Psychoacoustics

Scientific study of how the human auditory system perceives pitch, loudness, and timbre.

Core Principles & Analysis

• Equal-loudness contours show the ear is most sensitive between roughly 2,000 and 5,000 Hz.
• The brain reconstructs a missing fundamental, perceiving a pitch even when only its overtones are present.
• Auditory masking, where loud sounds hide quieter ones, underpins MP3 and AAC audio compression.