In This Section
Reflecting on Reflections - June 2014
Audibility of a CD-Standard A/DA/A Loop Inserted into High-Resolution Audio Playback - September 2007
Quiet Thoughts on a Deafening Problem - May 2014
AES Engineering Briefs Forum
Another View of Distortion Perception
Perception of distortion is difficult to determine since it relies critically on signal level. We study a distortion characteristic possessing a relative distortion independent of signal level—a simple change in slope between positive and negative signal excursion. A mathematical analysis is presented, showing the resulting distortion to be mainly even harmonic but with some rectification effects, which need consideration. Various signals are evaluated by informal A/B listening tests, including pure tones and music. Judiciously-chosen signals have distortions that are detectable only if they are above 1%, in keeping with psychoacoustic masking data, while real music signals are considerably more tolerant of distortion up to levels of 5% or more! This implies that, except for crossover distortion, present-day electronic systems are all sufficiently linear.
No AES members have commented on this paper yet.
Subscribe to this discussion
Start a discussion!
If you are not yet an AES member and have something important to say about this paper then we urge you to join the AES today and make your voice heard. You can join online today by clicking here.