Writer / VP Office
The PA system basically we would adjust the volume plus 15dB the background noise as a standard to let others to hear clearly. But if environment is too noisy and we still add the volume and broadcast frequently makes people feel uncomfortable, even annoyed. In fact, auditory of human is an interesting issue. The theory called “Masking Effect” is a phenomenon that we can discuss, in order to use well, we could broadcast the message clearly without adding the volume to make people feel uncomfortable.
Audio Masking Effect
Masking effect is a physical feature of the auditory perception of human ear. There are some rules based on the research:
For similar frequencies: high sound level would cover low sound level
For critical bandwidth of frequency: the powerful sound would cover the sound nearby, the cover of the low frequencies would less than the high frequencies.
The nearer the frequencies, the more cover of the sound.
For time domain: prior sound would be covered by the posterior (post-masking).
