3 ms·
1ms latency, you say? With a speed of sound of 340m/s, this corresponds to distance between loudspeaker and ear of 0.34m. So, anything except headphones will ad
by gmueckl 8y ago
1ms latency, you say? With a speed of sound of 340m/s, this corresponds to distance between loudspeaker and ear of 0.34m. So, anything except headphones will add more than 1ms of latency.
I get that the rhythmic nature of music enables precision at the scale of a few ms because musicians can anticipate these moments in time (reaction time does not apply). But I'm baffled by claims of sensitivity to delays less than about 10ms because these are near or even over the limits of acoustics. For example, when you do the math, you'll see that it is basically impossible for a large enough orchestra to play perfectly in sync. But a good orchestra can give the impression of a precise performance despite that. This can only mean that the human hearing is less precise than what people claim.
- purerandomness 8y agoThe speed of sound is a constant, so I'm sure the brain filters it out. What you can hear are changes in latency which get added to the constant time the signal travels to the brain.
- panuma 8y agoSpeed of sound in e.g. wood is 10 times faster than in air. So an electric guitar player with 3.4m cord to the amp can feel a latency of 1ms for low frequencies through the stage and his feet. Humans have more rhythmical precision with said low frequencies. Symphonic orchestras are not known for their tight rhythm.
- panuma 8y agoSuperior time perception for lower musical pitch explains why bass-ranged instruments lay down musical rhythms http://www.pnas.org/content/111/28/10383 http://www.pnas.org/content/111/28/10383
- machiavelli1024 8y ago>For example, when you do the math, you'll see that it is basically impossible for a large enough orchestra to play perfectly in sync. Why? The conductor keeps them in sync visually, so the only limit is the speed of light.
- userbinator 8y agoI get that the rhythmic nature of music enables precision at the scale of a few ms because musicians can anticipate these moments in time (reaction time does not apply). I think it's more like an "equivalent time sampling" effect, and the perceived 1ms latency is actually a perceived phase shift.
- gmueckl 8y agoWhat kind of phase shift are you talking about? Humans cannot hear the phase of a single oscillation. Beats produced by two tones with shifted frequency are audible because the resulting amplitude is a function of time. But this is unrelated to timing and rhythm of music.