can be perceived. Inter-aural (i.e. between ears) phase difference is a notable exception by providing a significant part of the directional sensation of sound. The filtering effects of head-related transfer functions provide another important directional cue.

Related Topics:
Phase - Directional sensation of sound - Head-related transfer function

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