Listening guide
Hear how roughness, sharpness and tonality change a sound, using controlled comparisons at similar listening levels.
01
Fast amplitude fluctuations merge into a coarse or rattling sensation. Perception is strongest around modulation rates near 70 Hz.
02
Sounds dominated by high-frequency energy are perceived as sharper. The metric weights specific loudness toward high Bark bands.
03
Tonality describes how strongly discrete pitches stand out from surrounding broadband sound.
Reference values were calculated with MoSQITo from level-matched 70 dB SPL, 48 kHz excerpts. Playback level depends on your device, so the values describe the digital reference signals rather than the sound pressure at your ears. Roughness uses Daniel–Weber, sharpness DIN 45692 and tonality the ECMA-418-1 prominence ratio. Perfect isolation is not physically possible because psychoacoustic metrics interact.