I studied music undergrad; I remember learning about Shepard tones in one of the early theory classes, and finding the idea fascinating, but it was a disappoint

I studied music undergrad; I remember learning about Shepard tones in one of the early theory classes, and finding the idea fascinating, but it was a disappointment when we actually heard examples. I'm not quite sure what I imagined the experience would be, but to my perception you're right... even when the switch-over (from the higher note as the most prominent, to the one an octave below) is very smooth, there's just a moment where you hear both notes clearly, then the higher note fades out. It might be more interesting to play with Shepard tones in a more complicated arrangement -- i.e., instead of one prominent note that fades into the next one an octave down, you might have 4-5 prominent notes, fading into others with staggered switch-overs -- possibly all at octave splits, but possibly in a more interesting harmonic blend. The idea is still interesting. :)