Physical and Auditory Specifications of Third-Octave Clicks

Abstract

Physical: measurements of third-octave clicks (produced by ringing a commercial third-octave filter having a rejection rate of 50 dB in the first octave) show that waveform and spectral shape of the clicks remain the same through the range of audiometric frequencies. Auditory: relations between click and tonal thresholds are developed by (a) comparing click and tone thresholds at a repetition rate of 5/sec and (b) determining changes in click threshold for a range of repetition rates between 1 and 10/sec. Tonal thresholds are about 10 dB more sensitive at the 5/sec rate; a click repetition of 10/sec lowers the threshold, reducing the difference between tone and click audibility, while a repetition rate of 1/sec raises click threshold and increases the difference.