Effect of duration and gating of the signal on the binaural masking level difference for narrowband and broadband maskers

Abstract

Thresholds were measured for a 250-Hz signal with an interaural phase difference of 0° (diotic) or 180° (dichotic), with signal durations of 12 and 60 ms (including 6-ms ramps) and 300 ms (including 6- or 50-ms ramps). The signal-centered diotic noise masker had a bandwidth of 20 or 200 Hz. For the 20-Hz wide masker, the binaural masking level difference (BMLD), i.e., threshold difference between diotic and dichotic signal, increased with signal duration and, for the 300-ms signal, the BMLD was larger with 50-ms rather than 6-ms ramps. These signal parameters hardly affected the BMLD for the 200-Hz wide masker.